WAH-ga-deeswa-RI

Smt Ranjani Smt Gayatri - Adyar Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple concert

It can't be better a way to begin the week than by listening to the famous sisters, Smt Ranjani Smt Gayatri better known in the carnatic fraternity as RaGa sisters. The last day of the annual Brahmotsavam concert at Adyar Anantha Padmanabhaswamy temple began with "Ongi ulagaLandha" in Aarabhi, paasuram #3 of AanDaaL. Aarabhi is known to infuse energy and fill with enthusiasm. The next krithi in the line was in Purvi Kalyani raagam, "Iniyaagilum ninai" by Smt Ambujam Krishna. This gave way to the next ragam Hindolam. Smt Ranjani presented a beautiful sketch of Hindolam to render "Padmanabha Pahi", a gem of Swati Tirunal.

Subbaraya Sastri's magnum krithi in Hamir Kalyani came next - "Venkata Shaila" in slow tempo was a parama sowkhyam.

A quick and a vibrant krithi followed in the form of "Parama purusham Hrudaya" in Lalitha Panchamam. This is a rare ragam and both the composers have mentioned the raga mudra in their composition.(Other being Muthuswami Dikshitar's Brahadeeswaram). Here, the Prince mentions the ragam in the Anupallavi line "muRaLinAda vivrta tarapara lalitha panchamam". And an ideal choice to precede the main krithi.

The central piece for the evening was in the ragam Vaagadeeswari.Smt Gayatri's aalapaana of Vaagadeeswari was truly out of the world. "Paramathmudu" was the chosen kirthanam. This has a special mention as this is claimed to be one of the rare / new raagams in which Saint composed and did it in the later stages of his life. According to the Saint, he stresses on the universality of GOD in everything - the animate and inanimate or by whatever name we call HIM. He highlights this further in the charanam lines. The neraval and swaram in the charanam lines "gaganAnIla tEjO jAla". The neat and mellifluous rendition by the sisters made the raagam sound so soothing. The vivaditwam of Vaagadeeswari makes it difficult to handle. The sisters rendered with ease!. The swarams that followed was a treat to the fully packed house. It certainly was a WAH-ga-deeswa-RI.

A small note to this krithi - In the entire Anu pallavi, he uses an informal tone with rhythmic "ata" appearing in almost every word. In charanam, he switches to more a Sanskrit laden Telugu to convey the wonder of the whole presence. He says, Good or bad - both are manifestations of God and everything is Parabrahmam and nothing is outside of it. Everything is inside. The tail piece of the concert had a virutham followed by "Aravindha Pada malar" in Kaapi of Smt Ambujam Krishna composition.

The evening's accompaniments were Shris BU Ganesh Prasad on the violin and Patri Satish Kumar on the Mridangam and KV Gopalakrishnan on the Kanjira.

PS: I am not a reviewer/critic. The above are my personal experiences of every concert that I attend to.

Season 2016 beckons!!

I know it is too early to scribble anything now. Last year, as all of you knew had been very eventful and people would like to forget season 2015.

Countdown to 2016 begins..90..89..88..

Together, let us pray and hope that season 2016 will be as pleasant as other season were and that listeners throng to encourage all the artists - senior or upcoming. After all music is the best healer to all the wounds physical or hu-man made!!

Best wishes to every performing artist!!

Season 2015

Friends,

Due to some reasons.., this space will mostly remain empty for the entire season 2015!.
Regret to inform that I would not be attending the season :-(
Regret the inconvenience caused.

Please watch out the real talents and encourage every musician you like!. IMHO, that is the best service to music!. Also, request all pass holders to utilize the passes and in case you don't, please ensure some real rasika utilizes it!!..

Happy musical 2015!

Wishing all the musicians, musical rasikas a wonderful season ahead!

Magical Mohanam

Ranjani Gayatri - Vocals; HN Bhaskar - Violin; KV Prasad - Mridangam; Guruprasad - Ghatam; Nandini and Nandini - Tampura

On a Christmas evening, what is the best gift one can get other than getting soaked in a wonderful musical experience. It was a vocal duet performance at the Music Academy. It was an absolutely house-full hall. Yes, it has to be the numero uno(err... it has to be numero duo) Ranjani Gayatri at the prestigious Music academy. Sitting on the ground floor hall and listening to them is a great experience. Ranjani Gayatri chose to  start the concert on the raga that is used in fundamental lesson in Carnatic music. "Meru samana" in Mayamalavagowlai was the krithi rendered by the sisters. It was a real firework right from the first krithi. The subtle inter-relationship between the raga and the krithi was well expressed by the sisters and their neraval and swarams at "gaLamula shobillu" was just simply amazing.

If the first krithi was brilliant, I must say that the next set of krithis were just out of the world. It was surprising to note the usage of plastic chairs at the academy. So much of a crowd that they had to keep plastic chairs to accommodate the late comers (err. pass holders??)

If in the first krithi, the saint pleaded to Lord Rama to bestow his blessings, in the next krithi Shyama Sastry pleads to Goddess to protect him. After an enchanting alapanai by Smt Ranjani and a wonderful violin support by HN Bhaskar, the sisters sang "Marivere gati" in Anandha Bhairavi. The chittaswaram embellished the krithi adding a different dimension to it. The next was a vivadi raga krithi, "Mara vairi ramani" in NAsikabhushani, a saint's composition where he refers the consort of Lord Shiva at Tiruvarur as "manju bhashini (sweet spoken)" with quick swaras for Pallavi lines was the next fragrant melody.

The first half of the concert captivated the audience and kept them do the guess work for the main piece. The main raga essay was in Mohanam. Gayatri gave a joyous Mohana raga alapanai followed by a rarely heard Tamizh krithi - "Jagadeeshwari Krupai puri", a master piece by Thiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai, a disciple of Ramaswamy Dikshitar. Gayatri gave a complete essence of Mohanam. The chittaswaram after Anupallavi was interesting as there were recurrence of dhaivatam in different places. This krithi needs a particular mention of the chittaswaram and sahityam. The dhaivatham swaraksharams and beauty of how the words land in that 2 kalai adhi talam made ending like veruLatha, indha, peridha, varam tha really exquisite. The sisters rendition of Mohanam kept the audience glued to their seats. The tani avarthanam that followed had both Prasads (KV Prasad on Mridangam and Guruprasad on Ghatam) and was very lively and energetic.

RTP with dwiraga Pallavi in Saranga and Nayaki. The alapanai and tanam besides Pallavi was shared equally with the lines "Saranganai Rangai ninai maname Ranganayaki sametha" set in Chatusrajathi Triputa taalam in KhanDa NaDai. The RTP had a garland of ragams - Bhoopalam. Deva Manohari, Jog and Brindavani. The concluding piece had an abhang in raag Lalith. There was "Kotinadalu" in Todi as well.

It definitely is a pleasure listening at the Music Academy as it had no own sruthi singing ;) by the audience sitting next/front row and the audiences maintained the decorum.

The sisters' concert today was special such that every piece was perfectly packed and had strong support from the accompanists. It was such a listening experience that Saranga and Nayaki conquered and will stay fresh in the hearts of the rasikas. The concert by the team requires a standing ovation.!!

In total, it was a sumptuous treat!!

Sanjay's Shankarabaranam

Sanjay - Vocal; Mysore Nagaraj - Violin; Trichy Harikumar - Mridangam; T Rajaganesh - Kanjira; Rahul Krishna - Tampura

There is always something different and special in Sanjay's concerts. He makes listening a pleasurable experience. No doubt that he attracts huge crowd. It was one such evening at the Narada Gana Sabha. The concert that went for almost 2 hours 45 minutes was a power packed performance.

The concert started bang on time with a Sahana raga varnam composed by Patnam Subramanya Iyer. The mood was perfect for the evening. He took the audience to another world by singing Saint's composition "Meru samana" as the next in Mayamalavagowlai set to adi taal. It was rendered in a soft tempo decorated with an evocative neraval and brilliant kalpanaswaras at "gaLamula Shobillu Kanaka bhushana". The swaras were just as beautiful as the smooth flow of a river.

The next krithi was in the royal court Durbar. Sanjay gave the majestic flavor of Durbar and presented a well known composition of Thyagaraja, "Ramabhirama" in Misrachapu where in Saint pleads Rama to have a compassion on him. The raga lakshana was punctuated deeply and Ramabhirama turned out a classic one.

When there is a Durbar(royal court) there needs to be justice as well. Neetimati came in the form of "Mohanakara Muthukumara"

Interestingly, there was a lady sitting next to me who kept on singing Ramabirama in her own sruthi and her own lyrics. Guess there should be an amendment in the Sabha that sitting on the opposite side and singing along with the artist during the concert should be banned. For a second, I felt like requesting Sanjay to stop to listen to her.. Sigh! :-(

Sanjay chose to deliver Shankarabaranam as the main for the evening. It definitely was not Shankarabaranam.. Hang on.. It was Sanjayabaranam. He rendered Dikshitar's third navavarna krithi Sri Kamalambikaya eliciting with its melody blended with the poet's lyrical beauty. It was rendered in Rupaka taalam. The kriti gave a real meditative feel. His kalpanaswaras at "Sri Kamala" was slow and steady and it looked like teaching a baby to keep tiny steps and hold hands to walk. Such a lovely presentation. 

The next in the line was "Solla vallayo", in Reetigowlai by Bharatiyar. He then moved on to RTP in Brindavani. The pallavi was from yet another Subramanya Bharatiyar line, "uNmai arindavar unnai kaNippAro mAyaiyE mAyaiyE". A soft touch to render a Hamir Kalyani, Begada and Brindavana Saranga were a delight to listen to. 

Since, I was seated in the balcony, I had a nice view of the hall. The view from the top looked like a dolphin show where lots of sparkling heads were seen shaking appreciatively. I turned my head to see the sides of the dias to see only Gen Next happily sitting and enjoying. Smart guys!

His concluding pieces for the evening consisted of 2 Bharathis..  Subramanya Bharati and Suddhanandha Bharati. There was a javali - "Emandu ne muddu" in Kapi. He concluded the concert and ensured the patriotism is in tact with a virutham "Paaril uyarntha nilam" by Suddhanandha Bharati followed by "En thaai vaazh enum" The virutham cast a spell on the rasikas. The audiences left the hall with their hearts and soul filled with full of patriotism.

Mysore Nagaraj's violin support was soft and melodious. Trichy Harikumar and Alathur Rajaganesh provided excellent percussive support and were well within decibel limits.

An excellent evening spent at Narada Gana Sabha!

Wholesome treat

Ranjani Gayatri-Vocal; HN Bhaskar - Violin; Manoj Siva - Mrudangam; Guruprasad - Ghatam; Vani Ramamurthi, Sridevi - Tampura

December is famous in Chennai for many reasons. One major reason is the much awaited Chennai December Music season. It is like Jupiter transiting from one house to another house. I have to wait for 12 months to get soaked again.
It was an electrifying evening at the Vani Mahal. The Ra-Ga sisters enthralled their rasikas with yet another fabulous concert. Perfect sruthi alignment, rich ragas, different composers all formed part of the evening. The concert began with a Sarasangi raga krithi "Neekela dayaradhu" in Khanda chapu follwed by Tanjore Sankara Iyer's composition in Saramathi. An enjoyable Ranjani ragam was presented by Smt Ranjani to render an enjoyable Ambujam Krishna's Kannada krithi - "Kaadhiruvenu Naanu" with swarams in"pAdAMbujagaLa". Dikshitar's kshetra kriti "Soundararajam ashraye" in Brindavana Saranga needs a special mention for its vishranthi. The sisters brought the feel of visiting Soundararaja Perumal(Nagapatnam). The central piece for the evening was in Thodi. Gayatri presented a very detailed alapana and went on to render Daachukovelena in Misra Jhampa. The sisters brought out Thodi's beauty through a garland of imaginative phrases and soothing neraval and swarams for the line "Sowmithri Thyagarajuni" further beautified the concert. Before moving to RTP, the sisters rendered Papanasam Sivan's "Gowri Manohara". 

Malayamarutham was chosen for the evening for RTP. The sisters explored the ragam and followed by a scintillating tanam. The pallavi lines chosen were "Kannan thiruvadi eNNuga maname thiNNam azhiyA vaNNam tharume" from Subramanya Bharatiyar in Khanda triputa. The sisters made the RTP so fabulous with their unhurried pallavi and ragamalika swaras in Huseni, Arabhi with a sruthi bedham to Mohana Kalyani, Madhuvanthi and Maand. The last section of the concert had a virutham from thevaram followed by Chidambaram pogamal and an abhang in Chandrakauns.

HN Bhaskar on the violin gave a magnificent support. The spirited tani was by Manoj Siva on the mridangam and Guruprasad on the Ghatam. 

What is the correlation between Canteen and Carnatic? Simple - To satiate your soul - listen to good music; satiate your hunger by eating Bondas from the canteen. I am happy that my soul got satiated that day!! 

The choice of kirthis, an expansive Todi made an aural treat to the listeners at the December season. The Thodi will stay long!

Season 2014

With just a few days for December 1, the biggest art season that runs for nearly 50 to 60 days - December Music season is going to unfold and there are plenty and plenty of music to be listened to, enjoyed and it will be an amazing time for rasikas from all over the world and the musicians.

Wishing every artist, every rasika, every photographers who capture the even un-noticed moments an absolutely amazing season ahead!

I am not sure how much I will be able to contribute to writing this time for personal reasons.. Still will try to.. Keep watching!..

Apart from attending seasoned artists, it will be interesting to listen to the new and upcoming / rising stars! Just listing a few names (since have listened to them already and enjoyed it)

Vani Ramamurthi, Ramakrishnan Murthy, Prasanna Venkatraman, KP Nandini (Vocal and Violin), Ananya Ashok, Sriranjani Santhanagopalan,  Rithvik Raja, Vikram Raghavan to name a few.. :-)

Happy Listening, Happy Singing and Best wishes for a Happy New Year '15!!