Tuesday 29 April 2014

2014 Apr 29 Mambalam Sisters Dr.Hemalatha H S Sudhindra B R Ravikumar @ SRSM




01 dhEva dhEva kalayAmi mAyAmALavagouLa rUpaka swAthi thirunAL

02 shrI chAmundEshwari pAlayamAm bilahari Adhi mysUru vAsudhEvAchAr (o)

03 koluvaiyunnADe kOdanDapANi bhairavi Adhi thyAgarAja (A, N, S)

04 nIrajAkShi kAmAkShi hindhOLa rUpaka m.dhIkShithar

05 nAda sudhA rasambilanu Arabhi rUpaka tyAgaraja

06 shrI mAtrubhUtam trishiragiri kannaDa m.cApu m.dIkshitar

07 RTP pUrvikalyANi (R, T, N, S T)
Pallavi Line: kOdanDa rAmanai kalyANa rAmanai ninai paTTAbhi rAmanai
miSra tripuTa 2 Kalai, Edupu atIta 5 akshara

rAgamAlika swara: mOhana , bilahari , ??, rItigauLa , dhanyAsi, naLinakAnti, hamsAnandi??,  ??,  ?? , 

kadanakutUhala, bEhAg, hamIrkalyANi

06 Chandra chUDa Shiva Shankara pArvati darbArikAnaDa Adi PurandaraDasa

07 shloka (vasudEva sutam dEvam) nIraja daLa nayana vAsanthi

08 pAvana kAya rAghavEndra bEhAg viTTaladAsa

09 hamsAnandi tillAna

10 jAnaki ramaNage jaya mangaLam suratTi p.dAsa

2014 Apr 29 Venkatesh - 7 Strings @ SRSM



01 prasanna gaNapathe bahudAri chowDaiah

demo on how the 7 stringed violin is tuned

02 marivEre dikkevvaru laTAngi khanda chApu patNam subrahmaNya iyer (O)

03 sarasa sAma dhAna kApinArAyaNi Adhi tyAgarAja (A)

04 BhavanutA nA hrida yamuna mOhana Adhi tyAgarAja (O)

05 RTP kIravANi Adi (T)
Pallavi Line: Sri rAmam raghurAmam bhajAmyaham nirantaram sukhapradam
RagamAlika - sahana karNaranjani sAma, ?? , ??

06 dEsh composition (ballavari gellade vaikunTa) by vyAsarAja

07 sindhubhairavi composition by RR Keshavamurthy


2014 Apr 28 HKVenkatram GRavikiran AshwinAnand (VVV) UKSivaraman Guruprasanna Giridhar Udupa @ RSM




VVV: HKVenkatram GRavikiran AshwinAnand (VVV) 
Mridanga: UKSivaraman 
Khanjira: Guruprasanna 
Ghata: Giridhar Udupa

01 vIribONi varNa bhairavi khaNDa aTa pachchimiriam Adiappayya (O shared by all 3 instruments)

02 pArvatIpatim praNaumi hamsadhwani Adi m.dIkshitar (O, S)

03 OrajUpu juchEdhi nyAyama kannaDa gauLa Adhi thyAgarAja 

04 dattAtrEya trimUrti rUpa ranjani gaNapathi sachidAnanda (O)

05 khamAs AlApane Flute fwd by brOchEvA revarurA kAmAch Adhi mysUru vAsudhEvAchAr 
A solo tani by UKS

06 ShObillu saptaswara jaganmOhini rUpaka thyAgarAja (O, S)

07 kharaharapriyA AlApane vINA followed by pakkAla nilabaDi golicE muccaTa bAga delpa kharaharapriyA tripuTa tyAgarAja
Nereval at manasuna

08 karuNinchuTaku sindhu mandAri Patnam Subramanya lyer

09 kAmbOdhi rAga(violin) tAna (vINA) followed by 
Evari mata vinnavo ravo and tani (only khanjira, Ghata) ( S @ ? )

10 mAmava paTTAbhi rAma maNirangu M Eka m.dIkshitar

11 tillana rAga bEhAg

12 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja


Over the years.. the team is gaining more and more audience.. and that itself is an indicator of the maturity of the team work. It was an heartening scene to see almost housefull crowd who had come to cheer all Bangalore team of Techies !

A very melodious and fast paced concert.. A memorable one indeed.




Monday 28 April 2014

2014 Apr 27 TMKrishna RKShriramKumar KArunPrakash Guruprassad @ SRSM



Vocal: Vid. TM Krishna
Violin : Vid. RK Shriram Kumar
Mridanga: Vid. K Arun Prakash
Ghata: Vid. Guruprassad


01 nAma kusumamulacE pUjincE shrI Adi tyAgarAja (O, S)
Nereval @ Sri rAmuni

02 nija marmamulanu umAbharaNa Adhi thyAgarAja (A, S, T)
S @ kshEmate. ...

03 nATa tAna followed by jagadAnandakArakA jayajAnakI nATa Adi tyAgarAja 
Violin swaras of charaNa and together with vocalist for th sAhitya part
Nereval @ OmkAra panjarakIra in tAna style. Traversing all 3 octaves seamlessly
Chinna tani .. Song continued into further charaNas

04 sOundara rAjam AshrayE brundhAvana sAranga rUpaka m.dhIkshithar (A)
Violin Alapane only

05 kalyani AlApane followed by pallavi kalyANi 
Pallavi Line: Brahmai vAham kilA sadguru kripaya 
ChaturaSra jhampa  2 kalai  edupu after 5 akshara
RAgamAlika sAvEri ... kApi .. nIlAmbari .. bEhAg (/hamIr kalyANi ?) ..  dEsh .. junjhUTi .. 

06 krishNam kalaya sakhi sundharam mukhAri Adhi nArAyaNa thIrTha (S)

07 tungA tIra virAjam rAgamAlika Adhi kamalEsha viTTala dAsa

08 bArO KrishNayyA mAND Adhi KanakadhAsa

09 sarvam brahma mayam madHuvanti Adi sadAshiva brahmEndra (O)

10 karuNisO rangA karuNisO sahAna Adi p.dAsa (O)

11 Vaishnava Janato Mishra khamAj Adhi Narsi Mehta

12 raghupathi rAghava rAjArAm bhajan mishra pIlu

Sunday 27 April 2014

2014 Apr 26 AbhishekRaghuram BUGaneshPrasad AnanthaKrishna Guruprasanna @ SRSM


Vocal: Vid AbhishekRaghuram 
Violin: Vid BUGaneshPrasad
Mridanga: Vid. AnanthaKrishna
Khanjira: Vid Guruprasanna

01 taruNi ninnu (varNa) kAmbOdhi Adi Fiddle Ponnuswami Pillai (O)

02 mundu vEnuka Iru prakkala doDai mUrkharahara darbAr Adi tyAgarAja (O)

03 balamu kulamu yEla sAvEri thishra Adhi thyAgarAja (brief A, S)

04 rA rA phaNi shayana harikAmbOdhi rUpaka thyAgarAja (Brief A, N , S)

05 endarO mahAnubhAvulu andarIki vandanamu shrI tyAgarAja (A)

06 sattalEni dInamulu vachchenA nAganandini Adi thyAgarAja (O, S)

07 RTP - tODi 

rAga Alapane tODi - vocal
tAna - violin

pallavi tODi - dAsarathE karuNA-payOnidhE ina-kula-tilaka

Adi 2 kaLai. . EDupu after 1 akshara

Ragamalika pallavi .nATakuranji.. kalyANi Anandabhairavi... (done as grahabedha !!!!!!!!! )

Blended all three in quick combination

rAgamAlika tODi .. nATakuranji ...kalyANi. .. Anandabhairavi

Same combination in reverse order delivered once again. ... followed by a spirited tani

08 kOluvai yunnADE kOdanDapANi dEvagAndhAri Adi tyAgarAja

09 rAma jOgi mandhu kAmAch Adhi bhardrAchala rAmadhAs

10 tava dasOham tava dasOham punnAgavarALi (O)

11 ViTalA SalahO SwAmi dEsh p.dAsa (O)

12 patiki hAratIrE sItApatiki hAratIrE suraTiAdi tyAgarAja

13 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

2014 Apr 25 1830 VijaySiva VSanjeev KArunPrakash GChandrashekharaSharma @ SRSM



01 dayAnidhE mAmava bEgaDa Adi shyAmA shAstri

02 rA rA dasharatha rAjakumAra bhairavi rUpaka Walajapet Venkatramana Bhagavatar (N, S)

03 mahima dakkincukOvayyA rishabhapriyA Adi tyAgarAja (A, S)

04 chEtah sri bAlakrishnam bhajarE dwijAvanthi rUpaka m.dikshithar

05 munnu rAvaNa tODi mishra jhampe tyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)

06 chintaye mahAlinga mUrtim parAju adi m.dIkshitar

07 rAga tAna pallavi surUTi
HarE krishnEti suraTita krishNA mAnarakshaka mAmraksha hare
TiSra jhampe miSra naDe,  EDupu after 7 akshara

08 harivAsaradha vupavAsadha bhAgyavu sinDhubhairavi puranDhara dhAsa

09 viruttum pArkum bilahari naLinakAnti HusEni

10 shiva kAma sundari jagadambA mukhAri Adi pApanASam Sivan

11 shlOka sundarate dhyAnam (rAga ?) AbhAng

12 Eru mayil Eri ViLaiyADum Anandabhairavii Adhi Arunagirinathar

13 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja


Quick Poem by Sridhar during the concert :

ಸುರುಟಿ ರಾಗದೆ ಬಳುಕುತಿರಲುರು
ಟುರುಟು ಜಂಟೀ ಸ್ವರಗಳಿಂ ತಾನ್
ಒರಟು ಸಂಗತಿಗಳನು ಸುಲಭದಿ ಬಿಡಿಸಿ ತೋರಿರಲು|
ತೆರೆದ ಕಿವಿಗಳಿಗಿಂಪ ತುಂಬುತ
ಮರೆತಿರಲ್ ತನ್ನನ್ನೆ ಬದರಿಯು
ತ್ವರಿತದಿಂ ಪಾಡಿರೆ ವಿಜಯಶಿವ ರಾಗತಾನಗಳಾ|

Friday 25 April 2014

2014 Apr 24 MysoreBrothers YellaVenkateshaRao Guruprasanna GiridharUdupa @ SRSM



01 brova bhArama bahudAri (o s )

02  marugElara o rAghava jayanthashri (o)

03 naLinakAnti manavi nAlakim chara (o s )

04  samAnamevaru rAma nI  kharaharapriyA. (A N S  )

05 himagiri tanaye shudda dhanyAsi 

06 mOhana rAma - mOhana  (A N S) followed by and electrifying tani for 45 mins !!

07 gOvardhana giridhAra  darbAri kAnaDa  (o)

08 bEhAg tillana

09 bhAgyAda lakshmi bAramma (started at sakkare tuppada kAluve harisi)  madhyamavati 

10 nI nAma rUpamulaku saurAshtra (mangaLa)

Wednesday 23 April 2014

2014 Apr 22 rAjkamal N BU Ganesh Prasad Tumkur B Ravishankar B Rajashekhar @ vANi school



01 sarasuda sAvEri  varNa adi

02 jaya jaya jaya janaki kAnta nATa (o .. s)

03 gnanamosagarAda pUrvikalyANi tyAgarAja (a. . s )

04 aTukAdarA manOranjani tyAgarAja

05 rAmakathaSudha MadhyamAvathi tyAgarAja ( A s T)

06 rAmachandra prabho sindhubhairavi

07 pavamana / MangaLa

Tuesday 22 April 2014

2014 Apr 21 BangaloreSShankar MASundareshwaran ParupalliPhalgun BNChandramouli @ SRSM


Vocal: Vid Bangalore S Shankar
Violin: M A Sundareswaran
Mridanga: Parupally Phalgun
Khanjira: BS Chandramouli


01 vIribONi varNa bhairavi khaNDa aTa pachchimiriam Adiappayya

02 vandisuvudAdiyali gaNanAthana nATa purandhara dhAsa

03 marugElarA O rAghavA jayanthashrI Adi thyAgarAja

04 manavi chE konavayyA sarasAngi rUpaka patNam subramhaNya iyer ( A, N, S)

05 mArubalka kuna vEmira mA manOramanNa shrIranjani Adhi tyAgarAja

06 SAgara Shayana Vibho bAgEshrI Adhi MD RAmanAthan (O)

07 rAmachandrAya namastE tODi m.dIkshitar (A, N, S)

08 rAmam bhaje raghukula sOmam bhaje hinOLa (O)

09 raghuvara nannu marava kAmavardani Adi tyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)

10 manavE mantrAlayA shudha sArang Adhi AV krishNamAchAr

11 shlOka in sAvEri followed by BhAvayAmi raghurAmam rAgamAlike rUpaka swAthi thirunAL

12 dhyAnavu krithayugadi followed by pArajanaka mangaLa sindhubhairavi (MangaLa)

Monday 21 April 2014

2014 Apr 20 MalladiBrothers embAr kaNNan Tumkur B Ravishankar Tumkur B Shashishankar @ sEshAdripuram school


01 sita lakshmana aTANA adi (O, S)

02 unDEdi rAmuDu. . harikAmbOdhi  (O, S)

03 okkapAri jUDagarAda ... kalAvathi (A, S)

04 nannu viDachi ... rItigauLa (A)

05 aruNAchalanAtham smarAmi sAranga m. Dikshitar 

06 emani ninne ni mahimate mukhAri .. (A N S T)

07 murahara nagadhara p. Dasa  in raga ... shanta mAlava kaushika (o)
rAga is similar to hindOla, but with antara gAndhAra

08  srirAmulu divya nAma .. sAvEri

09 nitya pUja dwijAvanti

10 uyyAla nUgavayya nIlAmbari

11 marali maraLi jaya mangaLam madhyamAvati 


A great concert .. A hatrick century of sorts (If Im permitted to compare it to cricket parlance)

3 days .. back to back concerts in bangalore.. and could not have expected anything more from the brothers.. 


Each krithi was rendered with complete justice.. The violinist and percussion team did add lustre to the concert.

An enjoyable evening to conclude the weekend.

2014 Apr 19 PriyaSisters MAKrishnaswamy DelhiSairam BSPurushottam @ SRSM






01 vanajAksha ninne nammi bEhAg adi TRS



02 pirai aliyum perumAn hamsadhwani BMK



03 suguNamule cheppukoNTi chakravAka tyAgarAja



04 Aragimpave tODi thyAgarAja (A. N.S.)


05 kshitijA ramaNam dEvagAndhari


06 idi nIku nyAyamA  gamanAshrama adi mysUru vAsudEvAchArya (A..N. .S)


07 enna kaDe hAyisuvudu ninna bhAra nIlAmbari


08 shikhi vahana devasenapate hamsadIpaka adi muttayya bhagavatar


09  entara ni tana harikambodhi adi tyAgarAja (A N S T)

10 ekkaDi mAnusha janmam bauLi aNNammAchArya


11 ugAbhOga dIna NAnu samasta lOkake .. DarbAri KAnaDa..

sadA enna hridayadalli vAsa mADu. . DarbAri KAnaDa . . Vijaya Dasa


12 Atmashtaka - Adi Shankaracharya



13 nI nAma rupamulaku saurAshTra Adi thyAgarAja



A concert which had variety [compositions of various composers (St. tyAgarAja , Dishitir, to Varsudevachar and Muthiah Bhagavathar to contemporary composers like Dr. Balamuralikrishna and Prof TRS] and depth in terms of raaga elaboration , meaning of compositions...

The choice of singing Devagandhari after Todi, and Neelambari after Gamanasrama was so refreshing!!

Gamanashrama was top notch, with nerval chosen at anupallavi " Sadayudu Neevani "... A rare composition of Vasudevachar... (I understand MVA has composed in all mELakarta rAgAs as i read it from a book written by his grandson.. A must read for all music lovers)

Ugabhoga and the devarnaama "sadaayenna" in Darbari Kanada was a " delicious desert to listen" which the audience loved before mangalam...

Glad that the sisters have absorbed the music of TRS completely. Gamanashrama is special of TRS. Also the ugaboga Deena naanu samstalokake. 

Sisters have improved a lot since I heard them a couple of years back here on the same stage. My attendance to their next concert is confirmed.

gamanAshrama was a special take away from this concert

Saturday 19 April 2014

2014 Apr 18 1830 Dr.Pantula Rama MSN Murthy J vaidyanathan Vyasavittala CP @ Sree Vani Kala Kendra



Vocal: Vid.Dr.Pantula Rama 
Violin: Vid.MSN Murthy 
Mridanga: Vid.J vaidyanathan 
Khanjira: Vid. Vyasavittala CP

01 sarasa sAma dhAna kApinArAyaNi Adhi tyAgarAja (N, S)

02 paritApamu ganiyADina manOhari rUpaka tyAgarAja

03 hechcharikAgA rA yadhukula kAmbOdhi khanda jhampa tyAgarAja (a, s)

04 kOdanDarAma anisham bhjAmi kOkilAravam Adi m.dhIkshitar

05 shashi vadana bhakta candrajyOti tyAgarAja (A, S)

06 ninnAda nEla nIrajAksha shri rAma kannaDa Adi tyAgarAja

07 sukhi evvarO rAma nAma kAnaDa Adi thyAgarAja (A, T, N, S T)

08 tambUri mITidava bhavAbdhi dATidava sindhubhairavi purandara dhAsa

09 rAma rAma rAma rAma sIta rAma navrOj thyAgarAja

10 aTANA tillana (tOm ta dIm ta)

11 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja 5 pallaviLines

Its almost 18 days into the concert season, and I must thank almighty. The big 6 rAgas have not yet found their place in the lists.. and yet the artists are delivering stellar concerts.

2nd concert of Dr Rama on the trot for me and did not want to miss this in the hindsight of her concert at RSM.

Rain at dusk hinted that its going to be a tough evening. Though the weather had cooled down, rasikas were a bit jittery to attend as it could rain and mar the concert. It did so for a brief period. But the strenght of bhakti and bhAva ensured that it rained elsewhere in Bangalore and not at vANi school.

With a brief outline of kApinAraAyaNi, Dr Rama started of the usual filler track sarasa sAma dAna.. and went on to sing nereval and swaras. The first delicacy of the evening was served with utmost deligence.

Likewise RSM concert, she picked not so regularly heard paritApamu as a filler. manOhari was real manOhari to ears. 

By now the voice had cleared and she started of the next composition with a detailed AlApane of yadukulakAmbOdhi. A detailed alapane ensured a right foundation for the detailed presentation of hechcharikaga rA . Swaras  in sarva laghu and same tempo made their mark.

Another rare kriti .. kOdandaramam... filled in the small space before a detailed alapane for next composition. Except for this.. it was mostly a tyAgarAja affair all through the evening.

chandrajyOthi had all the ingredients to make up for a sub main of the concert. Both artists delivered the rAga bhAva appropriately. shashi vadana carried the bhakti bhAva created during the AlApane ... I was so absorbed in listening the presentation that I thought the Mohra Korvai came in too quickly. Again a good thing in my books.

A brisk filler in kannaDa came in before another sedate presentation of kAnaDa. Since the concert had a delayed start (its almost a daily affair here.. as the concerts start at 6.45 even though the event schedule note says its at 6.30) Dr. Rama dwelled into a brief tAna in kAnaDa. Guessing it to be an RTP.. she quickly took off the pallavi line of the song keeping the audience guessing until she sang the anupallavi of the krithi. I was seated remotely (Singer out of line of sight) and could not see the tAla to make an educated guess of either RTP / krithi.

A detailed tani followed a detailed nereval and swara prastara.

Fillers included sindhubhairavi and navrOj and a tillAna in aTANA. 

Earlier when i had requested another artist to sing a full lenght mangaLa, it was turned down stating that none would be patient to listen to it. However, Dr Rama proved it wrong. For the first time in my attendance to more than 600 concerts.. I heard all the charaNas of pavamana song. Its just the tip of the iceberg of her vidwat.

Mridangist and Khanjira Vidwan played apt supporting role without jarring the volume balance. The percussion was soft throughout the vilamba krithis and had appropriate muktAyis.

Overall it was a memorable evening and a memorable ride with my friend Jackie to this concert. Also got to learn a lot from him in our discussions during the ride.

2014 Apr 17 Kumaresh rONu majumdAr trichy Harikumar Viswanath nAkOD @ SRSM


Violin: Vid.Kumaresh
Flute: Vid rONu majumdAr
Mridanga: Trichy B Harikumar
Tabala: Vishwanath Nakod

01 hamsadhwani - tiSra tripuTa

02 kAfi - kharaharapriya  - Alap, tAna, bhajan in Adi tAla, Tani

03 thumak chalat rAmachandra - rAg gAra ( variant of rAg khamAj)

Wednesday 16 April 2014

2014 Apr 16 Dr.PantulaRama MSN Murthy HS Sudhindra BR Ravikumar @ SRSM


Vocal: 
Vid.Dr.Pantula Rama 
Violin: Vid.MSN Murthy 
Mridanga: Vid.HS Sudhindra 
Ghata: Vid.BR Ravikumar

01 manavi nAlakicha rAdhaTE naLinakAnthi Adhi thyAgarAja


02 baNTu rIthi kOlu vIyavayya rAma hamsanAdha dhEshAdhi thyAgarAja (A, S)


03 E rAmuni nammitinO nE vakuLAbharaNa m.cApu tyAgarAja (A, S)


04 sanAtanA paramapAvanA phalamanjari Adi tyAgarAja


05 parama pAvana rAma pUrvikalyANi Adhi rAmnAd shrInivAsa iyengAr (A, N, S)


06 palukavEmi nA daivamA pUrNachandrika Adi tyAgarAja


07 rAga tAna pallavi nArAyaNi, Adi 2 kaLai, 6 akshara after eDupu, Tani


Pallavi Line: ramanIvE brovavayya sadA varamolasagi srI


rAgamAlika Swaras : sahanA, darbAri kAnaDa


08 rAma rAma rAma sItA husEni rUpaka tyAgarAja


09 mAmava paTTAbhi rAma maNirangu M Eka m.dIkshitar




I had heard her previous concert at Gayana Samaja monthly concert attended by a handful of lucky rasikas and had been impressed so I made it a point to attend her concert this season. I wasn't disappointed.

With a brief setup delay, the concert started with an outline on naLinakAnti and directly dwelled to present manaiv nAlakincha.. without any elaborations.

After the first song, a brief alapana of raga hamsanAda was rendered The swaras in the second kalam rendered had very interesting combinations. Everything perfectly in place.

This was followed by an elaborate alapana of vakulAbharaNa which Im hearing for the first time.. and these are the simple reasons that attracts me to her concert. The kriti was rendered well with embelishment of quick swaras in 2 kalams were rendered.

Brief filler of phlamanjari brought a torrent wave. 

Next pUrvikalyANi was taken for elaboration which lasted for 10 minutes of each performers. She presented some unusual prayogams in the mandrasthayi.  Her ability to traverse mandra with such an ease just indicates the asura sAdhana that must have gone into shaping her music. 

While singing kalpana swaras she sang  in an innovative style. She sang first kala swaras suffixing with first part of the pallavi line and second kala swaras suffixing second part of the pallavi line alternatively. 

palukavEmi nA daivamA  in pUrNachandrika was a filler 

rAga tAna pallavi nArAyaNi, Adi 2 kaLai, 6 akshara after eDupu, Tani
Pallavi Line: ramanIvE brovavayya sadA varamolasagi srI
rAgamAlika Swaras : sahanA, darbAri kAnaDa

Dr Rama commenced in the higher registers and introduced some lovely phrases. In full flow of manOdharma, alapane and tAna singing demonstrated the completeness of her vidwat. Hardly few artists live upto this level of challenge in each concert they present. Dr Rama is one of them. The alapana was something special and hard to describe in words. 

It was apt that pallavi that followed, with its flowing nereval and sangatis. She sang the pallavi with the full energy it deserves. rAgamAlika swarams were beautifully sung. 


Tail pieces included  rAma rAma rAma sItA husEni rUpaka tyAgarAja and mAmava paTTAbhi rAma maNirangu M Eka m.dIkshitar . I had a beat skipped in my heart. Almost at 9.40 in the evening, taking up this majestic krithi, even without any elaborations, she did full justice to the bhAva that the krithi  deserved.

Had to leave after this... and as I understand she sang a sindhubhairavi krithi and mangaLa.

All the kritis in the list were abundantly soaked with bhakthi & full of bhavam. She was singing with so much of dedication and self-enjoyment. She has a very elegant stage presence without much of body movement as she traverses the octaves. It was wonderful to watch her bring out those special brigas and gamakams characteristic of her unique style. 

Needless to elaborate about MSN Murthy's violin accompaniment, exactly matching her style. Even HS Sudheendra on mridangam and B Ravikumar ghatam respectively accompanied her perfectly with a great demonstration of anticipation. It was a great comradrie on display as she kept lauding their playing all thro’ the concert, in appreciation. 

Good things dont come to an end.. It will stay in the mind for a long long time. 

It was an outstanding enthrallment and a well spent evening.

Tuesday 15 April 2014

2014 Apr 15 Ramakrishnan Murthy HM Smitha HSSudhindra Gururaj M @ Sree Vani Kala Kendra


Vocal : Vid. Ramakrishnan Murthy 
Violin : Vid. HM Smitha 
Mridanga: Vid. HS Sudhindra 
Morsing: Vid. Gururaj M 


01 upachAramu jEsE bhairavi rUpaka thyAgarAja (O, N, S)

02 entha vEdukondu O rAghavA saraswathi manOhari Adhi thyAgarAja

03 mInAkshi mE mudam dEhi pUrvikalyANi Adi M.dIkshithar (A, N, S)

04 shrI rangapuravihAra brindhAvana sArangA rUpaA m.dikshitar

05 sAmaja varadA shuddhasAvEri rUpaka pUchi srInivAsa IyengAr

06 rAga kIravANi, tAna kIravANi nATa gauLa Arabhi varALi Sri

   pallavi kIravANi Adi (Edupu  2 beat after samam)

Pallavi Line " DAsharathe karuNApayOnidhe inakula tilaka" rAgamAlika - sahanA, bEhAg and followed by tani

07 kanDu dhanya nAdhe behAg Adhi mOhanaviTTala dhAsa

08 shlOka jAnAti rAma rAgamAlika in bEhAg, Ahiri, nIlAmbari, sindhubhairavi, suraTi..

09 vanga kaDal kaDainda tiruppAvai suraTi rUpaka ANDAL
transition into mangalam


From the very first note of bhairavi outline (sung with 100% diction), it went on improving until the mangalam was sung. 

I ahve been attending Ramakrishna Murthy almost everywhere in Bangalore and this was a concert not to be missed. What a talent. O

A heavy composition of upachAramu surprised me. Expected a bhairavi varna (and my mind was trying to ring a bell on a possible rAma based varNa!!). I was completely proved wrong. . 16+ minutes presentation of the very first song.. finds him in the company of TMK who is known to start the concert with a heavy composition. Nereval and Swaras flowed effortlessly.

HM Smitha has been improving leaps and bounds between each concert, and her dextrous fingers demonstrated that during bhairavi and saraswati manOhari compositions.

enta vendukO was a filler.

The evening had only 2 alapanes , and i would well conculde in hindsight that next composition in pUrvikalyANi / gamakakriya was the sub-main,  with elaborate but superb alapane by both artists, nereval and some lightning quick swaras.

Ranga pura vihara was induced trance. bhAva needed for the krithi was peaking on each note presented. 

Another filler in the form of Samaja Varada (not frequently heard) 

RTP in kIravANi (an impromptu one I believe seeing a small discussion with violinist at the end of alapane by both of them). tAna was presented in form of ghana raga malika and ending in the conclusion the same rAgas were in the reverse order of the ragas he had just sung.

Total confusion.. to guess what would come next.. Pallavi was simple embellished with sahana and bEhAg rAgamAlika swaras.

Smitha, followed the singer like a shadow, playing every sangati. Her accompaniment to RaGa sisters at Gayana Samaja was equally brilliant.

HS Sudheendra and Guruaj played a wonderful and elaborate tani that lasted almost 20 mins. 

Concluding pieces included a mOhanaviTTala dAsa krithi in bEhAg, a detailed shlOka in rAgamAlika (presented with full bhAva and bhakti... it still resonates)

a tiruppAvai in suraTi and transitioning into mangalam kOsalEndrAya.. concluded a great evening.

My attendance to his next concert at sEshAdripuram is confirmed !!

An excellent and emotional concert enjoyed by all immensely. I cant fathom the low attendance to such kind of great concerts that vANi school has been organising.


Monday 14 April 2014

2014 Apr 14 O S Thyagarajan G Chandramouli Umayalpuram Mali Srishyla @ sEshAdripuram



Vocal: Vid O S Thyagarajan
Violin : Vid G Chandramouli
Mridanga : Vid Umayalpuram Mali
Ghata: Vid Srishyla

A Complete thyAgarAja Affair...

01 dinamaNi vamsha harikAmbhOji Adi tyAgarAja (O, S)

02 muddumOmu ElAgu celangEnO sUryakAnta tALa thyAgarAja (O)

03 ETi janmam idhi varALi tripuTa thyAgarAja (A, S)

04 rAmA daivamA rAga rAga suraTi tyAgarAja (O, S)

05 sattalEni dInamulu vachchenA nAganandini Adi thyAgarAja

06 dvaitamu sukhamA advaitamu sukhamA rItigauLa Adi tyAgarAja (A, N, S , T)

07 Sri rAmam dasharathAtmajam  (shlOka) sahana shaNmukhapriya  hamsAnandi nIlAmbari

08 uyyAla lUgavayyA shrI rAma nIlAmbari jhampa thyAgarAja

09 nAdupai balikEru madhyamAvati khaNDa cApu thyAgarAja

10 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja


thyAgarAja must have been very happy yesterday for 2 reasons..
1. A concert full of his concerts
2. A right blend of voice, melody, tempo to glitter already grand and divine composition set being presented in a brisk 2.5 hrs concert.


This was the first concert for me of the season at sEshAdripuram. Was there on time at the start of the concert.

dinamaNi started with a rAga outline. Very rarely sung rAga now a days on the concert stage. This was presented well. Open mouthed singing of swaras drew parallel to the rain drops making swara sound at every syllable.

muddumOmu another masterpiece from thyAgarAja was embellished with brisk swaras. Violinist in his unique playing posture followed eloquently.

varALi AlApane for the first of the weekend.  Even though short, it set the right tone for the viLamba kAla detailed presentation of ETi janma.

When the suraTi outline started , my day was made. All the effort to attend this concert was satisfied when one of my favourite rAgas was taken up. My joy was short lived as it was only an outline. However, the krithi and its swara elaboration compensated for it.

sattalEni was a brisk filler

rItigauLa occupied the grand main spot in the concert. rAga AlApane was detailed and violinist did an equally good job in his turn. nereval and swaras followed during the dwaitamu sukhamA presentation received abundant applause from the audience.

Tani was as detailed as alapane. Vid Mali and Vid. Srishayla presented detailed 2 rounds before winding up.

shlOka elaboration on rAma " sri rAmam daSharAtmajam.... " was heart touching and appropriate rAgas represented the mood of rAma dhyAna.

First tail peice transitioned from nIlAmbari part of shlOka. nAdupai  was brisk.

Concert ended with standard mangala.

Did not realise that by this time 2.5 hrs was clocked.

It was indeed an evening well spent


Sunday 13 April 2014

2014 Apr 13 1830 SanjaySubrahmanyan S Varadarajan Neyveli Venkatesh B Rajashekhar @ SRSM



Vocal: Vid. Sanjay Subrahmanyan
Violin : Vid S Varadarajan
Mridanga: Vid Neyveli Venkatesh
Morsing: Vid B Rajashekhar

01 sAmi idi vELa varNa kannaDa paTNam subhramanaya iyer

02 srI varalakSmi srI rUpaka muttuswami dhIkshitar (S)

03 nannu viDachi kadhalaku rA rIthigowLa chApu thyAgarAja (A,S)

04 niravadi sukhadA ravichandraka Adi thyAgarAja (A, S)

05 dAsharathE dayAsharade kOkilapriyA Adi thyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)

06 Indu shruti smriti baLasi sArutide kOsala Jhampa purandara dAsa

07 rAga bahudAri

08 rAgamAlika tAna - bahudAri shaNkarAbharaNa hindOLa hamIrkalyANi tODi varALi  sahAna bhairavi hamsAnandi

09 pallavi tiSra jAti khaNDa naDai jhampa  eDupu after 5 akshara
Pallavi Line: kandanaDi avar enakku swanthamaDi vaLLi manALa naDi

10 manamE rAmanai pAda maravAdhe sindhubhairavi Adi MDR

11 akhila charAchara (Viruttum) tirumaZhar vayyil iraivaNNin khamAs

12 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja


Sanjay is one of the few main stream vidhwans whom we can always expect some innovations. New things but well within the boundary of pure carnatic music. Even the almighty knew it even before the concert started. 

The rain that started even before the concert showered its blessings and applause for almost 40 mins. This was the second shower of the season, but the first one right at the concert hour. I just thanked almighty for indicating what is going to come through the evening.

The brisk humming of Kannada gave ample indication to rasika that he will be getting a whole sum Treat. After humming kannada sanjay sang a varnam, even though short had all ingredients of a typical varnam.

Sri was next and Sanjay voice was so nice that Sri Varalakshmi would have been smiling all the way when he presented the MD song.

Varadarajan was giving his best. Returned all Sanjay’s swaras well.

rItigauLa AlApane was very melodious and the kIrtana followed was also good.

Then Sanjay presented two lovely back to back alapanas , we can say three including ritiguLa.

Ravichandrika and kokilapriya alapana were really highlights of this concert.

A vidhwan or vidhushi can sustain rasikas interest well when they present a detailed AlApane of known ragas like kalyANi, tODi or shankarAbharaNa etc.

But to make rasika appreciate with involvement of lesser elaborated ragas in concert circuit like Ravichandrika or Kokilapriya really need boldness and guts. Only Sanjay can do this.

Sanjay sang niravadai sukada elaborately which usually appear as fast filler in concert circuit. Sanjay’s journey in taking lesser elaborated ragas moved to RTP also,he gave a good bahudari alapana.

Another surprise was tana malika,array of ragas followed bahudari tanam,shankarabaranam (not elaborated well), hindOLa, hamIr kalyANi,tODi, varALi, sahAnA and ended with hamsAnandi.

But I was not impressed with tanamalika ,reason will be given shortly.

The pallavi line was "kannadanadi avan enaku sondamadi,valli manalanadi" 

The pallavi was in praise of lord muruga, a girl who loves "muruga" says to her fiend with so much confidence that lord muruga who married valli is her relative or her lover also.

Sanjay is one of the few vidhwans who not only sing but also bring lot of emotions or rasas in his songs or pallavi line.

I am imagining if the ragas sanjay selected for tana malika could have been used for pallavi ragamalika swaras it would have been fabulous. Pallavi was very short after few rounds of bahudAri swaras he wounded the pallavi.

He could have brought muruga’s courage or bravery in shankarabharana swaras and pallvi line, could have brought romantic rasa in hamirkalyani or happiness in hindoLA, majestic feeling in tODi, helplessness in varALi and saraNAgati or karunyam in sahAnA and desperate feeling in hamsAnandi..Sanjay !! we missed all this. The pallavi line was also more suited for bringing nava rasas. KhamAs virutam and song on kApAlEswara was very nice.

Over all a good concert with lot of sowkyam and innovations, that is expected from master correct.

When almighty himself had applauded even before the concert, I ran short of words to thank him for getting me this memorable evening. The audience did their part at the end with a long standing ovation.

2014 Apr 12 KJ yEsudAs SR mahadEva sharma TiruvArur Bhaktavatsalam Dr.Karthick @ SRSM


Vocal: Vid Dr. K J Yesudas
Violin: Vid S R Mahadeva Sharma
Mridanga: Vid. Tiruvarur V Bhaktavatsalam,
Ghata: Vid. Dr. Karthick

01 navarAgamAlika varna

02  amrithavarshini alapane fwd by OmkAra rUpane gaNanAthane
A tamil song translated by movie director ravi for this concert (S)

03 shlOka fwd by pAvana guru pavanam Ashraye hamsAnandi

04 story on mOhana experience. ..
MOhana Alapane fwd by turugAya banda gOpiya kanda

04 endarO mahAnubhAvulu Sri Adi thyAgarAja

05 ItanIga vAsudEvanu samasta lOkadoDeya (A, S)

06 kshIra sAgara nannu dEvagAndhAri

07 rAma rAma guNasIma simhEndramadhyama  Adi (A N S T)

08 info on kanakadasa movie by movie director Ravi 
tiruppArkaDalil PallikonDAyil bhairavi

09 rAjIva nEtrAya brindAvana sAranga

10  bhaja gOvindam Ahir bhairav and ragamalika

11 karpUra priyane ninna kathe kELi

12 pibare rAma rasam Ahir bhairav

13 intro to gowrishri rAga
AparAdhi nAnalla aparAdha enagilla gowrishri p.DAsa 

14 haivarAsanam..

15 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

2014 Apr 11 Saketharaman ASubhalakshmi NeyveliNarayanan Dr.Karthik @ SRSM



Vocal: Vid: Saketharaman
Violin : Vid Akkarai Subhalakshmi
Mridanga: Vid.Neyveli Narayanan
Ghatam : Vid.Dr.Karthik

01 ErA nApai inta caUkasEya tOdi Adi paTNam subhramaNya iyer

02 jaya jaya jaya jAnaki kAntha nATa khaNDa chApu puranDhara dhAsa

03 rAmanukku mannan muDi tarittAle nanmai hindOLa Adi aruNAcala kavi (A, )

04 challarE rAmachandhru nIpai Ahiri tripuTa tyAgarAja

05 sudhA mAdhurya bhAshaNa sindhurAmakriya Adhi thyAgarAja

06 jAnaki pathe jaya kAruNya jaladhe kharaharapriya Adhi pApanAsham shivan (A, N, S, T)

07 calamElara sAkEtra rAmA mArgahindOLam Adhi tyAgarAja

08 raga tana pallavi desh
  TALa: khaNDa tripuTa chaturaSra purvAnga tiSra uttarAnga 
  rAgamALika  dEsh sAvEri hamsanAda
  Pallavi Line: raghuvIram rAghavam rAmam bhajAmi...  dayAnidhim sadA sri
09 bArO KrishNayyA mAND Adhi KanakadhAsa

10 rAma rAma x4 ennirO vasantha thishra Adhi puranDhara dhAsa

11 tAm tAm taka tOm tOm taka tadhIrana (tillAna) vAsanthi
12 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

2014 Apr 10 GayathriVenkataraghavan PadmaShankar GanapathyRaman SukanyaRamagopal @ SRSM



Vocal: Vid.GayathriVenkataraghavan

Violin: Vid Padma Shankar
Mridanga: Vid. Ganapathy Raman
Ghata: Vid.Sukanya Ramagopal



01 jagadhAnadhakAraka nAta Adhi thyAgarAja

02 smaraNe ondhe sAladhE malapaka puranDhara dhAsa (S)

03 marivEre dikkevvaru laTAngi khanda chApu patNam subrahmaNya iyer (A, S)

04 kshIra sAgara shayana dhEvagAnDhAri Adhi thyAgarAja (A)

05 srI rAma nAma bhajana sai maname aTANA Adi pApanAsham shivan

06 chakkani rAja mArgamu kharaharapriya Adhi thyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)

07 sApasya kousalyA jOanpuri Adi thirupazhanam panchApakEsayyar

08 yAdava nI bA yadukula nandana kApi purandaradAsa

09 viruttum 

10 pibarE rAma rasam Ahirbhairav Adi sadASiva brahmEnd

11 tillana

12 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja


Skipped yesterday's Dr. Nityashree concert as my daughter was performing bharatanATya seva at another temple premises on account of rAma navami.

Concert had a good gathering of audience when it started on time. Having missed last year concert of this artist, she was on my list to attend this year. 

A fast paced jagadAnandakAraka set the tone of what to come in the evening. Already being fed with the delicacies since last 2 evenings, I was up against another set of sumptuous evening filled with vidwat and bhAva.

swarAs of malayamAruta came in like a cool evening breeze that swept away the audience. I saw a spark of confidence in the musical conversation between the singer and violinist.

It indeed sailed into latAngi AlApane and the marivEre krithi that followed. 

The bliss was evident in the soft presentation of kshIra sAgara. The violinist who had tuned the violin to lower G added melody to dEvagAndhAri presentation. It was indeed the best of the presentation till this point.

aTANA composition took the place of a filler.

kharaharapriya alapane drew the loudest applause for both vocalist and vioinist. The mellifluous voice and violin nAda added grandure to already majestic krithi.

kalpana swaras flowed so smooth... It was an ultimate demonstration of view at and confidence. 

Tani that followed demonstrated the virtuosity and calibre of both the percussionist. 

The flare and energy of the team continued into the tail pieces.

Indeed it was an evening well spent. Resolved not to miss her next concert when I have an opportunity to attend.

2023 Apr 30 AbhishekRaghuram HNBhaskar PatriSatishKumar OjasAdhya @ SRSM

Vocal: Vid. AbhishekRaghuram  Violin: Vid. HNBhaskar   Mridanga: Vid. PatriSatishKumar   Tabala: Vid. OjasAdhya Venue / Organiser: SRSM, For...