2026 Mar 29 BharatSundar SayeeRakshit DelhiSairam AnirudhAttreyya Seshadripuram

Vocal: Vid. BharatSundar 

Violin : Vid. SayeeRakshit 

Mridanga: Vid. DelhiSairam 

Khanjira: Vid. AnirudhAttreyya 

Venue / Organiser :  Seshadripuram

01 jagadAnanda kAraka nATa Adi tyAgarAja

02 ninne nera nammi nAnu pantuvarALi rUpaka tyAgarAja (N at vEda shaAstra purANa, S)

03 evarIkai avatAram ettitivO dEvamanOhari m.cApu tyAgarAja

04 bAgAyenayya candrajyOti Adi Tyagaraja (A, S  at bAgAyenayya)

05 karpaga manOhara malayamAruta KhandaJhampa pApanAsam sivan

06 kaligi yuntE gadhA kIravANi Adi Tyagaraja (A, N, S, T)

07 jagadOddhArana kApi Adhi Purandara dhAsa

08 tillAna khamAs Adi BharatSundar and Mangala

2026 Mar 27 RamakrishnanMurthy SayeeRakshit DelhiPSairam Seshadripuram

Vocal: Vid. RamakrishnanMurthy 

Violin: Vid. SayeeRakshit 

Mridanga: Vid. DelhiPSairam 

Venue / Organiser Seshadripuram

01 brOchevArevarE srI ranjani Adi Tyagaraja (S)

02 lOkAvana catura pAhimAm bEgaDA Adi tyAgarAja

03 vADEra deivamu manasA-pantuvarALi-Adi Tyagaraja (A, N, S)

04 rAma nAma pAyasake Anandhabhairavi rUpaka p.dAsa (A, S)

05 rAma embO eraDakshara (kEdAra gaULA kEDaragauLa) m.cApu (KASHI) p.dAsa 

      (A in kEdAra, gauLa , kEdAragauLa, S in all 2 ragas, and seamless movement between the 3) 

06 rAma rAma kalikalusha rAmakali m.dIkshitar

07 niravadi sukhadA ravichandrikA Adi thyAgarAja

08 enduku dayarAdura tOdi miSra-cApu Tyagaraja (A, N at tyAgarAja vinuta, S, T)

09 hechcharikAgA rA yadhukula kAmbOdhi khanda jhampa tyAgarAja

10 sApasya kousalyA jOanpuri Adi thirupazhanam panchApakEsayyar

11 shlOka jAnAti rAma (rAgamAlikA)

12 mannupugaz kosalaidan Durga mAyAmAlavaguLa sAranga hindOLa nIlAmbari rUpaka kulasekara azwar

13 shObAne vadhanAdhuthi jithasOma kAmavarDhini rUpaka tyAgarAja

14 dhirana tana dhImta TILLANA junjhUTi vIna seshaNNa

15 rAmachandrAya janaka mangaLam kuranji bhadrAcala rAmadas

2023 Mar 31 VishnudevNambootiri CharulataRamanujam HSSudheendra RanganathaChakravarthy @ Seshadripuram

Vocal: Vid. VishnudevNambootiri 

Violin: Vid. CharulataRamanujam 

Mridanga: Vid. HSSudheendra 

Ghata: Vid. RanganathaChakravarthy 

VEnue/ Organiser : Seshadripuram Sri Rama Seva Samiti

01 vandisuvudadiyali gaNanAtha nATa khaNDa chApu Purandara Dasa (O, S)

swaras at  vandisuvudadiyali gaNanAthana

02 jananI ninnuvinA rIthigouLa chApu subbarAya shAsthri

03 rAma rAma pAhi varivAha shyAma shri Devagandhari rUpaka swAti tirunAL (V)

Viruttum line: kodaNDA kIksha gurum apramEyam 

04 baNTurIthi kOlu vIyavayya rAma hamsanAdha dhEshAdhi tyAgarAja (N, S)

nereval and swaras at rAma nAma mane

05 kaligi yuntE gadhA kIravANi Adi tyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)

nereval at bAguga srI raghu

06 rAga tANa pallavi bahudAri k.tripuTa , 2 kaLai 2 beats before samam

Pallavi Line: sugNa shIla sAketa puravAsa dasharatha putra mAmava rAma sakala parama

rAgamALika in aTANA, kApi

07 rAma nAmamE tudi manamE dEsh Tanjavur Sankara iyer

08 rAma rAma rAma rAma rAma ennirO sItA tilang k.cApu PurandaraDasa

09 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi tyAgarAja

2018 Apr 02 MalladiBrothers NishanthChandranL TumkurRavishankar Srishaila @ Seshadripuram

Vocal: Vid. MalladiBrothers 
Violin: Vid. NishanthChandranL 
Mridanga: Vid. TumkurRavishankar 
Ghata: Vid. Srishaila 

Venue / Occasion : Ramanavami Sangeethotsava / Sree Rama Seva Samiti, SeshAdripuram

01 dasharatha nandana dAnava mardhana asAvEri Adi tyAgarAja (O)

02 mArubalka kuna vEmira mA manOramanNa shrIranjani Adi x2 tyAgarAja (S)
swaras@ mArubalka

03 O rAjIvAksha Arabhi tripuTa tyAgarAja (A, N, S)
nereval @ mAvara suguNa

04 sri gAyatri valaji TALA OgirAla vIrarAghava sharma (O)

05 shEshAchala nAyakam bhajAmi varALi rUpaka m.dhIkshithar (A,  S)
swaras @ sEshAchala nAyakam

06 kanugoNTini bilahari dEshAdi tyAgarAja

07 sukhi evvarO rAma nAma kAnaDa Adi tyAgarAja (A, T)

08 murahara nagaDhara nInE gathi shAnta mALava kaushika p.dAsa

09 avatArO raghupate khamAs aNNammAchArya

10 sharaNAgata rakshaka yamunakalyANi bhadrachala rAmadas

11 mangala shlOka

2017 Apr 23 SangeethaKalanidhi AKanyakumari VittalRangan PatriSatishKumar BRajashekar @ sEshAdripuram

Violin: Vid. SangeethaKalanidhi AKanyakumari 

Violin Support: Vid. VittalRangan 

Mridanga: Vid. PatriSatishKumar 

Morsing: Vid. BRajashekar 

Occasion: 69th Ramanavami Sangeethotsava / Sree Rama Seva Samiti, SeshAdripuram

Venue: SEshAdripuram Educational Trust, Bangalore

01 karimukha varada nATa GNB (O, S)

02 kripa jUchuTaku vELara ChayA tharangiNi Adi tyAgarAja

03 mAmava paTTAbhi rAma maNirangu M Eka m.dIkshitar

04 composition in rAga krishNa by venkaTagiri rAja son (A)

05 I vasudhA nIvanti dhaivamu shahana Adi tyAgarAja (A, 

06 rAgamAlika AlApane followed by BhAvayAmi raghurAmam rAgamAlike rUpaka swAthi thirunAL

07 raghuvamsha sudhAbudhi kadhanakuthUhala Adi paTNam subrahmaNya Iyer

08 rAga tAna kharaharapriyA followed by chakkani rAja mArgamu kharaharapriyA Adi tyAgarAja (R, T, N, S, T)

neraval @ kanTiki Sundara

ragamAlika swaras in infinite number of rAgas

09 rAmachandru niipuDu raghuvIruDu dwijAvanti aNNamAchArya

10 sindhubhairavi tillAna LGJ ?

11 venkatAchala nilayam sindubhairavi purandaradAsar

12 bhAgyAda lakshmi bAramma madhyamAvati Adi purandaradhAsa

13 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adi tyAgarAja

I had not had an opportunity to listen to the newly crowned Sangeetha Kalanidhi for quite some time, especially after the announcement of the award. While I have had the opportunity to listen to her next-gen disciples who have been making their mark for quite some time, including the latest addition of Nishanth Chandran, the craving was at a high level.

The options for today was quite clear. I had never been to any such long festival in recent times, on the last (nostalgic) day. Expecting a packed hall, I was there almost 60 mins early and also the beat the infamous Bangalore Traffic.

The crowd starting pouring in, and the packed audience were waiting for the climax day of the season. SK Vid. A Kanyakumari had a special felicitation on occasion of her first performance in Bangalore after receiving the coveted glory.

The ease with which she took off to set the stage demonstrated her standard rituals of offering her meditative prayers to almighty at the beginning of the concert.

The nATa outline reverberated throughout the college corridor, adding luster to the already husky timbre of her pick-up mic violin. Though it appeared dilapidated than her recent pictures on web, the sound was still strong. karimukha varada, a composition of GNB set the tone for a long evening. The kalpana swaras were played outright in 2nd speed with Vittal Rangan getting an opportunity to demonstrate his talent in glimpses of swaras. They were well accompanied by enthusiastic percussion duo of Vid. Patri Satish Kumar and Vid. B Rajashekar.

kripa jUchuTaku was a filler without any embellishments.

maNirangu outline AlApane was done solo, leading into the ever popular mAmava paTTabhirama. Another evocative pace dealt the nuances of maNirangu brilliantly. There was no hurry in the presentation.

Vid. A Kanyakumari demonstrated why she was a worthy recipient of the coveted SK through her own invention KRISHNA rAga AlApane which was ably filled by Vid. Vittal Rangan who also had a sneak peek slot in between to fill up. The composition played next was on river Krishna. Though it’s a janya of chArukEshi, there were no overtones of it while they played all through the composition.

Audience requests kept pouring in ... through the performance and during the breaks. Mani mAma (an ardent fan of SK AK who was even earlier than me at the hall) put out a spontaneous request so loudly from the audience seat, it would not be turned down by the artists on the stage. The audience applauded the due consideration that was meted.  What followed then was a pure bliss SahAna AlApane and I vasudha.. delivered in a leisurely pace. 

One of the audience requested for bhAvayAmi (rAgamAlika) and was duly honoured in place of a competing request for rAma katha sudha (madhyamAvati). A detailed rAgamAlika AlApane set the stage for a veritable presentation of bhAvayAmi.

At this point, I was seriously considering standing guard to the stairs, to stop new rasikas requests and allow the artists to dwell into their plans for the day. But the situation did not warrant so.

Any instrumental concert cannot miss a kadanakutuhala piece, and this was no exception. Quite creatively presented the chitteswaras with many wah wah korappus to embellish and provide additional opportunity for the percussionists to improvise it.

A detailed rAga and tAna in kharaharapriya was shared by both violinists. An unhurried, more than 30 mins of chakkani rAja and equally long and creative tani marked the hightlight for the grand finale concert of the season at sEshAdripuram.

Few tail pieces were presented after a formal Vote of Thanks. It was a memorable season indeed at sEshAdripuram this year with few notable concerts to remember for a long time for me.

2017 Apr 09 AbhishekRaghuram VittalRamamurthy RShankarnarayan PramthKiran @ sEshAdripuram

Vocal: Vid. AbhishekRaghuram 
Violin: Vid. VittalRamamurthy 
Mridanga: Vid. RShankarnarayan 
Morsing: Vid. PramthKiran 

Occasion: 69th Ramanavami Sangeethotsava / Sree Rama Seva Samiti, SeshAdripuram
Venue: SEshAdripuram Educational Trust, Bangalore

01 dasharatha nandana dAnava mardhana asAvEri Adi tyAgarAja

02 koluvaiyunnADe kOdanDapANi bhairavi Adi tyAgarAja (A, N, S)
Nereval @ manasU rangillu

03 sItApate nA manasuna siddhantamani yunnanu khamAs Adi tyAgarAja(A, N, S, T)
nereval @ prEma jUchi pedda manasu

04 endarO mahAnubhAvulu andarIki vandanamu shrI tyAgarAja (A)

05 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adi tyAgarAja

2017 Apr 08 RanjaniGayathri HMSmitha DelhiPSairam SukanyaRamgopal @ sEshAdripuram

Vocal: Vid. Ranjani Vid. Gayathri
Violin: Vid. HM Smitha
Mridanga: Vid. Delhi P Sairam
Ghata: Vid. Sukanya Ramgopal

Occasion: 69th Ramanavami Sangeethotsava / Sree Rama Seva Samiti, SeshAdripuram
Venue: SEshAdripuram Educational Trust, Bangalore

01 smaraNe onde sAladE malayamArutha rUpaka p.dAsa

02 marivEre dikkevaraiyya rAmA shaNmukhapriya Adi paTNam subramaNya iyer (A, N, S)
nereval @ sannutAga srI vEnkatEsha ninnu

03 hiraNmayIm lakSmim sadA lalitA m.dikshitar

04 manasu swAdhIna maina shankarAbharaNa rUpaka tyAgarAja (A, S, T)
swaras @ tanuvu

05 enai nI maravAdE amritavarshini dandapANi dEsigar

06 RTP kApi chaturaSra jhampa (chaturaSra, TiSra) naDai
pallavi line: mAvama paTtAbhirAma . . . mAruti sannuta nAma
rAgamAlika swaras in varALi, mukhAri, bEhAg, (nIlamaNi and rEvati)- Parallel presentation

07 kELO sacharita (mAND darbAri kAnaDa bAgEshri dEsh) p.dAsa

08 rAma nAma maNata junjhUTi tukArAm Abhang

09 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adi tyAgarAja

2016 rAmanavami Season Review

Here is a take representing the best of best of the concerts that I attended during rAmanavami 2016 :

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Being one of the busiest for me (I could cover around 25 concerts in 30 days - 20 odd posts [few combined] and 5400 visits to my page), I had to take a break from both music and work to return to my regular schedule. Hence you see a long break from my previous post to update the whole season experience.

The best part of the season in Bangalore in contrast to Margazhi is that all the concerts are held in evening, barring the budding artists who occupy the first evening slots early. Inspite of early office schedule, I have foregone the whole junior artist concerts and their reviews. That is a great miss as SRSM this year conducted RTP concerts as a competition for the title "pratibhAkAnkshi". Attending them would have helped me add new artists to my "To Attend" list for future.

Soaring heat during the day time ensured smooth traffic as people sought shelter to roads and did drain my energy too. It was for the first time in these many years of listening, I started carrying water to the hall instead of wincheater / rain coat! 

With many artists on my list clashing on few days, I had to make a tough choice to cover the concerts in atleast 1 sabha during the season. 

I regret missing Malladi @ Vani School, MS Sheela @ Vani School, Saketaraman @ SRSM, Mysore Brothers @ SRSM and Aruna Sairam @ SRSM.

Disclaimer.

This is a ranking of my experience. The categories listed well before the season, and few added on the go during the season, considering the charm out of the performance. I may have certainly missed a better one for the very reason of being possible to attend at one place.

Others can pitch in with their attendance / experience. 

Particular Concert (= Man of the Match)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Best Vocal (solo / duet): 

Vijay Siva @ SRSM

TMKrishna @ SRSM

Malladi @ Seshadripuram

Best violin accompaniment: 

Charumathi Raghuraman for Vijay Siva

HK Venkatram for TMK @SRSM

Best Mridanga accompaniment : 

K U Jayachandra Rao -(ChitavINa ravikiran @ Vani School)

R shankranarayanan ( K-JK @ Vani School)

Best Upa pakkavadya accompaniment : 

Giridhar Udupa - with Sowmya

S Krishna - with Vijay Shiva

Whole Season (Player of the Series)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Best violin accompaniment : Charulatha Ramanujam

Best Mridanga accompaniment : K U Jayachandra Rao

Best Upa pakkavadya accompaniment : Giridhar Udupa

Best Songs of the Concerts

Best opening

Best opening piece: TMK tODI (ShrI kriShNam bhaja mAnasa)

Best Sub Main

Sanjay - kArubAru (mukhari) @ SRSM

Malladi Brothers - nI maDi challaga ( Anandabhairavi)  @ sEshAdripuram

Best main 

?? - tough choice

Most intricate pallavi / Tala

Vijay Siva (7*7 - there were plenty of 8*5s)

Neraval is really tough! 

A tie between 

Aragimpave (Malladi @ Seshadripuram ) with 

mANikya makuTa hAra valaya dhara (VS @ SRSM)

Best non rAma main song

Vijay Shiva with best non Rama main

Best stand alone item: 

Bhairavi swarajathi  (TMK @ SRSM)

Best short AlApanE: 

nAyakI  (Sowmya @ SRSM)

Best violin response to an AlApane : 

Gaula by HK Venkatram (TMK @ SRSM)

Best mELakarta of the season

Quite difficult to zero on one,  many familiar and repeats.. diluted this category

Surprising mELakarta of the season

None worth the mention, many familiar and repeats..

Best each grama janya rendition

A test for myself.. I have not yet put a thought about it

Best Swaras 

nATTakuranji RTP JK @ Vani School 

kharaharapriya ( Nagavalli Nagaraj - Vani shcool)

Best tani

K U Jayachandra Rao  / N Amruth - wtih ChitavINa ravikiran @ Vani School

R shankranarayana / Giridhar Udupa ( K-JK @ Vani School)

ArunPrakash / SKrishna (TM Krishna @ Seshadripuram)

Ranked Double Headers

1. TMK

2. RKM

3. Malladi 

Best Fillers / Best tukkada

guru karuNa honduvudu parama durlabhavayya kIravANi Adi p.dAsa (KJY @ SRSM)

yAre rangana - (K-JK @ vANi SChool)

karuNinchi brOva rAda bangALa Adi mysUru vAsudEva AchArya  (Nagavalli Nagaraj @ Vani School)

Best Viruttam / sloka: 

Tie between S Shankar  and Vijay Shiva

best R .. best T..  best P

Raga: Mohana by Sanjay @ SRSM

Tana: shanmukhapriya by Sowmya @ SRSM

Pallavi : Vijay Siva  @ SRSM

Most seen artist 
Charulata Rmanujam - 7 concerts

Best veteran of the season
K J Yesudas @ SRSM

Best Kannada song rendition by a non kannada mother tongue artist - 
RKM @ sEshAdripiuram and 
RKM @ SRSM

Best main worth song rendered in short
pakkala nilabadi (Malladi @ SRSM), (TMK @ SRSM)

Best vilambakala krithi

Sri Krishnam bhaja mAnasa by TMKrishna @ SRSM

Best leisurely ending - 

Mangala by Nagavalli Nagaraj @ Vani School

Most repeated Raga 

(madhyamavati , shankarabharana , manirangu, .. the list goes on..)

Least repeated popular Raga

shankarabharana !

New Songs of the season

- - - - - - - - - - - -

viribONi kEdAragauLa miSra jhampe rudrapaTNam venkaTaramaNayya 

srImati janaka jAte rAmAyana guNa bhUte darbAri kAnaDa Adi Dr shatAvadhAni Ganesh

tillAna sumanEsaranjani Adi Dr shatAvadhAni Ganesh

Trivial:

- - - - - - - - - - - -

1. Best on time delivery sabha

SeshAdripuram

SRSM - Fort High School

Vani School

2. Best ambience / Background Stage Setup

Vani School

SRSM

Seshadripuram (too much background light)

3. Best sound system engineer

Vani SChool

Seshadripuram

Fort High SChool

4. Most interesting vot

By Dr Shatavadhani Ganesh @ Vani School after Dr. Nagavalli Nagaraj concert.

5. Refreshing changes of the season

a. pendal at vani shcool- saved atleast 3 concerts from washout in the last leg of this season

b. improved sound system at Seshadripuram

c. canteen at SRSM

6. Desiring for more

a. leakproof SRSM pendal

b. ontime closure of junior concerts at Vani School (to provide full slots for seniors)

It was quite a miracle for organizers and artists to keep performing despite all the soaring heat at Bangalore. The regular rain coat in my bag was replaced by a full water bottle.

The season also introduced me to a couple of new friends who are in touch with me even after the season has ended. The organisers at SRSM made an announcement of start of the next season - Apr 5th 2017. Looking forward for an engaging season and more coverage for larger rasika community.

2016 Apr 27, 28 - Ramakrishnan Murthy - Double Header @ Bangalore

2016 Apr 27 RamakrishnanMurthy CharumathiRaghuraman AnanthaRKrishnan Guruprasanna @  Seshadripuram

Courtesy: poor lighting arrangements on stage !

01 vanajAkSi ninne kalyANi varNa aTa PSI

02 tuLasi daLamula chE mAyAmALavagowLa rUpaka thyAgarAja (N, S)

nerval @ sarasIruha punnAga

03 idu bhAgya idu bhAgya bilahari Adi p.dAsa (A, N, S)

04 mAyammA eni nI pilachithE Ahiri Adhi shyAmA shAsthri

05 brOva bhAramA raghurAmA bahudAri Adi tyAgarAja

06 mAmava paTTAbhi rAma maNirangu M Eka m.dIkshitar (A, S, T)

07 rAga tAna pallavi pUrvikalyANi , MiSra tripuTa ( 11beats , 44 akshara) (T)

Pallavi Line: daSharatha bAla rAmachandrayyA dayAnidhE

08 viruttum

09 rAmanai taruvAi sindubhairavi aruNAcala kavi

10 vanga kaDal kaDainda tiruppAvai suraTi rUpaka ANDAL

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2016 Apr 28 Ramakrishnan Murthy BU Ganesh Prasad V Praveen Guruprasanna @ SRSM

01 shlOka 
a. sadguru gajAsya vANi..(in kAmbOdhi)
b. brahmAnandam prama sukha.. (in aTANA)
followed by brihaspathe aTANA tiSra tripuTa m.dIkshitar

02 evaranI nirNayinchi dhEvAmruthavarshiNi Adi thyAgarAja (S)
swara @ evarani

03 kanakana ruchirA varALi Adhi thyAgarAja (A, S)
swara @ kAminchi

04 parAkEla nannu paripAlimpa murari sOdari amba kEdAragauLa Adi shyAmA shAsthri

05 nI Bhajana gAna nAyaki Adhi thyAgarAja (S)

06 pOgAdiralO rangA shankarAbaraNa k.cApu p.dAsa (A, N, S, T)

07 viruttum (vAme bhUmisutA..)

rAgamAlike in tODi , bEgaDe

08 brochEva revarura kamAs mysore vasudevachar

09 haridAsulu vEDalE yamunAkalyANi Adi thyAgarAja

10 nInyAko ninna hangyAko RMK in janjhUTi punnAgavarALi nAdanAmakriya Sindhubhairavi Adhi p.dhAsa

11 rAmachandrAya janaka mangaLam kuranji bhadrAcala rAmadas followed by
mangalam kOsalEndrAya

Concert Experience

Indian classical music thrives on the inherent tension between the old and new. The art form and its grammar are fairly hoary (even if you don't go back all the way to the sAma vEda, the modern form of the music itself is at least a couple of centuries old - the time of the Trinity). However, each performance is in-situ and in the current moment. 

The challenge for any performer to create something new and unique everytime s/he steps on the stage, while maintaining the link to the base grammar.

Vidwan Ramakrishnan Murthy (referred to as RKM here-on) is one of the most exciting young talents in our art form. To me, what distinguishes him from most of his contemporaries is his focus on rakti rAgas, wherein most other young singers seem taken in with the scalar ragas like kiravANI, latAngI or the multitude of aUDavA ragas that abound our rAga landscape. This also reflects in his more relaxed kAlapramANa as against the thrill of speed that seems to catch most other youngsters' fancy.

The evidence of this was on full display across the two days - the choice of rAgAs seemed a throwback to a time long gone. Also, he took up two purandaradAsa compositions as main pieces on both days - my usual carp has been that the pitAmahA's music has been usually relegated to fast fillers and the tukkaDA section!

On day 1 (27 Apr), we had bilaharI, maNirangu and pUrvikalyANI as the main rAgAs that were elaborated. Even the shortened pieces were in mAyAmALavagAULA, AhirI and bahudArI.

It's been a long time since I heard an elaboration of bilaharI, and it was a very pleasant experience to say the least. The kritI was new for me at least - a purandaradAsa pada in khandachApu, very reminiscent of tOLi janma and paridAnamicchitE. Elaborate neraval was also done in the charaNa.

maNirangu was taken up for elaboration, followed by mAmava paTTAbhirAmA - the only regret was that that neraval was not taken up - he seemed to halt at navaratna maNTapE as if deciding whether to launch into neraval but sadly decided against it. Otherwise, a classical rendition, followed by what was to be the first of the two tanI AvartanEs of the day.

pUrvikalyANI was chosen for RTP. The pallavI sahitya (daSharatha bAla rAmachandrayyA dayAnidhE) is quite an old one, and it was presented in miShra triputA. After the rAgamAlikA swara prasthAra, a second tanI AvartanE was taken up. In PK rtp when he took ragamalika swaras, a garland of 5 to 6 ragas with one round each and, the concluding round was continuous rendition of all six ragas in returning order ending with PK was good, of course if his voice had cooperated it would have  been a grand rtp

The concert was wound down with a soothing shlOka in kApI, hamsAnandI and sindhubhAiravI, followed by aruNAchala kavirAyars composition. ANDAL's tiruppAvai - vanga kaDal kaDainda in suruTI was the final piece, flowing into maNgaLam kOsalEndrAya.

The accompanists were exceptional - the tone of the violin and the mridangam need to made special mention of.

- - - - - - - - -  

The second concert at SRSM was an equally grand affair, with the two main rAgAs being varALI and ShankarAbharaNam.

He started off with two ShlOkAs, on vinAyakA and brihaspatI, followed by brihaspatE as the vara kriti for the day.

After a brisk evaraNI, he settled into the first big AlApanE of the day and a grand varALI it was. He then surprised the audience further by taking up kana kana ruchirA and went on to do neraval and swara prasthArA at kaminchI prEma mIra. Its been a long while since I heard a pancharatna kriti being taken up for elaboration in this manner - the last was TMK a few years back with jagadAnanda kArakA. Of course, the unique MDR would take up these grand pieces for elaboration, particularly endarO mahAnubhAvulU.

The main rAgA for the day was ShankarAbharaNa, and pOgadiralO rangA of purandaradAsA was taken up. I have heard two versions of this from the past masters - one from MLV and another from KVN. RKM's rendition followed the KVN paThAntarA.

After the ShlOkA (vAmE bhUmi sutA) which he finished with khamAs, he moved on to brochEvarevarurA.

haridAsulu veDalE and nInyAko ninna hangyAkO brought the concert towards closure, and he closed with bhadrAchala rAmadAsA's mangalam - rAmachandrAya jankajA manOharAya, and finally mangaLam kOsalEndrAya.

While the quality of music was as usual of the highest order in both concerts, RKM's voice is somehow showing some signs of strain. While there were no lapses in Shruti, he seemed to be making more of an effort than his usual carefree style. Hope it is a temporary occurrence (as they say in Cricket - form is temporary, but the class is permanent), and not due to overuse or something else that could lead to long term damage.

These 2 concerts have ensured my guaranteed attendance to RKM when he visits next to Bangalore in August 2016.

2016 Apr 23 24th Malladi Brothers - Double Header @ Bangalore

2016 Apr 23 MalladiBrothers - EmbarKannan - KVPrasad - GiridharUdupa @ SRSM

01 vADE venkaTAdri vasantA Adi Annamacharya (O S) 
Swara @ vADe venkaTAdri 

02 sItA lakshmaNa sahitam aTANA Adi thyAgarAja

03 dinamaNi vamsha harikAmbhOji Adi tyAgarAja (S) 
Swara @ 

04 kanjadaLAya tAkSi kAmAkSi kamalamanOhari m.dIkshitar

05 bhajana sEyarAdhA dharmavathi mysore vAsudEvAchAr (A N S)
Nereval @ .. paramAtmuni bhaktapAluni niravadhi sukhadAyakuni

06 nI cittamu niscalamu dhanyAsi cApu thyAgarAja (O)

07 mAkElarA vichAramu ravichandhrike Adhi thyAgarAja

08 rAga tAna pallavi shaNkarAbharaNa (R T P T)
pallavi Line: srI raghuraAM atAraja nAma pAhi mAm .. sIta manObhi rAma
ChaturaSra tripuTa 2 kaLai, Edupu - 1 beat after samam

09 mithri bhAgyamE soumithri bhAgyamE kharaharapriya Adhi thyAgarAja

10 rAma rAma rAma sItA rAma ennirO  tillAng purandhara dhAsa

11 gOvinda sundara mOhana dwijAvanthi mChApu bhadrAchala rAmdAs (Outline as swaras. .)

12 E tirugananu nAdanamakriya Adi Ramadasu

13 patiki hAratIrE sItApatiki hAratIrE suraTiAdi tyAgarAja

2016 Apr 24 Malladi Brothers CharulathaRamanujam, TumakuruRavishankar OmkarGRao @ Seshadripuram

01 rAmA ninnE nammi nAnura husEni tyAgarAja (O S) 

Swara @ rAma 

02 kshitijA ramaNam dEvagAndhAri Adi m.dhIkshitar  (A)

03 AragimpavE pAlAragimpavE tODi rUpaka tyAgarAja (A N S) 
Nereval @  sAramaina divyAnnamu

04 nannu brOva mani cheppave kalyANi bhadracala rAmadAs (O)

05 nI madi callaga anandabhairavi kavi mAtrbhUtayya ( A S  )
Swara @ OmkAri 

06 entha muddO entha sogasu bindumAlini Adhi thyAgarAja

07 mari mari vacUna kAmbOji Adhi mysUru vAsudEvAchArya ( A N S T ) 
Nereval @ rAmuni mahimane pogaDutu 

08 krishNam kalaya sakhi sundharam mukhAri Adhi nArAyaNa thIrTha

09 rAma mantrava japisO jOnpuri Adhi purandara dAsa

10 rAma nAma mukunda mAdhava junjhUTi Yogi KaivAra nArAyaNa

11 kandarpa janaka namO namO Valaji (Tuned by Voleti) aNNammAchArya

12 jAnaki ramaNa dasharatha nandana kApi Adhi jIr swAmi

13 viruttum in kEdAragaULa hindOLa mOhana sindhubhairavi
vaidEhi sahitam sumadruma tale. ..  in kEdAragauLa.

Madhye pustakAmasane. . In Hindola

AgrE vAchayati prabhanjana sutE. .mOhana 

VyAkAntham bharata. . Sindhubhairavi 

14 bhajarE srI rAmam sindhubhairavi cHapu Bhadrachala Ramadas

15 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

Combined experience: 

Is a target audience indeed the best judge of what is "right" for them? Henry Ford was a strong opponent of this idea; he is famously said to have said that if he had taken inputs from his consumers, he would have "designed" a faster horse, and not a car! 

So, where does a performer in the creative arts draw the line in terms of taking feedback or suggestions from his or her intended audience (in our world of Carnatic music, take requests?) Does taking requests from the audience constitute "playing to the gallery", or even more pejoratively "pandering to the lowest common denominator"? If so, is it always so or does it depend on what is being requested?

Several artistes both past and present have been labelled populist for keeping audience tastes in mind. But an artiste (most at least) draw their energy from the audience and the appreciation they get for their efforts. It is indeed a rare artiste who performs in a vacuum, insulated from the tastes of even a tiny part of the listening public, with no desire or need for appreciation. 

Most artistes would it appears like to strike a balance between creative freedom and audience choice. In several interviews, artistes have stated their appreciation for audiences who go beyond the obvious and ask the artiste for something more rare, something that is special to  but not frequently rendered by the performer, something that shows the audience is also doing its homework of thinking and making the artiste think in turn.

My experience with the Malladi Brothers has led to believe that they definitely belong to the group who are happy when their audiences make them dig into their reserves, for something old and precious - a long lost gem, a hidden treasure of their school.

Between my friends and me, we have had the opportunity to request them for specific compositions, and not only have they happily acquiesced each time, they have actually expressed their gratitude for being asked for these! (just for the record, in the past we had requested for muripemu galige in mukhAri, a detailed dhanyAsi and chintayamAm kanda mUla in bhAIravI).

Today we requested them for not one, but two compositions - AragimpavE in tODI and nannu brOva maNI cheppavE in kalyANI, and both were presented (tODI actually as the submain, with detailed AlApanE, neraval and swarams) and the kalyANI as a brisk piece with an outline AlApanE. Well to be completely transparent, we had requested three pieces (the third being kOrinavaramu in rAmapriyA, which was not rendered today) but that was just us being greedy :)

I am not intending this to be a review or even a detailed description of two back to back concerts in Bangalore that I attended. The factual part of the reporting is there in the songlists of the two days. These are more expressions of emotions and feelings over the two days.

The concert at the RSM on 23 Apr was tilted just that bit towards the brain than the heart - there was an elaborate dharmAvatI AlApanE followed by bhaja sEya rAdA, and an elaborate RTP in ShankarAbharaNam, the pallavI in khaNDa tripuTA 2-kaLAI, eDuppu at 1/2 beat after samam. The AlApanE and tAnam were full of viShrAntI, exploiting the madhya sthAyI gAndhAra to the fullest extent - the ShankarAbharaNa gAndhAra is to me a note of unmatched majesty. The pallavI neraval was alaborate, and 4 speeds were rendered (chAUka kAla, sama-kAla or madhyama kAla, tisra naDAI and durita kAla). Kalpana swaram and tanI followed this.

The complaint if any was that there only two real AlApanEs in the concert.

That was most certainly rectified in the concert at Seshadripuram on 24 Apr. There were as many as four detailed AlApanEs (devagAndhArI, tODI, AnandabhAIravI and kAmbOdhi, besides short outlines for husEnI and kalyANI. Only bindumAlinI (enta muddO, which was also an audience request item through a chit) among the pre-tanI items was sung without any preamble.

husEnI presaged the arrival of rAmA ninnE namminAnu with near certainty, and the devagAndhArI AlApanE somehow made me sure we were heading to Dikshitar's masterpiece (kShitijA ramaNam chintayE) and not one of so many Thyagaraja masterpieces (the tail piece finishing in kShitijA ramaNam was somehow very very reminiscent of the closing of the pallavi of kshIra sAgara ShayanA :)

Given that we had request AragimpavE and nannu brOva maNI cheppavE, the choices for the songs in tODI and kalyANI respectively was not surprising. A special word needs to be mentioned about the quality of the neraval in AragimpavE; knowing and internalizing the meaning of the sAhityA makes such a big difference to the freedom with which the neraval is rendered! The way the brothers kept appending the word AragimpavE after sAramAIna divAnnamu or ShaDrasayuta bhakShaNamulu made so much sense - it reflected the spirit of nAIvEdyam so well ("SharkarAnnam nivEdayAMI, mAShAbUpam nivEdayAMI, mahAnAIvEdyam nivEdayAMI" etc.!)

The kAmbOdhi AlApanE was also one of exceptional calm. kAmbOdhi as a rAgA of course has a wide scope from very aggressive, macho tones to very soft, pleading tones. The AlApanE presaged the spirit of the composition presented - the full piece was recited before being sung, just to give a flavour of the bhakti rasA that mysUru vAsudEvAchArya has imbued mari mari vacchunA with.

As can be seen from the list, a wide swathe of composers and pieces were presented in the closing phases, including a rAgamAlikA slOkam - vAIdEhIsahitam suradrumatalE hAImE mahAmaNDapE.

All in all, two days of very blissful music. The brothers were fortunate on both days in terms of the accompanists - sensitive shadowing, sound kalpanA from the violinists on both days, and equally sensitive percussion accompaniment. 

While a few had qualms about the sound system at SRSM, It was completely satisfactory to me (well .. that is the only part that is subjective in this whole post)