Tuesday, 21 January 2014

2014 Jan 19 Ranjani Gayathri Mattur Srinidhi KU Jayachandra Rao @ guDiya sambhrama, Bull Temple

Concert organised in first weekend of the 5 weekend long guDiya sambhrama in a serene ambience of open air auditorium right in front of Bull Temple gALi gOpura.





Vocal      : Vid(s) Ranjani and Gayathri
Violin     : Vid Mattur Srinidhi
Mridanga   : Vid K U Jayachandra Rao

01  himAdri sutE pAhimAm  kalyANi  rUpaka syAmA sAstri

02  bhOgIndra  shAyinam  kuntalavarALi  jhampa swAthiThirunAL

03 hamIr kalyANi AlApane followed by venkata shaila vihAra  hamirkalyANi  Adi subbaraya shastri

04  gOvardhana girIsham  hindOLa  rUpaka  m.dIkshitar

05 mAyAmAlavagauLa AlAPane followed by mEru samAna DhIra  mAyAmALavagouLa  madhyAdhi  thyAgarAja and tani

06 shrI rangapuravihAra  brindhAvana sArangA  rUpaA m.dikshitar

07 nIlagiri mama arasi mAnasam rAgamAlika Adi (khamAs, vasantha, AbhEri)

08 venkatAcala nilayam  sindhu bhairavi  Adi purandaradAsa

09 mAtA kALikA ( durga ?? composer??)

10 chalo mandira abhAng

11 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

The series is themed under parvata, and what more could I expect when the artists come on stage with a strong history of excelling in thematic concerts. They had done their homework. I was very sure that the concert is going to be a pure bhakti affair right in front of the temple.

When Ra Ga started  the concert with "kalyAni "that too "himAdrisutE pAhimAm" one had the feeling that have RaGa started following a trend that is being set now a days ? No except the unusual start with "himAdrisutE pAhimAm" which was apt for the theme of the festival.

The niraval line they selected was also  in  anupallavi "sumErumaddhya vAsini (amba) shrI kAmAkSI"  to coincide with the theme of the concert"parvatha"instead of normal charanam "shyama krishna sodari"

Brilliant kalyANi krithi with nereval and swara built the apt mood for the evening. Even the bystanding  bhaktas who had come for temple visit started pouring into the mats that was organised for rasikas to occupy in front of the stage. The bhakti bhAva was very evident from the very first krithi.

From misty himalayas they moved to kerala beach!!!yes maharaja swathi thirunal "kuntala varali" composition "bhOgIndra ShAyinam " on padmanabha swammi. Rasikas would wonder how this composition fits to "parvatha" theme",the charanam lines "mahEndra trikUTavara malayAcalEndra vinutam" which indicate" podigai malai "which was once the boundary of trivancore samasthanam would have prompted Ra Ga to select this krithi.

How one will leave our beloved "malayappa" or "venkatavan" lord of seven hills in a thematic concert on "parvatha"?the lord of seven hills was praised by so many composers from tyAgarAja, MD, aNNamayya, purandara dasa, alwars etc to 20th centurary rajaji, But RaGa selected majestic "venkata saila vihara" master piece of subbraya sastri in mesmarising "Hamir kalyani",the raga alapana was by Ra.

Another beauty of their presentation was this song was sung as a slow number, straight sahithyam with out niraval and swara.

Venkata giri to govardanagiri, hamir kalyani to hindolam, but this song "govardana girisham" will be remembered for the speedy swaras shared by Ra Ga and violinist. Violinist could have done a better job here.

Each song presented had the apt lenght and elaborations to meet the rasikAs heart.

I was wondering why mAyAmAlavagaula is still missing. The sisters had a better plan than me. The most popular mmg krithi mEru samAna was presented with the grandeur that it needed.  The main was "mEru samAna" of saint tyAgarAja where saint tyAgarAja compare sri.rama's parakrama to meru parvatha.

They concluded the concerts with their trade mark bajans on ma durga and abang.

Srinidhi on violin  could have been better considering his potential and KU Jayachandra Rao on mridangam was at his best to follow the artists path wherever they lead.

Post main composed of rasika request who forced the artists to dilute the theme. Gayatri submitted that prayers are more important than the theme itself.

They also presented a raga malika  poem in ragas khamAs,vasantha and Abheri specially composed for this series about  queen of hills "Nilagiri". However, they did not mention the name of the composer. Inputs welcome.

rasikAs applauded for every song that began as per their request.

It was a warm ending for a very chilly and windy evening on top of a small hill where the bull temple is situated.

Overall it was a brilliant concert with all aspects of music finding its right place.

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