2016 Apr 16 TMKrishna HKVenkataram ArunPrakash SKrishna @ Seshsadripuram

Junior concert by Meghana Moorthy and team

Vocal: Vid. TMKrishna 

Violin: Vid. HKVenkataram 

Mridanga: Vid. ArunPrakash 

Ghata: Vid. SKrishna

Ocassion: 68th Ramanavami Music Festival @ Sesharipuram, Bangalore

01 shrI krishNam Bhaja mAnasa  tODi  Adhi  m.dhIkshitar (N N N S)

Nereval @ vENu gAna 

Nereval @ pankajAsanAdi dEva mahitam 

nereval @ pankaja daLa

Swara @ bhaja mAnasa satatam 

Short duet tani 

02 mArubAri thALalEnurA  jAvaLi  kAmAch  Adhi  Dharmapuri subbarAya iyer (T, S) tAna (1 cycle only )
Swara @ MarubAri 

03 giripai nelakonna rAmuni  shahana  Adi tyAgarAja (A N)
Nereval @ tyAgarAjAya vinutUni

04 tyAgarAja pAlayashu gauLa Adi m.dikshitar( A N S T )
Nereval @ sri guruguha pUjita

05 pakkAla nilabaDi golicE muccaTa bAga delpa  kharaharapriyA  tripuTa  tyAgarAja (O, N)
nereval @ manasUna

06 bArO krishNayya mAND Adhi kanaka dhAsa (O, S)
Swara @ dhim dhimi 

07 ViTTalA SalahO SwAmi dEsh p.dAsa

08 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja



Why I skipped my dinner yesterday ?

Reached the venue pretty early to get a front row seat to listen to Vid. T M Krishna @ Seshadripuram Education Trust premises. Pretty hot day had heated the granite floor below and it was unbearable initially. 

Junior concert rendered by Meghana Moorthy and team was delivering a Saveri piece at its fag end. The assembled audience were entertained to some good music till 6.30 , 15 mins beyond the schedule closing time for the junior concert.

As we kept waiting, the artists who had the first taste of deteriorating traffic conditions. The concert started at 7.10 almost 40 mins beyond schedule. However, that did not deter the plans of TM Krishna and his team.

He started with a heavy pice of Sri Krishnam Bhaja mAnasa, and it was made heavier with 3 sets of neraval. Every time Krishna brings up KRISHNOVATION, and I'm not tired of looking forward for it. It was presented in sedentary pace. During swara prastAra, he traversed ati mandra Ni to tara Ni. As the voice co-operated, it was a treat for the audience. He was in full swing within the very first 15 mins of the concert. A short percussion duet that followed added more luster to the already shining piece. As predictably, the affair lasted 30+ minutes. The highlight was 3 Neravals in this piece.

1 madhyama kala niraval at vENugAna lOla and 2nd at pankajAsanAdi dEva mahitam. Violnist came out of his shell and traversed through the scale to bring out essence of tODi. The 3rd neraval was at duritha kAla at pankajadala. Excellant mandra sthAyi swarAs at pallavi line. Arun Praksh's gentle touches added beauty during swara kalpana.

TMK completed the song with mandra stAyi swarAs. Did not venture to medium and duritha. This left a great impact on rasikAs. Mini percussion duet added beauty. 3 niravals slow swaras at pallavi and entire song in meditative madhyama kAla and short tani(duet) what else u want. Krishna if u hive such varieties, we are with u.

khamAs jAvaLi he gave lot of surprises, pleasant one. He started the jAvaLi with AlApane. The very first phrase was typical khamAs. But the pharse ended with bit jarring, completely unexpected, Wondering what happened? This was when micAsura appeared. Then he asked audience if it sounded loud. YEEEEESSSSSS came the reply. Understood he was disturbed by audio system. 

When we thought we are for a grand khamas AlApana , He switched to rapid tAna and again when the tAna was moving to climax ge moved to javali. When javali was in a steady flow he switched to rapid swara kalpanA. Percussion team provided elegant support. Completely different approach than tODi by them. Violinist was also equally impressive. Beautifully garlanded swaras added to poetic melody of the composition detailed enough for a 13 mins presentation.

Normally, when a vidwAn takes such quick unexpected changes rasikAs will be upset. But tAna overtook rAga AlApane. Then jAvaLi overtook tAna and finally swaras overtook all of them. So all changes turned out to be pleasant and better than the previous one.

SahAna was the first AlApane of the evening and it was essayed neatly and detailed. It was so complete, I was wondering whether it would be presented as a piece by itself! However, Vid HK Venkatram, presented an equally brilliant manOdharma to raise it to heights. TM Krishna in this AlApana was bit offtrack. Infact he is one of few front line vidhwans who sketches raga swarUpa in first pharse itself during AlApane. But the first phrase was bit confusing. As he recognised this, he announced the rAga name sahAna. Then he took off. with many circles of repetitions. Expanse came at a cost of repetitions. It could have been crisp. But violin returns were very crisp. filtered one. Violinist scored over krishna in sahAna AlApana. Overall enjoyable 17 mins of AlApane. There was substantial clue of sangatis in his presentation, that it would be followed by Giripai. 

mandra stAyi sangathis and notes were again a magic. His sangatis and long glides at composer mudra"tyagaraja" was again a good effort. As a concert is a joint team work, it was amply evident when ever krishna gave lot of breaks that were duly and intelligently filled by Violinist and percussion team. Another detailed presentation of krithi with all necessary nereval embellishments to make the composition presentation wholesome throughout the 15 mins of presentation.

Very last year, in the same venue, mikAsura had appeared from nowhere, and Krishna had to leave the dias to drop by the sound engineer's system to make adjustments. However, this time though there were traces, he demonstrated high level of patience to interact with the sound engineer to get it adjusted. There was long period of HUM in the audio system.

This good mood continued into gaULa AlApane, dwelled in detailed essaying all possible passages. gaULa AlApane - the very first hum and pharse indicated clearly it is gaULa, but TM Krishna also announced the rAga. There was a sumptuous trace of tAna like presentation, though it was just AlApane. Don't know how the 12 mins passed by. The team presented another detailed, embellished and improvised version of tyAgarAja pAlayAshumAm. The highlight is  anthara sancharAs. No violin return, but gave ample space to  HK Venkatram to exhibit his class. tyAgarAja in praise of lord siva of thiruvArur, the neraval and swara at srI guruguha was very soothing to ears. HK Venktram started his neraval with lovely glide at lolam, was a treat to the ears.

The drift into tani was damn smooth and it did not appear as a stand alone piece. Vid Arun Prakash has a trademark presentation skills during kriti v/s during tani. Vid S Krishna too demonstrated strong rhytmic and aesthetic controls during both phases of the concert. 16 mins of kriti and 13 mins of tani made this the main piece of the concert. 

With a brief outline of Kharaharapriya, pakkala nilabadi (providing sufficient clue that it would be the last and heavy piece for the day- trademark Krishna way of ending the concert) was presented in apt pace without any hurry. 14 mins presentation with nerval indicates the leisurely pace at which it was presented.

By the end of tani, the team had received good amount of chit request. He said he would honour them. To the delight of the audience, the concert continued for another 20 mins presenting the pieces of mAND and dEsh. mAND had swara added to increase the glory of dancing krishna as beautifully imagined by kanaka dAsa. swaras on violin was another demonstration of brilliance by HK Venkatram. 

Baro krishnayya - we would have heard so many times. But KRISHNOVATION was kalapana swara at dhimdhimi dhimdhimi which added beauty to often heard song. Bangalore rasikAs should sing "baro( tm) krishnayya" if TM Krishna elevates even a tail piece to such classic level.

While it was the first concert for me listening in a sqauatted seating position after my recent ankle surgery, It made me to forget the pain that I was enduring. Overall, through the evening we were fed with majestic rAgas, and in a great mood. It had quenched the thirst and hunger in this mortal body. And now you know why I skipped my dinner yesterday.