2022 Apr 07 SunilGargeyan MatturSrinidhi NCBharadwaj VyasaVIttala @ VaniSchool

Vocal: Vid. SunilGargeyan 

Violin: Vid. MatturSrinidhi 

Mridanga: Vid. NCBharadwaj 

Khanjira: Vid. VyasaVIttala 

Participation: Online Audience

Occasion: 29th Annual Sree Ramanavami Sangeethotsava

Venue: Vani School, Basaveshwara Nagar, Bangalore

01 shlOka followed by inta cAlamu jEsitE VARNA bEgaDA Adi vINai kuppiyer

02 gaNapate enna pAlisO gambHira ratnakAnti TALA Venkatavithaladasa

03 mOkshamu galadhA sAramathi Adhi tyAgarAja

04 sattalEni dInamulu vachchenA nAganandini Adi tyAgarAja (A)

05 bArayya srinivAsa bhaktara manege ranjani Jhampa Vijayavithaladasa (A)

06 subrahmaNyEna rakshithOham shuDDhaDhanyAsi Adi m.dhIkshithar

07 evari mATa vinnAvO rAvO kAmbOdhi Adi tyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)

08 viruttum

09 rAma nAmamE tudi manamE dEsh Tanjavur Sankara iyer

10 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi tyAgarAja

2019 Sept 22 MalladiBrothers DrNishanthChandran TumkurBRavishankar CPVyasaVIttala @ YathirajMutt

Vocal: Vid. MalladiBrothers 
Violin: Vid. DrNishanthChandran 
Mridanga: Vid. TumkurBRavishankar 
Khanjari: Vid. CPVyasaVIttala 

Venue: Yathiraj Mutt, Malleshwaram

01 jaya jaya ramA nAtha nATa jhampa nArAyaNa tIrtha (O)

02 shri raghukula mandhu putti hamsaDhwani Adi tyAgarAja (S)

03 ranganAThudE sourAShtra rUpaka ponnayya piLLai

04 hari nArAyaNa hari nArAyaNa kEdAra Adi purandara dhAsa (A)

05 bhuvini dAsuDane perasacE shrIranjani Adi tyAgarAja (A)
swaras @ padamulEgati

06 shanka chakkra gadhA pAni purnachandrika rUpaka m.dIkshitar

07 narasimha Agachcha mOhana m.cApu m.dIkshitar

08 telisite mOkshamu hamsanada aNNammAchArya (A)

09 vande sadA padmanAbham navarasakannaDa Adi swAthi thirunAL (S)

10 jaya jAnaki ramaNa rAgEshri bhadrachala rAmadAsu (A, N, S, T)
swaras at Jaya jAnaki ramana

11 nArAyanatE namO namO bEhAg Adi aNNamAcArya

12 mallEshwara purAdhIsham vENugOpAlam upAsmahe khamAs m.cApu yathirAja jeeyar swAmi

13 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adi tyAgarAja

2018 Apr 05 SumitraVasudev Charulata Ramanujam BGanapatiraman CPVyasavittala @ VaniSchool

Vocal: Vid. SumitraVasudev 
Violin: Vid. Charulata Ramanujam 
Mridanga: Vid. BGanapatiraman 
Khanjari: Vid. CPVyasavittala 

Venue / Occasion: Vani School / Sri Ramanavami Sangeethotsava

01 raghunAyaka nI pAdhayUga Hamsadwani Adi tyAgarAja
nereval @ avaniJadhipa

02 sari evvarE shrI jAnaki shrIranjani tyAgarAja 

03 kOrina varamosagu rAmapriyA rUpaka patnam subhramanya iyer (A, N, S)
nereval @ vArijAstra janaka

04 kArubAru sEyuvAru galarE mukhAri Adi tyAgarAja (A)

05 rAmachandram bhAvayAmi Vasantha Adi m.dIkshitar

06 hari hari rAma kAnaDa chApu Bhadrachala Ramadas

07 manasu swAdhIna maina shankarAbharaNa rUpaka tyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)
nereval @ rAja rAjEsha niranjana nirupama

08 sarasa paTire saryu tIre sAma rAma kavi (ashtapadi)

09 nI nAma rUpamulaku sourAshtra Adi tyAgarAja

2018 Mar 30 LalgudiSiblings TiruvarurBhaktavatsalam CPVyasaVittala Bidaram@Mysore

Violin Duet:  Vid. Lalgudi GJR Krishnan, Vid. Lalgudi Viji
Mridanga: Vid. TiruvarurBhaktavatsalam 
Khanjari : Vid. CPVyasaVittala 

Venue/ Occasion: Ramanavami Sangeethotsava , Bidaram Krishnappa Rama Mandira @Mysore

01 nAda swarUpiNi dEvi nIlAmbari Adi LGJ

02 shrI nArada nAda sarasIruha kAnaDA rUpakA tyAgarAja (O, S)
swaras @ Sri nArada

03 shrI kanta nIyeDa balati bhavapriyA tyAgarAja
swaras @ srikAnta nI yeDa

04 harihara putram vasanta khaNDaEka m.dIikshitar (S, S)
swaras @ harihara putram

05 pAlintuvO pAlimpava kAntAmaNi Adi tyAgarAja (O)

06 EnATi nOmu phalamO E bhairavi Adi tyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)
swaras @ sundarEsha aravinda

07 sompaina manasitho Ahiri tyAgarAja

08 rAga tAna pallavi mOhana khaNDa jhampe khaNda naDai
rAgamAlika in : karNaranjani, Janaranjani, KalyANavasantha, rItigaULa, dEsh, darbAri kAnaDa

09 rAma mantrava japisO jOnpuri Adi purandara dAsa

10 rAma rAma rAma rAma rAmA ennirO tilang Purandara Dasa

11 tIrAda vilayAttuppillai rAgamAlika mahAkavi subramanya bArati

12 tillAna rEvati LGJ

13 nI nAma rUpamulaku sourAshtra Adi tyAgarAja

2017 Jan 02 SikkilGurucharan BaluRaghuram RajeshSrinivasan CPVyasaVittala @ RLKM Sankranti Festival

Vocal: Vid. Sikkil Gurucharan 
Violin: Vid. Balu Raghuram 
Mridanga: Vid. Rajesh Srinivasan 
Khanjari: Vid. CP VyasaVittala 

01 calamEla jEsEvayya nATakurinji mUlevIdu rangaswamy nattuvanAr

02 BhAramA i baluni hamsanAdha Adi GNB

03 ETi yOchanalu kiraNAvaLi Adi tyAgarAja

04 kA guruguha shaNmkha kOsala m.cApu kOTIswara Iyer (A)

05 mAmava paTTAbhi rAma maNirangu M.Eka m.dIkshitar

06 marugElarA O rAghavA jayanthashrI Adi tyAgarAja

07 rAga tAna pallavi shaNkarAbharaNa Adi (R T T)
Ananda pUrNa bOdOham shivOham sachid
rAgamAlika in vasantha, naLinakAnti, varALi, Anandabhairavi, AbhOgi...in short cycles

08 Ananda pUrNa bOdOham shaNkarAbharaNa Adi sadAshiva brahmEndra (S)

09 manadai orumai vasantha TALA COMPOSER?

10 tillAna sindhubhairavi srImushaNam rAja Rao

11 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adi tyAgarAja

2016 Apr 13 Nagavalli Nagaraj, Ranjani Vasuki , Matturu Srinidhi , Manjunath BC , Vyasavittala CP @ Vani Shool

Vocal: Vid. Dr. Nagavalli Nagaraj, RanjaniVasuki
Violin: Vid. Matturu Srinidhi 
Mridanga: Vid. Manjunath BC 
Khanjari: Vid. Vyasavittala CP 

Occasion: 25th Ramanavami Music and Dance Festival @ Vani School, Basaveshwara Nagar, Bangalore

01 viribONi kEdAragauLa miSra jhampe rudrapaTNam venkaTaramaNayya

02 vAtApi gaNapatim bhajEham hamsadhvani Adi m.dIkshitar (N, S)
nereval @ praNava swarUpa vakratuNDam 

03 kanugoNTini bilahari dEshAdi thyAgarAja ( A S ) 
Swara @ kanuhoNTini 

04 karuNinchi brOva rAda bangALa  (budharanjani?) Adi mysUru vAsudEvAchArya
with chitteswara

05 nEnendu veTukudurA shrI karnATakabehAg tyAgarAja

06 ammA ninnu kOrina kOrika khamAs tALa? BMK

07 pakkAla nilabaDi golicE muccaTa bAga delpa kharaharapriyA tripuTa tyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)
Grahabedham into tODi  and kalyANi during alapane
Nereval @ manasuna dalachi mai marchi yunnAra
grahabEdham into tOdi kalyANi harikAMbOdhi naTabhairavi and shankarAbharaNa during swarakalpana

08 rAma rAma rAma rAma enniro mOhana k.cApu p.dAsa (A)

09 srImati janaka jAte rAmAyana guNa bhUte darbAri kAnaDa Adi Dr shatAvadhAni Ganesh (A)

10 bAro murAri rAgamAlika misra yaman TillAng madhuvanti vAdirajasvAmi.

11 tambUri mITidava bhavAbdhi dATidava sindhubhairavi purandara dhAsa (A)

12 tillAna sumanEsaranjani Adi Dr shatAvadhAni Ganesh

13 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja 
and shlOka

When a hot summer day drains all your energy at 40 Deg C, all you need is a soothing music to rejuvenate. When you attend it, you get more energised than expected... and you lose sleep over the freshness gained.

That's exactly what happened yesterday as I reluctantly pushed myself to attended the concert at Vani School. 

This was the first time I'm attending the concert of the lead artist for the day. 

The very first ball of the game went in for a Sixer. While the popular singers of the day only dwell with aTa / Adi tALa varnas, a miSra jhampe tALa varna in 2 speeds was a welcome change. The ease at which it was presented showed the amount of sweating at the net practice !

While most performances of vAtApi I have heard would have only swaras, the vocal duo picked nereval for this kriti. Brief swaras to end the song was well replicated by the violinist. Percussion duo of Manjunath and Vyasa Vittala added lustre to the muktAyis in each round of swaras. Initially, the violin volume was loud and obtrusive. Violinist himself requested the volume to be reduced to focus more on melody and not on decibel competition.

bilahari rAga AlApane was way different and unique as Dr. Nagavalli presented many refreshing sangatis, off beat ones that are not regularly heard in the run-the-mill alapane. kanugONTini was a pleasant surprise. Not so regularly heard kriti, was treated well with swaras at kanugoNTini. Dr. Nagavalli was able to traverse 3 registers with ease. The hard work of years was demonstrated with so much of ease, its difficult to explain in words.

karuninchi brOva in bangaALa / budharanjani was presented in a breakneck speed. Cittaswaras almost made the artists breathless.

nEnendu vedakududa without any additional ornamentation was juxtaposed in speed to the previous one. They did demonstrate that they can handle even ati viLamba gati with good command and control.

amma ninnu kOrika was a first time for me. After some internet search, I could find the lyrics and BMK's own rendition (LINK). A faster paced than BMK's own version was rendered.

అమ్మా నిజ దాసునిపై నీదయ చూప సమయం వచ్చినదమ్మా
రమ్యా, గజముఖ షణ్ముఖ అమ్మ, సౌమ్యముతో నాపై దయజూపవమ్మా
నా కోరిక, నీకరుణే నమ్మ , ననునమ్మమ్మ , మాయమ్మా అమ్మ
అమ్మా, నిజ దాసునిపై నీ దయ చూప సమయం వచ్చినదమ్మా
ఈ బొమ్మతోటి నీ కాటలాడ తగదమ్మ, మాయమ్మ అని నే పిలచిన పలుకవదేమమ్మ
అమ్మా ,ముమ్మాటికి నీవేగతి, ముక్కంటి సతి, ఓ కంట నను జూడ వమ్మ, అమ్మ
అమ్మా, నిజ దాసునిపై నీ దయ చూప సమయం వచ్చినదమ్మా
శ్యామా కృష్ణుని సోదరి వమ్మా, ప్రేమతో నిజదాసుడిని జూడవదేమమ్మా శ్యామలమ్మ
రమావాణి సంసేవిత వమ్మా ,ఉమా, లోకమాత నీవే గదమ్మా, నన్నుగన్నమాయమ్మ

అమ్మా, నిజ దాసునిపై నీ దయ చూప సమయం వచ్చినదమ్మా

kharaharapriya AlApane was the highlight of the concert. While it was daughter who dominated the alApane with a tOdi grahabEdha, it was mother who dominated in the swara prastara. Apart from small nereval, the swara prastAra delineated various swara patterns that can be demonstrated in kharaharapriya. Being a rAga in a cusp, it also offers grahabEdha opportunities. During swara kalpana, Dr Nagavalli demonstrated grahabEdham into tOdi .. KalyAni.. HarikAmbOdhi.. naTabhairaavi and shankarAbharaNa as she sang full scales shadja to shadja like a ladder yati and traversed 2 full pitches. The audience who recognised it burst into applause.

post main were compositions of Dr. Shatavadhani Ganesh (who was also present in the audience). (Off topic: One has to appreciate his simplicity. Though he was the chief guest of the evening, he was seated among the normal crowd on plastic chairs in the 10 - 15th row and did not want to occupy cozy front rows.)

Tamburi mItidava had a totally different rhythm / pATAntara as compared to run the mill show. It was preceded by a pretty long AlApane (for a tukkuDa). Same was the relevance shown to mOhana composition.

It was indeed an evening to remember for various highlights as listed. Though the same vocalists are empaneled to sing in other sabhas during this season, I may not be able to attend them. Regret the missed opportunity.

2016 Jan 04 KunnakudiBalamuralikrishna TrivandrumSampath NanjilArul CPVyasaVittala @ RLKM Sankranti Music Festival

Vocal: Vid. Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna  
Violin: Vid: Trivandrum Sampath  
Mridanga: Vid. Nanjil Arul  
Khanjari: Vid. Vyasa Vittala 

Ocassion: RLKM Sankranti Festival

01 chalamEla varNa darbAr Adhi tiruvoTTiUr thyAgayya (O.. CS)
Swara @ paluku 

02 gaNarAjEna rakSitOham Arabhi cApu m.dIkshitar (O, S) 
Swara @ dinakara kOTi prakAshENa 

03 lAvaNya rAma kannulAra pUrNashaDjam tyAgarAja

04 evarurA ninnu vina mOhana chApu thyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)
Nereval @ savana rakshaka nityOtsava

05 RTP shubhapantuvarALi chaturaSra jhampe khaNDa naDai, Edupu 1 beat after samam 
Pallavi line ..  sri rAjagOpAla bAlam bhaje...  shritajana pAlam 
RAgamAlika in hamIr kalyANi. .. chandrakauns

06 karpUram nArumO khmAas aNDAL nAciyAr tirumozhi (O)

07 vadana dyuti jita sOma kAmavardhini rUpaka tyAgarAja

08 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

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.