2016 Apr 09 1830 Sanjay SVaradarajan PoongulumSubramanian SVenkataramanan @ SRSM

Vocal: Vid. Sanjay Subrahmanyan 
Violin: Vid. S Varadarajan 
Mridanga: Vid. Poongulum Subramanian
Khanjari: Vid. S Venkataramanan

Occasion: Ramanavami National Music Festival
Venue: Fort High School, Bangalore

01 jalajAksha ninnE VarNa hamsadhwani Adhi mAnambUchavAdi venkatasubbayyar

02 pallANDu pallAnDu pallayirattandu palakkOi (tpl) nATa KChapu periAlwAr

03 bhajana sEyavE manasA kalyANi rUpaka tyAgarAja

04 kArubAru sEyuvAru galarE mukhAri Adi tyAgarAja (A)

05 mA jAnaki cheTTabeTTagA kAmbOdhi Adhi thyAgarAja
nereval @ vANi mATalentu 

06 enduku daya rAdura tOdi miSra cApu thyAgarAja (A, N, S,T)
Nereval @ tAraka charita tyAgarAja vinuta
Tani

07 innum parAmukhamEnO bEgaDa duraisvami kavirayar

08 mOhan rAga tAna Pallavi KhaNDa TripuTa 2 kaLai Edupu 2 beats after samam
Pallavi: Kanaka sabhEsha jagadIsha naTana prakAsha 
rAgamAlika in sahanA. . . VarALi. . HusEni. .. nalinakAnti. .Sindhubhairavi. .

09 iduvO tillai sindhubhairavi gOpalakrishna bharati

10 kanDu dhanya nAdhe behAg Adhi mOhanaviTTala dhAsa

11 gita du niki dhiku thillAna dhanashrI Adhi swAthi thirunAL

12 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

Being the first concert after a month long sabbatical, I was all energetic. Cut short my Ugadi celebrations at my hometown, rushed back to listen to Sanjay as I knew the evening would be a blockbuster.

At the end, the concert represents a subtle theme. Rama praised through the eyes of his relationships- jAnaki, his subjects and lord Shiva. Lucky are those who lived to see rAma in their mortal form. Thanks to tyAgarAja for such gems which helps us to relive those days through his music. The main part of the concert was completely consumed by tyAgarAja compositions. Who else could have done justice in praise of lord rAma. Kudos to Sanjay for presenting in this theme.

And this is a firm footed assurance that on any evening Sanjay can deliver a 100 / 100 concert. On a very hot summer evening, he was still energetic to run another show of 3 hrs at the end of this concert. Only audience had drained out their energy through the evening. 

The sound engineer did a fantastic job of producing demon less sound throughout the evening. The backdrop of the stage has a fresh look of embossed carvings inspired by Mysore royalty. Kudos to the team that has organized this festival. With such glitch free 2 continuous days, I’m sure RSM is the place to invest the evenings of next 29 days.

206 Apr 03 - LecDem on Papanasham Sivan Compositions by Dr.Radha Bhaskar and Smt.Gayathri.Girish

The key points from their LecDem

Sri. Papanasam Sivan is a post trinity vAggEyakara and is also called as Tamil tyAgayya.

The similarities between both saint TyAgayya and Sivan are

•  Both have their own Ishta dEvata and composed a lot of songs on them. Rama for tyAgayya and kApAlishwara and karpagambAL for Sivan. 

(I would also feel even Thiruchendur muruga should be also sivan's ishta devata if we see the number of compositions on thiruchendur muruga.)

• Both are known for their personalized form of bhakthi as exhibited in their kritis.
• Both composed a lot of medium tempo kritis
• Simple, easy to understand style and language is lucid, conversational type so simple a layman can connect himself with their songs.

But the greatness of sri. Sivan is he followed what trinity composed but improved his own. He didn’t follow tyAgarAjA’s pattern on melody aspect tyAgarAja composed both anu pallavi and charanam in same melodic pattern. repetetion of anu pallavi melody in charanam also Sivan didn’t follow tyAgarAja but he followed MD. He used different melody for his charanam which brought a freshness.

He also composed many kritis, kIrtanAs, varNas and few tillAnas. he also composed two operas.

1.RAMACHARITA GEETHAM

2.KARAIKAL AMMAYAR( A SAIVA NAYANMAR)

The duo presented two songs

1.Ka Va Vaa( varali)

where sivan used different tunes for each charana.

2.Tiruparam kundra vela(hindolam) where the anu pallavi and charana are of same melody , similar to tyAgarAja utsava sampradAya kritis.

As they explained sivan has exhibited more personalized form of bhakthi in his compositions. It is more like a conversation between sivan and god..

Different type of bhakthi expressed by sivan

1.Nayaki Nayaka bhavam: In his varnams (Ex: Nattakurunji pada varnam)

2.Thai Chey bhavam (mother and son affection) (Amba nI irangavidil, pArvati nAyakane charanam)

3.Self pity (Pilla puliyar_Maya malava golwla,Pirava varum :Latangi)

4.Smaranam:remembering god always( Tirupathi Venkata Ramana)

5.Saranagathi( srinivasa thava charanam)

6.Nindha stuthi (GG presented a beautiful suruti song “ pichaiku vandeero) explaining about the bikshadanar kolam of kapali)

Melody aspects:

While following the foot step of trinity, sivan has his own imagination and improvisation with the boundary.

He has brought the rakti raga aspect/identification in the first phrase of the song it self. Rakti ragas are identified by typical phrases.

rItiguLa: padamararinai

kAnada: kAnthimathim annayaye

kEdAragauLa: samiku sari evvaro.

sahAna: chittam irangadenaiya. the key note rishaba is appearing in first phrase itself.

In mainly varali “ ka va va” it dwels on gandharam then lands through rishaba then shandjamam.different from mamava meenakshi of MD and kamakshi varali of shyama shastry where the gandhara lands to shandjamam directly..

In todi keertanai kundra kudi vela he built sangatis step by step.

In Adum deivame the sangatis at adum brings a dancing effect.or oscillating sangatis at adum( dancing)

Sivan compositions in rare ragas.

BImplAs: kannan Madura idazhai

valaji: pAdame thunai paramasiva

Shivaranjani: on lord ganesha :tharunam idahiya

tilAng: sri ganesha charanam

Sivan like tyAgarAja swami has composed 20 keertanais in karaharapriya. Please note MD and shyama sastri never composed any in karaharapriya)

Both artists on stage demonstrated 3 kIrtanAs in karaharapriya bringing the uniqueness of each. Sivan present new approach to karaharapriya, used different tempo, and kalapramanam.

1.senthil andavanan

2.srinivasa thava charanam: he used 2 kalai

3.illai endra sol ondrum mattum vendam: this is in tisra nadai. This song was composed on faith in god, counter to atheist movement which was dominant in 1950 and 1960 in Tamil Nadu.

Sivan also composed songs with swarakshara.

Samagana lolane

Sada

Parvathi nayakane charanam

Ma ramanan

Mahalakshmi jagan matha

Sivan also composed madhyama kala kIrtanAs like muthuswamy dikshitar.

Tharunam idaiyya

Isane (chakravaham)

He also presented enitire charana in madhyama kala, karpagame in madhyamavathi. Like MD’s kanjhadAlayatAkshi.

Sivan also composed swara sahithyam like shyama sastry.

 Example samaja varagamanan in madhyamavathi

Sivan also composed songs in different kalapramanam. He took same raga hindolam and composed songs in

Vilamba : ma ramanan. Here the jArus are more prominent like Hindustani music than gamakas.

Madhyama : samagana lolane,here gamaks are more prominent

Duritha: nambi kettavar evarayya

The different kalapramanams helps to reveal gamakas in different dimensions. The minute details of the raga portrayed differently in different tempo.

Sivan also composed two songs in keravani with entirely different approach.

In karunakarane siva sankarane he dwells more on the stability of shadjamam.

But in devi neeye thunai he never touches adara shadjamam even once,, dwelling more in rishabam then moved to thara stayi..

Sivan composed around 50 songs in Sanskrit. He used very simple words even a common man can understand. He was a upadhyaya in Sanskrit and he has compiled a Sanskrit dictionary.

Artists presented

1.narayana hari nayaka :sama

2.sri madhava vasudeva: behag

Sivan also composed songs with appreciation in grammar aspects.

Annaporneswari : bhairavi, the last words of each line are rhymic

Sri visvanatham baje : the last words of each line is rhymic

In thava charanam mama charanam song the second word of each line is rhymic

Sivan also composed a lot of tamil Sanskrit mani pravalam songs, the both languages seamlessly mixes much like tyAgarAja utsava sampradaya kitis where he seamlessly mixes telugu and Sanskrit.

Sivan like tyAgarAja used edupu as a tool to bring different internal structure or flow. He used different edupus to bring different internal structure or flow.

sama eDupu examples 

Padame thunai paramasiva

Unnai alal( kalyani)

½ edupu

Pirava varam

Ksherasagara sayana

atIta eDupu  (occurs after samam point of tALa)

¾ edupu Sri ganesha saranam

1 ½ edupu : sri madhava vasu deva

2 kalai ½ Edam : saravana bhava guhane

anAgata eDupu  (occurs before samam point of tALa)

Sivakama sundari

His versatility and depth of knowledge in various tALAs was also demonstrated by highlighting a krithi in various tALAs.

Tisranadai rupakam : Venkata Ramana

Kanda chapu : thanikai malai kumara

Misra chapu : mahalakshmi jagan matha

Both Artists presented a tillana in behag together

Sivan also composed songs on natrue, tamil language speciality, in praise of tamil language, freedom movement and patriotic songs.

He has composed pamalaiku enai undo in praise of subramanya bharathi

He has acted in 4 films and composed lot of classical songs as film music

Sivan famous songs

1.krishna mukunda murare : MKT in sivakavi

2.giridara gopala by MSS in meera

Conclusion

The composers like sivan has composed lot of songs which forms pillar of carnatic music. If any rasika wants to appreciate a raga tODi or shankarabharanam he can listen to songs of composer like sivan as they have frozen or codified the raga in those compositions for posterity.

The compositions form the context of music for structure and melody. Artist’s appeal was instead of simply listening to a song please go in deep and analyze the same which will enhance your enjoyment to multitude.

Art is always greater than Artist. The raga exploration is journey towards a mirage as u won’t reach the destination.

2016 Mar 02 SriranjaniSanthanagopalan VittalRangan KUJayachandraRao PhanindraN @ Odukattur

Vocal: Vid. SriranjaniSanthanagopalan
Violin: Vid. VittalRangan
Mridanga: Vid. KUJayachandraRao
Ghata: Vid. PhanindraN

Occasion: Kalotsav @ Odukattur Mutt

01 shlOka... apAra karuNa sindhum in sahAna
karuNimpa varNa shahAnA Adhi thiruvottiyUr thyAgayya

02 dhEva dhEva kalayAmi mAyAmALavagouLa rUpaka swAthi thirunAL (O, N, S)
nereval @ jAtarUpa nibha chEla janmArchita mama kila

03 kAraNam kETTu vADi pUrvikalyANi gOpalakrishna bharati

04 pAlisamma muddu SaradE shrIranjani Adi purandaradAsa (A,S)
swara @ sarvAlakAra daya mUruti

05 abhayAmbA nAyaka vara dAyaka kEdAragauLa m.dhIkshitar (A)

06 mA ramaNan umAramaNan hindhOLa rUpaka pApanAsham shivan

07 nannu pAlimpa mOhana Adhi thyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)
nereval @ karamuna shara kOdaNDa kAntito

08 viruttum shaNmukhapriya kApi darbAri kAnaDa

09 Chandra chUDa Shiva Shankara pArvati darbArikAnaDa Adi purandaradAsa

10 chinnanchiru kiliyE rAgamAligai m.k.subramanya bhArathi

11 nIraimadi mukhamEnum thiruppugazh hamsAnandhi Adhi aruNagiri nAthar

12 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

A cool spring afternoon, a sizable audience, serene ambience and talented vocalist, could one ask for more? 

The concert started with a beautiful standard shloka of neyVeli school.. apAra karuNa sindhu... which is usually tuned to the rAga of the first song to be performed. Since it was sahAna, it was a clear clue what was following next , which was well rendered. The control over the tonalities required to extract the essence of sahAna was well on display.

A sharp resonant voice reminded me of many famous singers of years past and present. This majestic voice coupled with a clear diction and pronunciation (open mouth singing), clearly puts her amongst the elite practitioners of this sublime art form.

The mAyAmAlavagaula (3 in 4 concerts !!) which followed was good with sparkling kalpana swaras. The nereval was in 2 speeds at the standard take off point in this krithi. However, it started with janmArchita mama kila but later hovered around jAtarUpa. The rendition had flashes of genius, although the violin support was found wanting.

There was a whiff of aha aha amongst the audience when Sriranjani started shriranjani AlApane, elevating the connect to the next level. 

Krithis in pUrvikalyAni and hindOLa did not have any improvisation, though each of them can stand as grand as main piece of a concert. 

abhayAmbA nAyaka vara dAyaka in kEdAragauLa was was a repeat for me from this artist! However, you can't say NO, when a rasika request comes across and they want to listen to it on and on and on.

During mOhana AlApane the gamakas and swara patterns were beautifully essayed by both Vocalist and violinist. kalpanA swaras were simple (trademark Neyveli school simplicity) and patterns blended with next phase of improvisation.

Vittal Rangan, in my opinion was very attentive, quick and followed singer like a shadow (even in silence !!). 2 AlApane in the concert (shrIranjani and mOhana) provided ample opportunity to demonstrate his skills. The husky tone (was it tuned to kizhkAla ? added to melody of his solo performance and his accompaniment). Even though he has accompanied the singer in the recently concluded margazhi season, I felt his silence in the silence moments of singer was a bit distracting. Especially when the charana / anupallavi concluded and the singer did not have sufficient breath to complete pallavi, the momentary silence was a bit awkward.

KU Jayachandra Rao and Phanindra (first time for me as his audience) played outstanding in the mAyAmAlavagauLa and mOhana krithis. Other krithis without nereval / swaras did not provide much opportunity for percussion flourish. The Tani was apt in both decibel and duration. Both percussionist shared equal time individually and together while accompanying. Ghata was clearly heard throughout (thanks to a sensible sound engineer).

This was followed by Chinnam chirukiliye and chandrachUDa (2nd time in this week) and hamsAnandi tiruppugazh. The concert concluded with a customary Mangalam. Clock had run just 2.5 hrs by then.

As I pen this review, the gamakas and sawaras of mAyAmALavagaula, shrIranjani and mOhana continue to reverberate in the mind, long after it was heard no more.

The concert was not just another concert, but a brilliant one. For the talent and tutelage, I expected the artist to utilise the complete 3 hours of slot and render a grand pallavi. Left home wanting for more. Hope to get a fuller treat later this year.

With this concert, my shivarAtri season comes to an end shifting focus to my daughter's exams. Will be back with more during the rAmanavami season starting April 8th. 

Bye till then

2016 Feb 29 MalladiBrothers MysoreNagaraj ArjunKumar GiridharUdupa @ Odukattur

Vocal: Vid. MalladiBrothers 

Violin: Vid. MysoreNagaraj 

Mridanga: Vid. ArjunKumar 

Ghata: Vid. GiridharUdupa 

Ocassion: @ Odukattur / Kalotsav

01 sAmi daya jUDa varNa kEdAragauLa tiruvetriyUr tyAgaraja (O, S)

Swara @ nI sATi dOra

02 praNamAmyaham shri gaurisutam gauLa Adi mysore vAsudEvacarya (S)

Swara @ praNamAyaham 

03 shri bAlasubramhaNyam bilahari mishra chApu M.dIkshithar (O)

04 chintaya mAam kandamUla Kandam Bhairavi rUpaka m.dIkshitar (A, N, S)

Nereval @ mangaLakara mandahAsa vadanam

05 Adena ma harudu drugu tataiyani Paraju Adi puLiyUr dhoreswAmy iyer

06 Isha pAhimam jagadIsha pAhimAm kalyANi rUpaka tyAgarAja (O)

07 koniyADina nApai kAmbOdhi Adi vINA kuppaiyer (A, N, S, T)

Nereval @ nIlakaNTha srI kALahastIsha

08 pArvati ninnu nera nammiti sukhapANi brOvu kalgaDa tishraEka syAma sAstri

09 sadA enna hridayadalli bEhAg Adi vijaya dAsa

10 nitya pUje dwijAvanti Adi aNNammAchArya

11 shiva shiva bhava sharaNam saurAshtra Adi nArAyaNa tIratha

12 vAgarthAviva sampruktou mangaLa shlOka

Being a working day, did not expect Monday blues to impact me, but my BIKE did not want to co-operate as I had planned to drive to concert directly from office. Even though yesterday night from Saketaraman concert, I drove mostly on newly surfaced roads, it had picked 4 punctures. Reluctantly I travelled ot office by car (confession: I personally don't like draining my energy by driving car on Bangalore roads). Hoped that the day would end with a better note. 

As I could wind up the work on time, started off to drive 20 km through winding routes and chaotic traffic on a Monday evening. dejavu.. the traffic was exactly as expected.. draining the energy to be rejuvenated by the brothers and their team.

The first act of rejuvenation came in form of AshIrvAda from Guru Malladi Suri Babu who accompanied the sons to the concert. I met them to place a khwAish for a song. More about this later.

The evening started  with micAsura being warded off through the holy spirits of noble souls around. Malladi Brothers presented an exhilarating concert of serene, poise and chaste classical fare. Sensitive and sowkhya in tone and equally soft bow playing by Mysore Nagaraj focussed this evening with vidwath laden concert. Each one of them demonstrated strong sruti sudham, good imagination, padantharam and stage presence. 

With a brief rAga outline, the concert started with kEdAragauLa varna (a very rarely sung Varna these days I must say) and was presented in a gripping kAlapramANa and additional kalpanA swaras were very nicely crafted. 

The next song praNamAmyaham provided the required liveliness and blessings from lord Ganapathi to the concert. Just a month back I had presented the song in our office concert, and my whole body and mind was resonating to each sangati performed by the brothers. In fact I could learn a few more sangathis from their presentation. A very refreshing performance. 

Expected bilahari alApane to be a long one (aligning to the customary format), but it turned out to be an outline. Without much elaboration, srI bAlasubrahmanaNyam was presented in a leisurely pace.

Was wondering whether my khwAish would be fulfilled as a filler / with due deligence. (This reminds me of one such request made in nAdasurabhi for a mukhAri piece and they converted it to the main piece of the concert with tani!!). One should love these artist for this reason, at least. The requests are judiciously honoured. 

The Bhairavi AlApane in dIkshitar school style had all its nuances. The AlApane had many interesting and surprising moments which are not usually heard in the AlApane of bhairavi of tyAgarAja school which once again vouched for his abundant manodharmam and vidwath.

The kriti (chintaya mAam kandamUla Kandam) is a perfect bill to be sung as the main song, but sadly very few pick up this. There was detailed neraval with elaborate swara prastaras at the pallavi. The long Avarartane of first kalam swaras was brimming with raga bhAva which had many aha moments in that. Mysore Nagaraj was at his melodic pinnacle. I wish he does similar justice while playing with his brother. 

Adena ma harudu drugu tataiyani in parAju pepped up between 2 slow pieces of the concert. A longer outline than normal for a filler and that too in parAju was a welcome change. 

Kalyani outline was with telling details and the kriti Isha pAhimAm  (kshEtra krithi of tapas tIrthapuram / lAlguDi by tyAgarAja) was a good choice for a filler. While the big 5 are selected for main, it did bring out equal soothing impact while presented in short bits. We have heard this as main song in many concerts. It was sung in a tad slow pace than many others and it was good. 

The alapane of kAMbOdhi which was taken up as the main ragam was highly imaginative. I did not expect this right after kAMbOdhi, but its the artist's choice as they wanted to present one of their favourites this evening.  The detailed AlApane , krithi, nereval and tani occupied 67 minutes of the evening !! Energitic youngsters on percussion toned down the 

This ensured that there was no further time for RTP (as the curtailed the concert to 2.30 hrs as against the schedule of 3.00 hrs)

Fillers included compositions in kalgaDa, bEhAg, dwijAvanti which were presented with full justice and no rushing.

The accompaniments played their role admirably. Mysore Nagaraj’s violin was sweet and his replies and solos were most appropriate. He also excelled in his solo for bhairavi and kAmbOdhi. Arjun Kumar has been on the steady scale of progress since he began his tutelage under Dr. UKS and showed that he is a chip of the old block. His thoppi patterns were very enjoyable and his tani received repeated applause. 

Giridhar Udupa played an apt role throughout the concert. And one could see what an outstanding artist Giridhar is. Such gifted fingers on the ghata, the years of tutelage under vid. Sukanya and his exposure to other forms of classical music was evident in each and every stroke he played.

Percussionist had a field day during tani as they enjoyed camaraderie. 

A lively and highly satisfying concert for more than two and a half hours. My picks in this concert were the Bhairavi AlApane, KambOdhi AlApane and kalpana swaras. 

2016 Feb 28 Saketharaman, HKVenkatram, Thiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam, Trupurnitara Radhakrishnan @Odukattur

Vocal: Vid. Saketharaman
Violin: Vid. HKVenkatram
Mridanga: Vid. ThiruvarurBhaktavatsalam
Ghata: Vid. TrupurnitaraRadhakrishnan

01 shlOka ...pullAgi  puDAi puzhuvAi
[ Pullagi, poodai puzhuvai maramaki, 
Pala virugamagi pravayai , pambaki , 
Kallai , manitharai peyai , ganangalai , 
Val asuraragi , munivaraai , devaraai , 
Chellaaa nindra , ithathavara jangamathukkul , 
Yella pirappum piranthu ,ilaithen, yem perumaane ] 26 -31

inta parAkA mAyAmALavagauLa rUpaka Anaiyya (N, S)
nereval @ kaNNa talli

02 kaNDe kaNDe kaNDe Varamu Adi p.dAsa

03 uyyAla lUgavayyA shrI rAma nIlAmbari jhampa thyAgarAja (A)

04 anurAgamulEni saraswati rUpaka tyAgarAja

05 tiruvaDi sharaNam kAmbOdhi Adi gOpAlakrishna bhArati (A, N, S, T)
started at anupallavi marupaDiyum enna....
nereval@ aDutta vanda ennai

06 RTP AbhOgi
rAga: AbhOgi
tAna: ranjani mOhana pUrvikalyANi Bilahari
pallavi : AbhOgi tiSra aTa 2 KaLai
Pallavi Line: Ananda naTana prakAsham sabhEsham naTEsham.. AshrayAmi satatam
Based on panchalinga compositions of m.dIkshitar

rAgamALika in kEdAra(AkAsha), HusEni(vAYu), SAranga (Agni), bhairavi(prithvi),  yamuna kalyANi(jala)
at the end of each rAgamAlika... sang the pallavi line of the respective composition

07 ChandrasekharaEsha SindhuBhairavi Aadi AnaiVaidyanathaIyer

08 Chandra chUDa Shiva Shankara pArvati darbArikAnaDa Adi PurandaraDasa

09 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

Today's decision on how to make this an evening of a well-spent life was no tough choice. After a sumptuous lunch at a family function, I was ready for another sumptuous treat in the evening. (of course after sacrificing quality time at home as my kid has exams Monday onwards)

The concert of the evening started a bit late due to a junior concert that got extended beyond its scheduled closure time. I was cribbing that the main course would be shortened as a result of it. However, you attend such master concerts to have a heavy dose of music from the very word go. So no qualms there.

Since the series is organised to celebrate Shivaratri, the theme of the concerts are mostly around shiva. Only at the end of the season, we see the artists bringing in other deities in the concerts.

Vocalist started off with pullAgi  puDAi puzhuvAi, 26 - 31 shloka verses from shiva purAnam by saint Manika vasagar. There was a whiff of familiarity among the tamil speaking people. 

http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Shiva_Puranam_(Tamil)

The tamizh verses were followed up by a telugu song in mAyAmALavagaula (2 in 2 days). 

Usually the mikAsura appears on the first day of the season, here he was a day late. There were few instances of sound looping. However, it did not mar the manOdharma of the artists. That differentiates masters from the rest.

It was followed up with a quick presentation of purandara dAsa composition tuned to varamu. 

The first detailed mellifluous AlApane came in form of nIlAmbari. For a fast paced artist like Saketraraman, this was really slow and deep presentation. It had all nitty gritty that was needed for a short 6 minutes AlApane. Guessing uyyAla lUgavayya would follow was no brainer. A simple presentation without any elaboration.

anurAgamulEni in Saraswati was presented in a whiff. The whole presentation did not last more than 4 minutes.

kAmbOdhi AlApane which took the place of main song for the concert clearly indicated that it would be a composition on shiva. A small scratching the head, and coincidental alapane note indicated it would be a tiruvaDi charaNam. The karuNa rasa was well extracted by both the artists. A detailed nereval followed the krithi. While vocalist handed over to tani, Bhaktavatsalam was reluctant to start off tani. He indicated he wanted to listen to more of kAmbOdhi, which was smilingly accepted . Pretty new and creative patterns of swara prastara followed and the percussionists gradually drifted into a multi-phase tani. Without any exaggeration, it was the longest piece of the concert !!

There were no filler before RTP. AbhOgi rAga AlApane provided some clue to sabhApatikku (popular composition on siva of chidambaram by kavi GKB). However, there were twists and turns keeping the audience guessing when both the artists dwelled into rAgamAlike in tAna that composed of ranjani, mOhana, pUrvikalyANi and Bilahari which did not indicate any distinct pattern !!

Vid. Saketaram is known to do good homework (applaud the lineage) before each concert. He took time to explain the pallavi line which was based on panchalinga / panchabhUta kritis of muttuswAmi dIkshhitar.

The presentation of pallavi in tiSra aTa was another intersting aspect that highlighted the command not only over rAga but also on tALa. The rAgamALika in kEdAra (AkAsha), HusEni (vAyu), sAranga (Agni), bhairavi (prithvi), yamuna kalyANi (jala) demonstrated his deep command over the subject. The rAgamAlikas were ended with the pallavi line of each composition and necessarily did not end with the pallavi line of the RTP.

2 more filler songs were mellifluous and had an overdose of bhakti !! The ecstatic audience joined in chorus as the songs were pretty familiar.

Concert had a formal ending with pavamAna. 

I had a overdose of endophrine generated at the end of the concert. Could not sleep quickly as I went to bed, the concert was / is still ringing in my ears.

PS: A very interesting writeup on panchalinga krithis is available in this link

https://www.facebook.com/notes/mantra-shlokas/panchalinga-sthala-kritis-dikshitars-tribute-to-lord-shiva/182668781745954/

2016 Feb 27 AbhishekRaghuram LRamakrishna Vishal SumeshNarayanan @ Odukattur / Kalotsav

Vocal: vid. AbhishekRaghuram 
Violin: Vid. LRamakrishna 
ChitravINA : Vid. Vishal
Mridanga: Vid. SumeshNarayanan 

Venue: Odukattur 
Ocassion: Shivaratri Celebrations / Kalotsav Festival


01 sAmi ninnE kOri VarNa shri Adhi garbhapurivAsa (O)

02 mEru samAna DhIra mAyAmALavagouLa madhyAdhi thyAgarAja (N, S)
Nereval @ gaLa mula shObillu

03 jananI ninnuvinA rItigauLa m.cApu subbarAya shAstri (A, S)
swara @ tAmasamu sEyakane

04 durmArga carAdamula dora nIvana jAlarA ranjani rUpaka tyAgarAja (O, N)
nereval @ paluku kOTi nI

05 alarulu gurIyaga ADEnADe alakala kukukula shankarAbharaNa Adi aNNammAchAryA

06 rAga tAna pallavi tODI m.cApu eDupu 2 akshara after samam
pallavi line: vENu gAna ramaNa ati vitaraNa guNa nipuNa
rAgamAlika swaras in tODi , nIlAMbari, kalyANa vasantha

07 tappu nODade bandeya nannaya tande tillAng  (dAsarapada ?? )

08 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

2016 Feb 14 SanjaySubrahmanyan SVaradarajan NeyveliVenkatesh BRajashekar BGS RLKMSpringFest (Moments captured)

When master is at work, its an audio visual treat to rasikas. Some moments captures from the workplace :)