Sri Krishna Kathaamrutham

Sri Krishna Kathaamrutham by - Smt. Yogita Nagarajan - Pravachana Natyam performed on 18-May-2019, 6.30 PM to 8.30 PM at Sri Saraswathi Gana Sabha, Kumbakonam. An excellent programme. New of its kind. Bharathanatyam blended with Hari Katha. Keeping Sree Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi's compositions on Lord Krishna as the core, it was a memorable evening. Enchanting vocal by Ms. Arya Nagarajan (younger daughter of Yogita) - deep and sweet voice gave a strong foundation to the programme. Nattuvangam by Ms. Prasiddha Nagarajan (elder daughter of Yogita) maintained the tempo of the programme. Sri Satish Kumar (Arya, Prasiddha's guru) on the violin and Sri Venkatasubramaniam on the Mridangam provided able support to swara - laya of the programme. Smt Yogita, demonstrated each and every song sung by means of Abhinayam and brief talk. Her effort needs special appreciation. Everything was perfect and clear. Audiences were kept spell bound and were quite eager to know what is next after the conclusion of each song. Here are the YouTube links of the full programme. Please do watch and share the same with your friends. Don't miss to watch. Part 1/3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THegTiAtxKQ Part 2/3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mphTR8LjHlI Part 3/3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd7L1sPU2WI

Themes for Carnatic Music Concert

I am writing on this blog after two years. Earlier I use attend as many concerts I can. But for the past two years my little daughter is keeping me busy all times. So I had been watching concerts on Jaya TV margazhi maha utsavam. Thats all. 

This year the concerts of  Sudha Ragunathan, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Vijay Siva, Aruna Sairam I enjoyed a lot. Sudha's theme "Isayin thisai Isainthisai" was an enjoyable one. They way she bridged temples of north and south India was very nice. Coming to Sanjay, he is always an interesting personality. Ever keeping his rasikas alert. They way he sung doraiswamy kavirayar's kritis (infact I come to know about the composer only after his concert). were amazing. The madakku ragamalikai innum intha yezhai mel - hats off to him. Infact I was moved very much after reading Sriram.V's blog on wordpress. Vijay siva's paalinchu kamakshi, ananda natana prakasam were the most soul pleasing songs that I heard. Both are my favourites. Aruna Sairam's theme on "yengalil iraivan 123.." was a new one and of course interesting. Her reply to one of the question - what song she will sing for numbers 0 and infinity by  a rasika and her answer "silence" was a good one.

Ok. Coming to my blog on themes.. Listening to these thematic concerts during December season made me to think some more themes. I will list them now.

1. Navarasam - Ragas like mohanam, sahana, kedaragowla, subha pantuvarali, maand, bilahari etc can be showcased for each of the rasas.

2. Shaaktam - Kritis on Devi, set to ragas in devi names like durga, sri, saraswathi, lalita, kamala manohari etc

3. Mantra aksharam - Mantras like aum - 1 syllable, rama - 2 syllable, muruga - 3 syllable, narayana, namasivaya, saravanabhava, sriramjayram, aum namo narayanaya (4,5,6,7,8 syllabled) can be taken and kritis can be framed accordingly.

4. sa ri ga ma pa dha ni - Ragas bearing names like shadjam eg. poorna shadjam, rishaba priya, simmendra madhyamam, lalita panchamam etc.. I dont know about feasibility on gandharam, dhaivatam and nishadham for this.

5. Oli - Light - Ragas bearing names like surya, suryakantham, chandrajothi, chandrakauns, deepakam, chintamani, jothiswaroopini can be taken and songs can be sung.

6. Iraivanin angangal - Like kanjadalayadakshi for eyes, neelakantam for neck, thiruvadi charanam for feet and so on. (incidentally, I came across Sriram.V's blog on this particular theme. similar thought!)

Any more themes if I get I will update. Any idea if you get, feel free to share. :)

Happy New Year to all.

Aruna Sairam Concert at Narada Gana Sabha

Yesterday (Jan 6, 2010) I had been to Narada Gana Sabha for Aruna Sairam's concert. The concert was organised for GNB's centenary function, by the GNB rasikar mandram. It was a short 1:30 hours concert. Yet I returned back with a sense of complete satisfaction.

She started with Sarva Mangala Mangalye slokam in the raga hindolam, followed by sama gana lole in hindola ragam, rupaka talam. This is a composition of GNB himself. Kalpana swaras were flowing like the river ganges. Embar Kannan on the violin, J.Vaidhyanathan on the mridangam and S.Karthick on the ghatam provided a great support for the day.

The next song was in the raga anandabhairavi which was GNB's one of the favourite raga. Aruna started with another sloka on goddess kamalamba and rendered muthuswami dikshitar's kamalamba samrakshathumam in misra chapu tala. Then she sung harikesanallur muthiah bhagavatar's suddha dhanyasi raga kriti himagiri tanaye which was also popularised by GNB.

The fourth song was in the raga kalyani. I was expecting vasudevayani and aruna didnt falsify my expectation. After an alapana in the raga which was rendered in her own style contrary to the normal style of singing kalyani (beginning with long phrases of swaras instead of developing from smaller phrases) she sung yet another GNB trademark vasudevayani. The niraval was placed in the charanam lines "raga tala" and swaras were also sung in that line. It was like a water flowing down from a hill top, without any obstacles.

The fifth song was in the raga dakka (much similar to vasantha), a tyagaraja composition set to adi tala, raka sasivadana. The sixth song was kaaranam kettu vaadi in the raga poorvi kalyani which portrayed the devotee's anxiety regarding the lord nataraja not turning up to his/her home. This is more like, the devotee is a girl and the lord is her lover and this girl having waited for a long time didn't see her beloved. So she is asking her friend the reason for the lord not coming to see her.

The final item was a sloka vande matharam ambikam bhagavathi in raga malikai. Ragas were saveri, hamir kalyani, ranjani and madhyamavathi.

It was a short and sweet treat for the listeners.

Aruna Sairam - Chennaiyil Tiruvaiyaaru

Dec 23, 2009, Wednesday - Kamarajar Hall.

The hall was like tirupati devasthanam. Full of people standing in the queue eagerly to enter the hall. I was also one among them. People literally thronged into the entrance much like first show of a new movie released. It took nearly 20 mins for the crowd to settle down. Aruna started to sing Kizhvanam vellendru in dhanyasi ragam. She placed a short niraval in the line devadi devanai sendru naam sevithal.

Then was the kalyani raga kriti of Oothukkadu Venkatasubbaier. It was one of the saptha ratna kriti. I heard for the first time. It was a nice kalyani. Then was the natakurunji raga. After a weight alapana, she sung Vazhi maraithirukkudhe malai pola oru maadu paduthurukkudhe. It was Gopalakrishna bharati kriti from nandanar charitham. Aruna sung it so well. The emotions of nandanar, his longing to see the lord inside the sanctum sanctoram, but nandi infront of the lord stood in the middle. I was about to shed tears when she was about to finish the song.

To ease the emotion, she sang subrahmanyena of muthuswami dikshitar in the raga suddha dhanyasi. Swaras were rendered at the line prabravamadhi of anu pallavi.

Then was syama sastri kriti kanakasaila viharini in the raga punnaga varali. It was a divine rendition. After this slow paced song, there was a fast dakka raga song of tyagaraja - the famous raka sashivadana. Then was the majestic kamboji raga alapana. It was an elaborate one. She sung Tiruvadi charanam yet another composition of gopala krishna bharati. Aduthu vandha yennai thalla laagadhu harahara yendru sonnalum podhadho - niraval and swaras were just amazing.

Then was the brindavana nilaye in the raga ritigowlai. Her traditional way of rendering oothukkadu kritis with absolute bhava was observed in the kriti. Then was an abhang in the raga darbari - bhaje mrudanga talavidha. Ganapati paapa moriya mangala moorthi moriya was welcomed by the audience with claps. Then came the request from the audience to sing maadu meikkum kannae. She sang without any hesitation. We were rejunuvated by the song, thinking about the childhood days.

Then was the viruttham om muruga in the raga shanmukapriya. After few lines it was a nice transition to neela mani raga and Aruna sung enna kavi paadinalum. She added words lakumi maamiyum paarkavillai in anu pallavi and alatchiyamo unakku unnai naan viduvadhilai in the charanam.

The concert was concluded with arunagirinathar tiruppugazh muthaithiru in the raga shanmukapriya. It was a wonderful concert.

Unni Krishnan - Chennaiyil Tiruvaiyaaru

December 20, 2009, Sunday - Kamarajar Hall

It was a pleasant sunday evening. Unni Krishnan started the concert with Narayana Tirta's nata raga kriti Jaya Jaya swamin. After a steady rendering of the sahitya, there was a brief medium paced kalpana swaras. Then was the mayamalavagowla kriti tulasi dhala of tyagaraja. There were swift flowing swaras for the song. Then was the shanmukapriya alapana. Unni chose andavane unnai vendugiraen. Apt niraval at thandavam aadum and swaras were also interesting.

Then was the rarely sung nagaswarali alapana. I got the raga at the first line itself as it resembled sri pathe nee patha of tyagaraja. Unni selected padumanaban maruga muruga. Then was a traditional thodi raga alapana. At the start it was like dhanyasi without rishabam in the aarohana prayogam and later it was pure thodi. Unni sung kaddanuvariki of tyagaraja. It was a longtime since I heard this kriti. Indeed it was a feast.

Then came his famous jagajanani in the raga ratipatipriya. Kavadi chindu (pulli kalaba mayil paahan) followed the song. Then was a fast dhinakarunakarane nataraja of papanasam sivan. He concluded the concert with a hamsanandi raga tillana.

Nithyasree Mahadevan Chennaiyil Tiruvaiyaaru

December 19, 2009, Saturday at Kamarajar Hall, Teynampet.

There was a decent number of people at the hall to witness the concert of Nithyasree. She started the concert with a charukesi raga varnam by Lalgudi Jayaraman. A humble start. The next song was okapari joodaga in the raga kalavathi, a composition of Tyagaraja. Kalpana swaras were nice and brief. Next was nannu vidachi in the raga ritigowlai, composed by Tyagaraja. The ritigowla alapana, steady rendering of the sahitya, portrayed DKP - DKJ school in her.

Fourth song was saraswathi manohari in the raga saraswathi manohari, DKP fame dikshitar song. Nithyasree chose mohanakara muthukumara in the raga neethimathi (60 th melakartha raga), a song of kotiswara Iyer. The kalpana swaras caught the very essence of the rare raga. This raga resembles simmendra madhyamam except for the dhaivatha swara.

Next was mohana raga alapana. An elaborate one. She chose Mysore Vasudevacharyar's Ra ra rajeeva lochana rama. She placed the niraval in the anupallavi - yela nee garuna kalkani karanamemo gaalara. The swaras were interesting. She changed from chatusra nadai to tisra, khanda, misra and sankeerna nadai in an alternating fashion which was very subtle. The swaras proved the artiste's command over the layam. But the sahityam she rendered seemed she was not much confident at few places. I may be wrong in this observation. The tani played by the percussionists were not up to the mark. It was a normal one.

Now a days we are hearing lot of innovations in tani and it seemed to be a normal one that is heard during practice sessions.

Kavingar Va Ve Su has translated a poem of Rabindranath Tagore in tamil. Nithya sung that song in rakesri raga. I think it was tuned by her. It was very pleasing indeed. Then came the beatiful raga malika of purandaradasar - nanenu maaditheno. Ranjani, Mohanam and kaanada ragas were rendered excellently.

The last song was a viruttham in the raga tilang yenniya mudidhal vendum of subrahmanya bharathi. The penultimate line of the virutham "nanniya ninmun ingu nasuthidal vendum annai" was not completely rendered. "nanniya nin mun ingu" was left out and she rendered only nasuthidal vendum annai. Then was bharatha samudayam vaazhgave. When she started, there were claps from the audience which served as the tempo for the song. The second stanza of the song, 30 kodi janangalin sangam muzhumaikkum podhu udamai, was sung in her own style - like 40 kodi, 60 kodi, 80 kodi, 100 kodi.. and so on.

With few ups and downs the concert was a pleasing one.

Monsoon festival by Balaganamrutham - Shyam Prakash and Party Concert

Amidst the heavy winds on October 4, 2009 (sunday) I went to Ragasudha hall for the monsoon festival concert. Shyam Prakash was the singer. Vijayaraghavan was on the violin and young Bharadwaj played on the mridangam. All the three were a promising combo. Especially the vocalist and the mridangist were highly talented.

The concert started with the brisk alapana in the rAgA nAttai. Shyam sung saraseeruhasanapriye. There were quick kalpana swaras that proved the profieciency of the singer. It was a good start. Aarabhi ragam follwed naatti. Tyagaraja's Nadha sudha rasam added beauty to the concert. The alapana was very soothing. Violinist reproduced it well on his solo. Kalpana swaras were also scintillating. Though few were taken from tyagaraja's pancharatna kritis like pa-pa-ma-ga-ri-- da-da-pa-ma-ga-ri-ma, it was nice.

The third was papanasam sivan's kaanavEndaamo in the raga sri ranjani. The ending of the song was delivered innovatively in high pitch with the words kaana vendaamo repeated few number of times. The next was the first slOka of annapoorna ashtakam of Adi sankara - nityanandahari in the raga sama. This was followed by the steady annapoorne visalakshi of Sri Muthuswami dikshitar.

Then was the evergreen sankarabharanam. Shyam took Mahalakshmi jaganmatha of Papanasam Sivan. I should appreciate the young mridangam star for his perfect support. The niraval, svarams, tani for this song was highly commendable. Then came a quick javali in kamas Ragam. Jagadodharana in the raga kapi was so divine. The artiste captured the exact mood of purandaradasa in this song. It was with so much bhakti. The popular abhang bhaktha jana vatsale in the raga brindavani was a good conclusion for this 1:15 hour concert.

Though this was a short duration concert the outcome was utmost satisfaction that one will get after hearing 3 hour concert.

Violin concert by A.Kanyakumari

Today (15-Sep-09) morning in FM Gold, Violin Maestro A.Kanyakumari's concert was broadcasted (7 AM to 8 AM IST). Shri K.V.Prasad was on the mridangam and Shri Govindarajan was on the ghatam. It was a fantastic treat for the morning. The concert steadily begun with karimukha varadha in the rAgA nAttai. There were swift flowing kalpana swaras. The rAgA's majesticity was well shown in the sAhityA and the swArAs.

Then was the song composed by Shri G.N.Balasubramanian in the rAgA yadhukulakAmboji, paramakripasAgari. Since it was a G.N.B's composition it was in a fast tempo when compared to other yadhukulakAmboji rAga songs. It didnt let the listener to sleep. Instead it was like a revolutionary song!

The third was tyAgarAja's aadamOdi galadE in the rAgA chArukEsi. Kalpana swaras were played at the end in a traditional way. The fourth song was Smt Ambujam krishnA's Aum NamO NArAyaNA in the rAgA karNaranjani. The brihAs for the line "kinkini kini Ada.." in the charanam proved the innovative thoughts of the artiste.

Then was Arabhi mAnam vaithaL, a 12 rAgA rAgamALika song. The highlight here is that the artiste played all 12 rAgAs - Arabhi, Anandabhairavi, kalyANi, Hamsadhwani, SArangA, SAmA, MOhanam, Lalitha, darbAr, bhairavi, poorvikalyANi, kamalamanOhari - both in forward and reverse order in the AlApana. The transformation from one rAgA to other using a common swarA is commendable. In the kalpanA swaram also this transition was there. It was a genius work. Tani Avartanam by the percussion artistes needs a special appreciation. Since I am not that much informed about the jathis and korvais I am unfit to write about it. But I enjoyed the rhythm. The concert concluded with a durgA rAga composition by sri dayAnanda saraswathi on Lord RAmA. RAmam bhajE shyAmam manasA was studded with melody.

A good and innovative concert.

Ambujam Krishna Memorial Concert - Bombay Jayashree Ramnath

I had been to Music Academy to listen Smt Ambujam Krishna's compositions rendered by smt. Bombay Jayashree, this Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 6:30 PM.

The concert was started with an introduction about the artiste, composer by none other than ambujam amma's son and daughter. That was a half an hour talk that carried our memories decades back.

Jayashree started the concert with a swift chakkaravAga rAga kriti, Ranganai thudhi seidhiduvOm, dedicated to Lord RanganAtha of Srirangam. The song's pallavi, adorned the lord with elements like kasturi, parimala which was evident from the singer calling Ranganatha as Kasturi Ranganai, parimala ranganai and so on. River kAveri's greatness was also specified in the anupallavi - "gangai nigar punidha kAvEri naduvilE pongaravadhanil pallikkoNda parimala ranganai thudhi seidhiduvOm". i.e we shall bow parimala ranga who is lying on the serpant on the banks of river kAvEri whose greatness is equal to that of the ganges. The composer has also explained about the way thiruppalliyezhuchi (procedure to wake up the lord in the morning) is done there. The charanam goes like this - "sruthi layam koodi veenai yaazhOdu thiruppalliyezhichi paadi paramanai - narumalar kondu nattral poojiththu - marugina
manadhinil urugi urugi.." - with fine tuned veena and yaazh (stringed instrument) we sing the thiruppalli yezhuchi (set of songs written for waking up the lord) and by offering good flowers we pray to the lotus feet of the lord. There was a quick kalpana swaras that was simply superb.

The second song was nindra thirukkOlam in the rAga kalyAni set to adi tAlam tisra nadai. It was a traditional kalyAni that I heard after a long time. The sangathis sung for the pallavi line was a wonderful experiment that was brought out excellently. And the rendering of the line "neela mEga vannam nenjai aLLidudE.." was really heartful. This song was dedicated to Azhagar kOil sundararaja peerumAL of her home town Madurai. It had descriptions about the chitra pournami festival when the lord descends down into the vaigai river. There was also description about the 5 weapons (conch, discus, mace, sword and bow - gathi saarngi shangi chakri cha nandaki) that Vishnu use to have with him.

The third was the soulful kAnadA. It was a telugu kriti parAmukhamu sAnurA neeku paritApamu lEdA. This was dedicated to lord Rama. The expression of "will you not grant boons to me?" was well captured by the artiste. This was a composition on par with Saint Tyagaraja when it comes for rAmabhakti.

Then came the beatiful nAtakkurinji. Jayashree sang sondham vEruNdO rAmA, set to rUpaka tAlam. The last few lines of the charanam was so nice - aNda brahmmNnda akhilANdam paNi kOdhaNdapANi uNNai nambi vandha pin. The complete saranAgathi thathvam was portrayed well in this kriti. Kalpana swarams were also rendered. Each aavarthi of swara ended with the swarams Ni Sa Ri ga sondham vErundo which was saying like, is there anyother relation apt than you rAmA?

Then was the delightful dharmavathi. Jayashree sang a sanskrit composition of ambujam krishna, Janaki vallabhAya namastE in misra chapu tAlam. In the anuppallavi, there came a line "mama hrudayAmbuja vAsa" that beared the composer's signature. I think this is a rare one. I could not see her name in any of the other songs sung. This too had a good set of kalpana swaras that was very innovative.

The main piece of the concert is surutti rAga kriti written in telugu, "rAmA neevE gathiyani nirathamu namminA nannubrOva thAmasama" set to Adhi tAlam. The song was rendered in a steady way and swarams were flowing like a water fall. There was a tani aavartanam by the mridangam and kanjira artistes which was a good support for the song. The artiste announced that she learnt this kriti from smt. kamala kailasanathan who spent most of her time at thiruvananthapuram. That was a good rememberence by Smt Jayashree.

This was followed by pozhudumiga vAcchudE in the rAga rEvathi. Believe me this was the only composition that I have heard before. All the others were entirely new for me. The way Jayashree expressed the lines yennai vittu pOna kannan innum vara kaanave portrayed the longing feeling that any krishna bhaktai (gopis) will have if krishna was not by their side.

Then was a hindi composition in the rAgA bhAgeshri, mil tEjA iqbar poojese. It was a soothing one.

She concluded the concert with a rAgamaLika that was written as a lullaby(thAlattu). Devaki than kula kozhundhai was the starting. It had rAgAs like Ananda bhairavi, vasantha, Abheri, paras and neelaambari.

The concert was completed with the mangala stOtram sri rAmachandra sritha pArijAtha in the rAga nIlAmbari itself.

That was a wonderful evening treat by Bombay Jayashree.

Aruna Sairam's concert at Mylapore Fine Arts

I started from my office by 5:30 PM on December 30, 2008 and took an auto to my relative's home, who had promised me to give me a ticket for Aruna Sairam's concert at Mylapore Fine Arts Club. I should thank my relative for being so generous to offer me a ticket for the carnatic music Rajni Kant's (?!) concert. Wondering why do I make such a comparison? Well there is a story behind this.

It was on December 27, morning at 8:45 AM. I went to The Music Academy for getting ticket for the evening concert which was none other than our super star Aruna Sairam. The ticket selling was started by 8:30 AM and with in 15 minutes all were sold out. Not even a balcony or LCD hall ticket was spared. I inquired an officer there why did it all happened? The answer was, today is like a Rajni Kant's movie release. Getting a ticket is not so easy.

Agreed? Can you understand why I did this comparison? Well. We shall continue our musical journey.

After getting a ticket from my relative, I went to the sabha, by walk, crossing all the traffic jams of the alwarpet junction. I crossed St.Isabels' hospital and the venue of the evening concert came. After getting my ticket punched, I entered the hall. Of course this place was not like the new sabhas with air conditioning etc. It was an age old building with false ceilings newly laid. I was sweating even in a margazhi eve. But these and all are secondary. I am going to experience a divine music in few minutes.

Well the curtains were unveiled. The star of the day, Smt Aruna greeted the audience with a traditional "NamaskAram". Sri B.V.Raghavendra Rao was on the violin, Sri Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan was on the mridangam and Dr.S.Karthick was on the ghatam.

A short alapana in the raga bhairavi followed by the ever green ata taala varnam viribhoni welcomed the divine evening. The varnam was singed in both first and second speed. While singing in the second speed, one could very well notice Aruna's style (biting and opening words or the swaras). Its her own style as that of Rajnikant's.

Tamil date for 30-12-2008 is 15-Margazhi-5109 Kali Era. 15th song in the Tiruppavai is Elle ilan kiliye. The song was rendered in the raga begada. The natural majesticity of the raga was very well maintained.

The third was the soulful kalyani. A worthy alapana and then GNB fame Vasudevayeni. Kalpana swarams for the song cant be described. So much of depth and dhuritham (fast notes). There is a phrase in Tamil - Anal parakkum - the swaras literally sparkled like diwali crackers(matthappu).

Then came the beautiful Saveri. The artiste started with a viruttham NaaL yen seiiyum and proceeded towards Muruga Muruga of Periyasamy Thooran. Misra chapu tala added beauty to the song. I dont know why, whenever I listen or sing a song set to misra chapu tala, I feel like swaying, sitting on a jhoola.
The tala contains the aksharams - Tha ki ta tha ka dhi mi (7 aksharams). Of these the first 3 (tha ki ta) is the effort spent by us for getting the speed. i.e placing our foot on the ground and rubbing. The next four (tha ka dhi mi) is the swing that we get after releasing our feet from the ground. This cycle continues and so does the song.

The next in the list was a refreshing hindolam. Aruna sang, Nambi kettavar, a composition of Papanasam sivan. The song was apt for the place as its Mylapore Fine arts and the song was on Thirumayilaiyin Iraivan - Kapaleeswaran.

Aruna has sung an ashta ragamalika (song with 8 ragas) in few of her concerts. In that, the raga keeravani was described as "suddha mei gnanam tharum keervani thaye" (keeravani will refresh one's mind and grant pure knowledge). The keeravani that she sang in the concert was no exception to this statement. The raga was so pure and orthodox. Aruna chose Kaligiyunte of Tyagaraja for the day. Niraval was placed at Baaguga sree ragu in the charanam. The swaras were as usual, rocking!

It will be a blunder, if I fail to mention about the tani avartanam. The tani by Karthick and Vaidyanathan was "THE BEST" that I had heard so far during this season. The same vaidyanathan, when I heard him playing for Unni Krishnan, the previous day in Margazhi Maha Utsavam, was not so appealing. But all of a sudden, in Aruna's concert, he was at his best. Both the percussionists played with their instruments. They tried to bring out impossible jathis, from low decibel to high decibel, but since Isabel hospital was nearer, the silence was broken by the ambulances. Minor disturbances arised due to problems in car parking. Despite of those disturbances, I could experience the divinity of the music.

Then came the majestic Kambodhi raga. The alapana lasted for 15 minutes. Predominant swaras were Ma Ga Pa Da Sa, Da Sa Ri, Pa Da Sa... That was followed by a rhythmic taanam. Along with the percussion instruments, the singer beautifully rendered the taanam. Not many will give a rhythmic taanam and Aruna is an adept in it.

The pallavi was - kaana kan kodi vendum vinnuyar gopuram thillayil. This was a mix of Papanasam Sivan's kambodhi raga song kana kankodi vendum kapaliyin bavani and Gopalakrishna Bharathi's kaanavendamo iru kann irukkum podhey vinnuyar gopuram.

The RTP was based on Nandanar Charitham.

The swaras in the ragam kambodhi needs a special appreciation. The singer sung the swaras in tisra nadai (three swaras per beat) and chatusra nadai (four swaras per beat) in an alternating fashion. The tala was adi tala (4 + 4 aksharams). First 4 were in tisram and the next 4 were in chatusram and it kept on alternating. The violinist too responded very nicely and in addition to the two nadais, he completed with a khanda nadai (5 swaras per beat).

Then came the ragamalika swaras. The first was mayamalavagowlai and Aruna hinted that by rendering Sivaloka nadhanai kandu song. The second raga was sriranjani and aruna sung, kaan vendamo. The third was nattakurinji and the song she sung was maraithirukkudhe maadu. The fourth raga was poorvikalyani and the song was sattre vilagi irum pillaai. Next was a short pallavi line in the raga subhapantuvarali and then she sang the full song - varugalamo in the raga maanji, quickly. Once the slow maanji was over, than came the swift kambhoji raga swaras and she returned back to the pallavi. There was a mini tani avartanam for 2 minutes.

Nandanar wanted to see the deity Nataraja in chidambaram temple and he went there. But the Nandi was obstructing his view of the deity. So he complained to the lord about this. The graceful lord, asked his Nandi to move slightly so that Nandanar could see easily. The Nandi obliged it's master's order and once Nandanar saw the deity he asks for attaining salvation, by singing Varugalamo.This theme was explained by the artiste at the end of the lengthy RTP.

That was a very wonderful, thought provoking and divine concert that I heard during this margazhi. Expecting to hear more and more concerts like this from the artiste in the coming years too.

Bombay Jayashree's concert at Music Academy

Followed by Nithyasree's concert, I went to Bombay Jayashree's concert on 26-December-2008 at The Music Academy, Madras. The concert was at 4:15 PM.

Even for this concert, getting a ticket is a marathon job. When I went to get the ticket at around 9 AM in the morning, all were sold out and the seats at LCD hall (Mini hall) started filling. Luckily there were some 5 tickets for Dais and I got one.

I was waiting in the queue near the dais entrance with lot of eagerness. I was sided by two old ladies who never stopped talking about the jewellery worn by artistes and the crowd for the concert and many more worldly affairs.I was praying to God that I should get a place in the stage without any hinderance from these kind of people. God answered my prayers. I got a place in the second row, from where I could see all the performing artistes.

The concert started with a calm nattai raaga alapana that was followed by Saraseeruhasana priye. The song was so serene and calm. Kalpana swaras were also highly commendable.

Then was the attractive nayaki. The raga, by nature, will be smooth. And when heard in her voice, it was smoother even. Jayashree's rendition of Nee bhajana gaana needs special appreciation.

Then was the master piece of that concert - Sree Balasubramanya in the raga Bilahari of Muthuswami Dikshithar. I had heard, Bilahari as a roaring lion. But Jayashree gave a new face to it. It was like a motherly lion with grace and majesticity. She placed the niraval at the charanam - kanaka valli devaseno. I was expecting kalpana swarams there. But she didnt. I thought there wont be kalpana swarams for this song today. No sooner did I thought than came the garland of swaras based on the pallavi sree balasubramanya.

This song was on the swamimalai (near Kumbakonam - my place of birth) swaminatha swamy I guess. The charanam had the lines swami shaila.. Also this kriti had mine and my sister's name. In the anupallavi, there were phrases Dheena sharanya and Prakasa Lavanya. One more kriti of Dikshithar Sree Subramanyaya Namasthe in the raagaa kaambodhi will also have such phrases.

Then was the gana ragA GaanaMoorthi and the song was of course Tyagaraja's gem - Gaanamoorthe. When Jayashree was about to finish the song, she rendered the words Gaanamoorthe which appeared to me like Gaanam oorudhe (Tamil words - Meaning - The music is getting soaked in oneself).

Then was the kharaharapriya raga alapana. It was handled traditionally but at the same time innovatively. The sahitya was the sweet - Raama Nee samaanam yevaru. The neraval at the charanam - Paluku paluku laku thEnE was so sweet like the honey (thEn!)

Ranjani is absolutely a challenging raga. But when handled properly it will melt the listener's heart. The result of the melting would be nectar. That happened during Jayashree's rendition of Ranjani raga ragam taanam pallavi.

Raagam was in pure ranjani. Tanam had a 3 storeyed structure comprising of Ranjani, Begada and Hindolam. Then came the pallavi on lord Muruga. It was set to Khanda jaathi triputa taalam in chatusra nadai. The ragamalika swaramin 7 ragas was a real garland. Ranjani, Begada, Hindolam, Hamsanadham, Janasammodhini, Charukesi, Kapi were wonderful and showed how strong was Jayashree in Ragam and Taalam. The kalpana swarams were really a feast for the listeners.

Then was the viruttham in the raga behag followed by Velane sivabalane. It was rendered with utmost bhakthi.

Then came a Jayadevar's ashtapathi in the raga karnaranjani. The composer has written with a sincerity and so did the singer sung that song.

The penultimate item was a tillana, written by Lalgudi Sri Jayaraman, in the raaga vaasanthi. I am happy that I was able to find that raga in the very start itself. Many were asking what that raga was.

The concert was concluded with the traditional nee naama rupamulanu nithya jaya mangalam in the raga sourashtram.

The concert was superb on the whole. But Jayashree could have announced the rare ragas once it was over as it could have avoided the unnecessary murmurings every now and then a rare raga was sung. Hope the artiste will do that from her next concert onwards.

Nithyasree's concert at Music Academy

I had been to Nithyasree's concert at The Music Academy, Madras, on December 25,2008. It was a holiday for me as the day was XMas day.

After having a fine evening tiffen, I went to the academy nearly at 3:45 PM, half an hour before the start of the concert. There was a huge crowd and it was well organised as a long line.

Before describing about the concert, let me tell you the story how I got the ticket. It was about 8 AM in the morning. After completing my music class, I took an auto to the academy. There was again a big crowd for getting ticket. I approached the counter. They asked me to get a token first for getting the ticket. So I went to the token issuing person and got a token, specifying the ticket rate (balcony) and number of tickets needed. He wrote the same in a paper and gave a number for me. It was 83!

Then I was waiting in a chair, similar to the one that will be at hospitals for visiting a doctor or at the collector office for meeting a collector. I was waiting for my number to be called. 56, 57... 75..79.. 81,82..... 83. Yeah! It was my turn to get the ticket. I got the ticket.

With a sense of satisfaction of having achieved something, I went to home.

Now the time is 4:00 PM. I am waiting to enter the hall in the steps that proceed towards the main hall balcony. This reminded me of waiting in the queue at Tirupathi for getting the darshan of swami venkateswara. Finally after a long 30 mins waiting, I entered the hall and got myself seated at a comfortable place.

The time is 4:15 PM. I am eagerly waiting for the curtain to be raised. Two bells rang. Wow, the curtain raised and the artiste greeted the gathering and signed on for a wonderful start of the divine concert. Darbar raga adi tala varnam, kick started the concert. It was a good starter (like a hot vegetable soup). Then followed Tyagaraja's Nee daya radha in the raaga vasantha bhairavi. It made the environment lively. The fast kalpana swaras were superb. It was like popping up cheese balls during a dinner.

Then started the sunadhavinodhini raga alapana. I was a bit proud that I was able to identify the raga on hearing the very first line, when others were struggling for it. It took of very well and Nithyasree handled the raga very efficiently. Why because is the raga's structure is like S G M D N S - S N D M G S. If by mistake R (Rishabam) comes, it will turn to hamsanandhi. Such a delicate ragam is sunadha vinodhini. The song she sung was Mysore Vasudevacharyar's composition Devadi Deva. The kalpana swaras can be compared to an avalanche of electrons that will come from a laser beam.

Then was the Nattakurinji raga song Karunai Purindhu. This time, the raga was so soft, in contrast to Muruga that she sang in Jaya TV Margazhi Maha utsavam. May be since this song started with the word Karunai (grace) it was so soft, and the song Muruga, since it was Bharathi's song, It was majestic. In the song Karunai Purindhu, the words and the beats went hand by hand.

Then came the famous, Tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam in the raga Ananda bhairavi. No body can beat her grand mother smt DKP in Dkshithar kritis. And here too the same. Each and every syllable was perfect. One need to note the science embedded in the kriti. The concept of differentiation (Big to Small) and integration (Small to big) can be observed in this kriti.

Differentiation in the pallavi - Tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam - agaraja yoga vaibhavam - raja yoga vaibhavam - yoga vaibhavam - vaibhavam - bhavam - vam.

Integration in the charanam - Prakasam - Thathva swaroopa Prakasam - sakala thathva svaroopa prakasam - siva sakthyathi sakala thathva svaroopa prakasam.

The raga mudra and the sahitya kara mudra is given in such a nice way by dikshithar. He describes, Tyagaraja as Sri Guruguha gurum sachidhanandhabhairaveesam. A nice kriti.

Then came the majestic Kambodhi ragam. Nithyasree sang, Sri Raguvara. The rendition of swaras for each and every line of charanams was quite innovative. Aalapana was studded with phrases - P D S - P D S R - P D S R G and so on. The violinist Sri M.A.Krishnaswamy replied for those phrases with GNB Style of swaras - P D S - D S R - S R G - R G P and it was "sabaash sariyana pOtti". For this song, Nithyasree gave tani avartanam. It was a real laya sancharam.

Then was the beautiful Karnaranjani. Nithyasree sang an RTP (Ragam Tanam Pallavi) in this raga. It was a wonderful RTP. Pallavi was about sri Maha vishnu. It was set to the talam Thisra jaathi Jampha taalam in sankeerna nadai. This pallavi educated me about the combinations of taalas and nadais. Here every beat should contain 9 sub beats and there should be 6 beats per aavartanam. That is 123 1 12 is the form of the taalam. Each and every aksharam was crystal clear and I could see that sitting from the last row of balcony.

The pallavai was followed by ragamalika swaras consisting of 16 ragas excluding Karna ranjani. Bhoopalam, Kaanadaa, Jaganmohini, Ataanaa, Amruthavarshini, Nalinakaanthi, Neelaambari, Kalyanavasantham, suddha saranga, Janasammodhini, madhuvanthi, naattai, Gowlai, aarabhi, varaali, sree and then back to karna ranjani. It was a 16 storeyed building built out of 16 ragas.

Then was the sidhubhairavi raga viruttham followed by a song - Adi deva paramathma, about Lord Venkateswara of Tirupathi.

Then was her fame - Kandha nee oru malaivasi in the raga - Ahirbhairavi. It was simply superb.

Then came the swift, valaji raga tillana. Nithyasree stressed twice on the raga mudra "valarseela migu pazhani...". I dont know how many would have noted it.

The whole concert was maintained in the same pace. The open throated singing of Nithyasree added beauty to the concert. Every swara was clear and so the words too.

Ranjani & Gayathri concert in Jaya TV

Sisters will always make anything in this world enjoyable. I do have a sister. When I am with her, I will enjoy my life to the core.

This is applicable to Carnatic Music too. Bombay Sisters, Priya Sisters, Chinmaya Sisters, Hyderabad Sisters and the list goes.

The vocal concert of Ranjani and Gayathri is no where exception to the fact. It was a lovely concert.

This was telecasted on 17-12-2008. The theme of the concert is Hari smaranam.

The first song was well settled Nayaki raga kriti of Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Ranganayakam bhaavaye. Each and every phrase of the kriti was rendered with utmost sincerity. Both their voices were in unison. Absolute tonal perfection can be observed.

The next song was Pankaja lochana in the raga kalyani. This was elaborated nicely. Gayathri's alapana needs a big appreciation. The raga bhaavaa was completely delivered and it reached the listeners in its full form.

Then came a Tamil virutham that was set to ragamalika, comprising of Shanmukapriya, Mohanam and Hamsanandhi
On that very day, in the morning, I read a review of a concert by a critic. In that he mentioned about few people pronuncing sa in Tamil as sha and Tamil language has no sha kind of thing. I could observe that in the sister's rendition.

Srinivasa thiruvenkata followed the viruttham.

Then was the song depicting the theme. Hari smarane mado in the raga yaman kalyani was highly commendable.

Then came their trade mark, Bholo vittal - Abhang based on chakravagam ragam. That song added divinity to the concert. Especially the rendition of Vittal vittal in a swift manner by Ranjani and Vittalaa like a raga alaapana by Gayathri was a good mix indeed.

To sum up, the concert was a nice treat to music lovers.

Kadri Gopalnath's concert in Jaya TV

I heard the first concert of Margazhi Maha utsavam concert series in Jaya TV that started on 16-12-2008. That was Kadri Gopalnath's concert. Violinist was Kanyakumari. She followed each and every movement of Kadri like a shadow.

The concert started with the Brisk Bahudari raga kriti of Tulasi vanam, Bhaja Maanasa vigneshwaram anisam. The mood was set perfectly. This served as a starter for the deep bhairavi raga swarajati of sri shyama sastri. Kamakshi Amba was rendered with more attention to the raga bhavam.

Amruthavarshini was the main item. The joyous nature of the raga was very well portrayed.

The final one was the soft kapi raga song by Papanasam Sivan, Yennathavam seidhane.

All together the concert was a good start for the festive season - Isai vizha.

Mahakavi - Thematic Concert by Nithyasree

I watched Nithyasree's concert in Jaya TV for Margazhi Maha Utsavam, on 22-12-2008.

It was simply superb. The theme Maha Kavi was interesting.

The first song, pozhudu pularndadhu, rendered in the form of varnam in malayamarutham ragam was very innovative. The rendition of Sa and Pa in the Chitta swaram with brihas were fantastic.

The second song vettri yettu in Mohanam is another feather on your cap, that proudly proclaims the DKP tradition.
Every single swara was crystal clear. Sa Ri | Da Sa | Paa Da Pa Gaa Ri| Sa Ri Ga Ga Paa (Vettri | Yettu | Dhikkum yetta | kottu murasE) amazing.

Then was the nattakurunji raga viruttham followed by Muruga song. It was very swift and I am sure it would have enthralled the audience. The akaarams that were used here were excellent. The different ways that you took the pallavi line Muruga (arai yedam, kaal yedam) was a real taala sanchaaram.

Then came the beautiful Kanada, my all time favourite. The song Vande Mataram Yenbom was rendered with melody and majesticity. The kalpana swaras were really soul stirring. I enjoyed a lot. The swara prayOgams Ga Ma Ri Sa in higher octaves were really excellent.

Chinnanjiru kiliye song was nice. But I felt that it could have been even more soft and could have been a little slower. I was listening to it, but suddenly the song ended.

The next song Dhikkukkal yettum about Rain in Hamsanadham was wonderful. My observation is that, only in this song, The percussion instruments took off. This doesn't mean that for the other songs they were waste, but it was nice for that song.

When compared to other concerts of Nithyasree, this concert, the strength of accompaniments was very low. Only strength was her singing. This concert turned out to be a one woman army.

The madhyamavathy song was a nice ending for the thematic concert.

Most memorable concert

I love carnatic music a lot. I have heard many concerts - some at the sabhas, some in TV, some in radio and a lot in CDs and cassettes. There are many concerts that had left a divine experience within me. I am going to write about one concert that I relished a lot and cant be moved to a lower rank in future.

It gives me immense pleasure in writing this blog regarding Sudha Ragunathan's concert at Narada Gana Sabha, on Feb 3,2008. It was a shraddhaanjali to the divine saint, Sri Tyagaraja swami. I enjoyed each and every song that was sung. The tempo of the concert was uniform throughout. Written below are the songs that were sung in the concert and my comments for them.

1. Shobillu saptha swara in jaganmohini was a good start. The kalpana swaras that were sung for the word, saptha swara, was awesome. While finishing, the swaras depicting the aarohana and avarohana of the raga jagan mohini (S G M P N S - S N P M G R S) was very educative.

2. Andariki vandanamu - Endaro Mahanu bhavulu - in Sri ragam was very smooth and it was embedded with her pure imagination in the sangathis. Hats off. I loved this song very much.

3. Mokshamu galada in saramathi was simply superb. "saakshaath kaarani sath bhakthi yani" - still ringing in my ears.

4. Yela nee daya rathu - Bala kanaka maya in ataana was very sweet. And that too in the charanam - "Ra Ra devathi deva" - What a timing when she sung the words "Ra Ra" and stopped for a while and Aruna Sairam entered the hall. A perfect timing!! :)

Also the lines - "Parivara Jalathi Gambhira" was recited with a "gambhiram".

5. She again proved that she is an adept in handling the raga "Subapantuvarali". The true bhaavam of that raga moved me a lot. The song that was sung was Ennaadu by Tyagaraja.

6. Nagumo mu ganle in Abheri was a change after the slow and steady subhapantuvarali. It rekindled the spirits of the audience and made them ready to listen to another majestic raga - Mohanam.

7. Mohanam - Nannu palimpa : I love this song. I have heard that kriti sung by her guru MLV in a radio concert. When she started the mohana alapana, I thought it would be good if she sings "Nannu palimpa". And oh god!! she sung the same song. My happieness knew no bounds on listening that song. Mohanam - my favourite raga!

The tisra nadai kalpana swaras was a rare attempt. Not many will do that.

8. Karuna jalathe - nadanamakriya was soul stirring. A good atmaanubhavam.

9. Gandhamu puyyaruga - punnagavarali : superb! Swift rendering of that song made the audiences to clap for that song while she was singing. This shows how effectively she can take the audience along with her.

10. Namo Namo raghavaya - Desiya thodi . I heard the song for the first time. This was Tyagaraja's first kriti!!

11. Mangalam in saurashtram, but the transformation to surutti at the end was a good end for the concert.

In short the concert was a shraddhanjali to saint tyagaraja and to Sudha's guru MLV.