Category Archives: Carnatic Music

Ganesh & Kumaresh’s Concert

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Ganesh & Kumaresh’s Violin concert was the next one after Prasanna’s concert day before yesterday at the Margazhi Mahotsavam. They were accompanied by Sivaraman on the Mridangam and Sundar Kumar on the Khanjira. The theme of their concert was ‘Shadjam – Adhara Swaram’.
Ganesh first explained what is Graha Bedham and said that they were going to take up Kalyani Raagam for doing the graha bedham in the concert. He then explained how each raaga was arrived at by doing a graha bedham on Kalyani. By shifting the Shadjam to the position of ‘Rishabam’ in Kalyani, you get Harikambhoji raaga. By shifting it to the position of Kalyani’s ‘Gandharam’, you get Natabhairavi raaga; Hindolam by shifting it to ‘Madhyamam”s position; Sankarabharanam by shifting it to ‘Panchamam”s position; Karaharapriya by shifting it to Daivatam’s position and Todi by shifting it to Nishaadam’s position. (Hope whatever I have written is correct as this what I understood after listening to his explanation. If there are any mistakes, please do let me know).
He then gave a list of the raagams that they were going to play in the concert. The raagas were all the janyas of the raagas derived by doing graha bedham on Kalyani.
Here is the list of raagams and the song in each that they played:
1. Varnam – Kalyani – Adi
2. Sri Vathapi Ganapatiye – Sahana (Janya of Harikambhoji)
3. Mokshamugalada – Saramati (Janya of Natabhairavi)
4. Manasuloni – Hindolam
5. Narasimha Mamava Bhagavan Nityam – Aarabhi (Janya of Sankarabharanam)
6. Aadaadu Asangaadu – Madhyamavati (Janya of Karaharapriya)
7. ? – Desiya Todi (Janya of Todi)
Sivaraman used 7 different mridangams, one for each song as the shruti was changed in the Tambura for each raaga for doing a graha bedham.
After playing all the raagas, there was the Tani Avartanam. What followed next was Shruti Bedham where they played some Divya Naama Kritis (Ganesh explained what Divya Naama kritis are. They are those that have many charanams and all the charanams are in the same tune) of Tyagaraja.
It was a wonderful concert and an informative one too!

Guitar Prasanna’s Concert

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I went to Guitar Prasanna’s first concert of the season at Chettinad Vidyashram that was held as part of the Margazhi Mahotsavam. He was accompanied by Prapancham Ravindran on the Mridangam and Umashankar on the Ghatam.
He started the concert with the popular Dikshitar kriti, Maha Ganapatim in Nattai raagam, after playing a brief alapana of Nattai. He then played an alapana of Denuka raagam and did a Graha Bedham and played the raagas Chitrambari and Shanmugapriya. He then followed it up with the Tyagaraja kriti, Teliyaleru Rama in Denuka. The next one was Raghunatha in Swararanjani raagam, a composition of Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar. He then played an alapana of Mohanam and did a Graha Bedham and played the raagas Madhyamavati and Suddha Dhanyasi. Kadambari Priyayai, a Dikshitar krithi, was the one he played in Mohanam and this was followed by the Tani Avartanam. The final piece of the concert was from Prasanna’s latest album, Electric Ganesha Land, called ‘Bowling for Peace’. On the whole, the concert was a fabulous one.

Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s Concert

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I went to Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s concert at Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium yestereday. I had called the previous concert as one of Sanjay’s best. Now I am at a loss for words to describe yesterday’s concert! Should I call it one of his ‘bestest’?!! It was sheer pleasure to attend such a wonderful 3-hour concert after a long time!
Here’s the complete list of songs sung by Sanjay:

1. Nadathanumanisam – Chintamani
2. Raghunayaka – Hamsadhwani
3. Geeti Chakra – Kannada
4. Arulvaai Angayarkanniye – Darmavati
5. Aadum Deivam – Kambhoji (Main piece)
6. RTP – Hamsanandi
Pallavi: Karuninchara – Ragamalika (Sahana, Saveri, Suddha Danyasi, Nalinakanti, Bhahudari)
7. Pagaivanukku Arulvai – Ragamalika
8. Kulam Tarum(Viruttam) – Ragamalika (Shanmugapriya, Behag, Sindhubhairavi, Sama)
Narayana Nalinaayaka – Sama
9. Ganta Mani – Kanada
10. English Notes – Sankarabharanam
11. Mangalam – Sowrashtram

Accompaniments:
Varadarajan – Violin
P. Satish Kumar – Mridangam
Bangalore Rajasekar – Morsing

The Kannada raaga alapana that he sang before singing the Dikshitar krithi ‘Geeti Chakra’ was superb. Incidentally, that happens to be one of my favourite songs sung by Sanjay! The joy of hearing your favourite singer sing your favourite song in a kutcheri is something that cannot be described in words!
The Kambhoji alapana was so beautiful that it left you wishing that he would sing it for some more time (It was less than 10 minutes in duration). The Pallavi ‘Karuninchara’ which he sang in different raagas and that too in the tune of popular krithis like Énta Nerchina, Manavyala and Brova Baarama, made it even more enjoyable.
Varadarajan, on the violin, was excellent as usual. (Since Varadarajan plays for both Sanjay and TMK regularly, I think I would have attended more number of Varadarajan’s concerts than Sanjay’s and TMK’s). Bangalore Rajasekar on the morsing and Satish Kumar on the mridangam, made the Tani Avartanam a thoroughly enjoyable one.

T. M. Krishna’s Concert

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I went to TMK’s concert on Sunday at Vani Mahal. Here’s the complete list of songs he sang:

1. Varnam – Navaragamalika
2. Gnanamo Sagaraada – Poorvikalyani
3. Sri Kumaara Nagaraalaye – Atana
4. Seethapathe – Kamas
5. Ehi Annapoorne – Punnagavarali
6. Kripajoochutaku – Chaya Tarangini
7. Kathikeya Gangeya – Todi (Main piece of the concert)
8. Smarasundaraajuni – Paras
9. Sarvam Brahmamayam – Madhuvanti
10. Vasudevasutam Devam – Ragamalika (Sahana, Bhairavi, Kambhoji, Kalyani, Mukhari)
Balakrishnam – Mukhari
11. Anri Ulagam Alandaai – Sindhu Bhairavi
12. Mangalam – Sowrashtram

Accompaniments:
R. K. Shriramkumar – Violin
V. Kamalakar Rao – Mridangam
Anirudh Athreya – Khanjira

It was yet another wonderful concert by TMK. A special mention has to be made about Anirudh Athreya who was very good on the Khanjira.

T.M.Krishna’s Concert

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I went to T.M.Krishna’s first concert of the season at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan yesterday. Here is the list of songs that he sang:

1. Varnam – Kedaragowlai
2. Seshachalanayakam – Varali
3. Dorakuna – Bilahari
4. Vinaraadana – Devagandhari
5. Nadachi Nadachi – Karaharapriya
6. Sevikka Vendum Ayya – Andolika
7. Pacchai Maamalaipol (viruttam)
Janaki Ramana – Kapi
8. Talalenura – Kamas
9. Manasa Sancharare – Sama
10. Mangalam – Sowrashtram

Accompaniments:
Guru Karaikudi R.Mani – Mridangam
Ramanujacharyulu – Violin
V.Suresh – Ghatam

The more I listen to him sing, the more I seem to like his singing! He sang the Bilahari alapana followed by the kriti Dorakuna and then the swarams for the same so excellently that I thought this would be the best piece of the concert. But, the Nadachi kriti in Karaharapriya that soon followed proved me wrong. ‘Sevikka vendum ayya’, which he sang after someone in the audience asked him to was also superb.
The audience gave the longest applause for the tani avartanam that I have ever seen! In the end, TMK requested the audience to be seated while he sang Mangalam. They left only after he finished singing it. It reminded me of TMK’s request to the audience in a concert at Music Academy during the last season when he asked the audience not to leave in the midst of a song or during the tani avartnam. They gave respect to his words and as soon as every song got over, one could see a large group of people getting up and leaving!

December Music Season

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It’s that time of the year again when there are so many concerts happening in every nook and corner of the city that you will end up being confused as to which one you should attend that day! No wonder Madras is the place-to-be for a Carnatic music rasika in the month of December!

I went to the concert of Sanjay Subrahmanyan yesterday at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. It was one of Sanjay’s best concerts! He started the concert with my favourite ‘I Vasudha’ in Sahana. I just loved the Harikambhoji and Hamirkalyani alapana. Sanjay was accompanied by S.Varadarajan on the violin, Srimushnam Raja Rao on the mridangam and Coimbatore Mohanram on the ghatam. Each one of them gave a thoroughly enjoyable performance. Thank God I didn’t miss the concert yesterday!