Aparna’s Blog

dEsh is always synonymous happiness. Thanks to TMK & Sangeetha’s concert, I discovered the very beautiful song, prEmaiyil yAvum marandEnE, in dESh. I didn’t know it was from the old movie, Shakuntala starring M.S. till somebody sitting next to me in the concert told me.

The first thing I did yesterday was to search for ‘Sakuntala’ cassette at home & since then, I have been listening to this song on a loop! Till I found that I had an mp3 version of it too with me, I was rewinding the cassette again and again and listening to it. It brought back memories of the days when I had more cassettes than CDs/mp3s and I used to untiringly rewind and listen to many songs again and again from a whole lot of cassettes. Cassettes have almost become a thing of the past now!
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The December Season is going to start in less than a month! Yippee! Now that Sanjay’s concert schedule is also finally available, I have already started making plans! 8 concerts of Sanjay and TMK are on the same day! Sigh!

This is the first concert that TMK & Sangeetha are performing together. It seems yesterday was their wedding anniversary. Here’s wishing them a long musical life together!

Concert at Narada Gana Sabha (Bharat Sangeet Utsav) on 6th November, 2009

Accompanists:
Akkarai Subbulakshmi - Violin
Poongulam Subramaniam - Mridangam
B.S.Purushotham – Khanjira

Duration of the concert: 2hrs 30 min Continue Reading »

Today morning, I discovered what a great combo the two make to begin the day with. Anandabhairavi varnam, santAna rAmaswAminam and Sri rAmam – 3 very, very beautiful compositions made extra pleasing by T.M.Krishna’s voice and superb singing were what gave me company while I was doing yoga and made the already rejuvenating experience an even better one. After going for class for the last several months, I have now gained the confidence that not only will I be able to do yoga on my own, but I will also do it regularly. Thanks to my laziness, being regular was what I was/am a bit concerned about. But now that I have discovered the joy of yoga+music, I guess my laziness will automatically be driven away.

Last weekend was a great one and so very reminiscent of December Season, thanks to Svanubhava & Sikkil Gurucharan’s concert and Dr. Chithra Madhavan’s lecture, with which concluded my memorable weekend.
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At Dakshinamurthy Auditorium (Nadopasana) on 6th June

Accompanists:
Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi – Violin
Manoj Siva – Mridangam
Rajaganesh – Khanjira

Concert Duration: 2.5 hrs

Songs List:
1. Varnam – Kanada
2. Sadananda Tandavam – Bhahudari – neraval & swarams at chittakArattil??
3. Emitova – Saranga – Alapana
4. Ananda Natana – Kedaram – Raaga Outline & Swarams at Ananda Natana
5. Sri Guruguha – Suddha Saveri
6. Nee Padamula – Bhairavi – Alapana; Neraval & Swarams at Sri Panchanadishwaruni
Tani Avartanam
7. RTP - Mohanam
Pallavi – Mohana Ramayya Samayamide Karuna Jooda Vaiyya – Kanda Triputa
8. Mattada Baradeno – Kannada? (Googling says Kannada. But I don’t remember the raagam now)
9. Smarasundaranguni – Paras – Raaga Outline
10. Janakinaath – Misra Khamaj – Raaga Outline
11. Madi Vadanamaada (Viruttam) – Bilahari, Sindhu Bhairavi, Kharaharapriya
Paadi Madi – Kharaharapriya
12. Mangalam – Sowrashtram
13. Swasti Prajapya
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Watching the last half an hour or so of Kannathil Muthamittal on K TV today morning, I remembered the post of mine that has been lying unfinished in the drafts for a long time now.

Sometime in June last year (this post has been in draft from that time!!), there was this thematic concert of T.M.Krishna that I went to. The theme of the concert was ‘Relationships’. As I heard a moving rendition of Mahakvi Bharatiyar’s ‘chinnanchiru kiLiye’(which he had chosen for the relationship between a father and his daughter) by TMK – how does he manage to bring so much bhava in everything that he sings! TMK rocks! –, I couldn’t help remembering the movie ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’ the moment he sang those lines in the song. As my thoughts drifted towards the movie, the first thing that came to my mind was what an apt title Mani Ratnam had chosen for the movie!
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