KVN concert in Boston
Ranjani Saigal
Since I am not too knowledgable about music, i will wait to see if
some other attendee will post a real review. I did now know all the ragas of the various
songs. I wish musicians would at least announce the ragas after they have sung
the song so that people like me can learn.
But I would like to mention a few things about this concert. After
I had read PJN's and other reviews of various KVN concerts , I went to the
concert with VERY HIGH expectations and I was not dissappointed. The concert
was truly a feast for atleast an amateur ear like mine. His concert started
out with the Saveri varnam Sarasuda. This was followed by Tellisi rama chandra
(Purnachandrika?). Then came Pakala Nila Patti (Kharaharapriya?). There
were a few tamil songs (including one by Gopal Krishna Bharati). Then
came two Swathi Thirunal compositions. The one in Hindi was truly awesome
(Vishweshwara Dharashana Pane). He also performed RTP in Ragamalika and ended
the concert with "Varugalamo Aiyya (Punnagavarali?)".
Every piece was rendered superbly. I particularly enjoyed his Neraval
in Pakala Nila Patti. About the discussion on his speed of rendereing
various pieces, I think he really picked the speed that was right for the
raga and the composition. While the Varnam was very brisk , Varugalamo Aiyya
was rendered in a slow manner that fully brought out the bhakti ras. I think
I have never heard the composition sung any better. It almost brought tears
to my eyes. I really did not notice the time go by and was shocked when the
delightful three hours came to an end. If there was any gripe I had , it was
only that he did not pronounce the words in some tamil songs very clearly.
Nagai Muralidharan's and Vellore Ramabhadran's accompaniment was
very good . A truly great concert
Ranjani Saigal
Viswanathan Krishnan
the recording will be available by requesting Mr. Siva Mani at
(617) 862-7852 (for a charge which I do not know much).
(Pardon any errors in the posting).
1. Sarasuda Saveri varnam
2. Telisirama ` Poornachandrika
3. Maanasa Ananda Bhairavi
4. Enge Irundhu Kalyani
5. Pakkala Karaharapriya
6. Manamirangadha Mayamalavagowlai
7. Vidaja Janaranjini
8. Kandavarkku Kanavilum Kundala Varali
9. RTP: Oru Taram Sivachidambaram... Saveri Adi
Ragamalika and swarams in: Bilahari, Sahana, SindhuBhairavi, Behag
Followed by a (very short) tani avardhanam
10. Irakkam Varamal Bihag
11. Tharuni Dvijavanti
12. Visveswara Sindhu Bhairavi
13. Varuga Ramo Aiya Maanji
14. Niri niri gama Poorvi Kalyani
15. Mangalam
As Ranjani observed, it was a delightful concert - well worth attending
(although not well attended). Karaharapriya was a treat (especially the
swarams). Much like the other concerts KVN excelled in Mayamalava Gowlai and the
Saveri pallavi. In Manji, he did very well to set it apart from Bhairavi.
I will let other experts to take over and critique the Boston concert, as
I gotta go now...
krishnan
Ramana Mani
>I will let other experts to take over and critique the Boston concert, as
>I gotta go now...
>
>krishnan
Now that Krishnan has nicely set the stage, I will take over and critique
KVN's Boston concert... :-) :-)
Disclaimer : Much as I would like to be one, I am no expert and this is
not a review/critique, but just a personal opinion.
Warning : I am not very familiar with the scheme of transliterating
Tamil/Samskrit that seems to have been adopted by many on this net, so
pardon any mistakes.
Like many others who post regularly on this group, I am a big fan of
KVN's. So these opinions should be taken with a pinch ( ouch! ) of
salt.
Venue : Kresge Auditorium, MIT
Date : June 19, 1993
Vocal: K.V. Narayanaswamy
Padma Narayanaswamy, vocal support
Violin: Nagai Muralidharan
Mridangam: Vellore Ramabhadran
Sruti Box: Malathi Sarma
Programme:
Composition RAgam Composer Improv
==============================================================
sarasuda sAveri Venkatrama Iyer
telisi rAma pUrNa candrika Tyagaraja s
mAnasa guruguha Anandha bhairavi Dikshitar a,s
ingE irundAlum(?) kalyANi Arunachala Kavi(?) A,S
pakkALa nilAbAdi kharaharapriya Tyagaraja A,N,S
manam iRangAdha mayamaLavagauLa Swarna Dikshitar A,N,S
vidajala janaranjani Tyagaraja
kaNdavarku kuntalavaraLi Swarna Dikshitar s
rAgam tAnam pallavi sAveri
" oru tharam siva chidhambaram enRu, uraiththAlum pOdhum pOdhum "
2-kaLai Adi, thisra nadai ^^^^ - position of arudi
rAgamAlikA - both neRaval and svaram
-------------------------------------
bilahari
sahAna - skipped during svarams
sindhu bhairavi
bEhAg
tani Avartanam (Mrdangam Solo)
iRakkam bEhAg Gopalakrshna Bharati
tharuNi dwijavanti Swati Tirunal
visweswara sindhu bhairavi Swati Tirunal
varugalAmo mAnji Gopalakrshna Bharati
niriniri (thillAna ) pUrvi TirugokurNam Subbarama Bhagavathar(?)
mangaLam
KVN has, for a long time now, epitomized the best of Carnatic music in
terms of sheer classicism, his excellence in shruti and laya and
emotionalism. This concert did not fall short in any of these
departments. Listening to him, one felt that one was listening to the
last of the great masters. Much as I would like it, this kind of
feeling is just not produced by the vocalists of the generation after
his. One hopes that the upcoming generation would mature and develop
their own independent styles, some of which would be satisfying. If I
had any reservations about this concert, I felt that something was
lacking in the accompanists - I am not competent to judge if there
were technical flaws, but it seemed that at some stages, Muralidharan
and Ramabhadran did not quite keep up with KVN.
The concert started with a crisp varNam in sAveri - I remember turning
gleeful at the highly likely prospect of a pallavi in sAveri. (One
more personal bias - I found the choice of ragas in this concert much
to my liking. ) This was followed by telisi rAma in pUrNa candrika - I
was stuck by the places where KVN would pause at appropriate lines to
sing one line slowly bringing out the bhAvA of the song so well. The
song was followed by a few rounds of short swarams. KVN followed this
with the slightly rare Anandha bhairavi kriti of Dikshitar - his
second composition, I believe - mAnasa guruguha. This was preambled by
a short, sweet alapana and he ended it with a few rounds of swarams.
Next KVN took up Kalyani for a semi-elaborate treatment - the words
of the kriti which followed were slightly unclear ( atleast to me )
- it sounded like ingE irundAlum. Does anyone know this kriti? The swarams
at arai-idam ( 1/2 beat after the samam ) were quite cute.
Then came the opening notes of kharaharapriya which made me sit up.
One of my neighbours and I were wondering if he was going to sing
pakkALa nilAbAdi or srInivAsa tava caraNam - two of his favourite
songs. I was hoping he would surprise us with something new. As it
happened he took up pakkALa after an elaborate kharaharapriya and we
couldn't wait for him to get to the caraNam and start niRaval at his
favourite "manasUna dhaLacI mai maraci yunara" ( I am not too sure of
the words ) - and he certainly didn't disappoint us. I was struck by
the razor sharp patterns which ended bang on the "idam" - which was 3
"sollus" ( sorry, I don't know how to translate this. ) after the
samam. He did a sort of "kuRaippu" with his patterns of 7, 6, 5, 4,
3, 2 and 1 - hard to describe, but something that KVN excels at and is
justly well known for. I felt that he was not well supported by
Muralidharan at this point - who seemed to fudge a little at places so
as to end at the correct point. The operative word's are "seemed" and
"felt". I am not competent to criticize his playing and am not
attempting to.
After this followed an elaborate treatment of mAyAmALavagauLa - and
what a wonderful treatment it was - a real treat indeed. I have never
heard this raga being rendered so elaborately and have often wondered
why. ( anyone who can suggest a reason ? ) The AlApana was at a very
leisurely pace with almost no fast sancharas. KVN took up manam
iRangAdha of Swarna Dikshitar and sang it movingly. He then sang some
excellent niRaval and swarams at the line - "pAdi paNindhu bhaktar,
indha pArinile uyarndhAr" . Once again KVN wisely (IMHO ) eschewed
fast passages - which I felt was in accordance to the bhAva of the
song. mAyAmALavagaula was followed by two quick songs - vidajAla in
janaranjani and kaNdavarkku in kuntaLavaraLi.
The main piece of the day was the rAgam tAnam pallavi in sAveri. The
alApana was done in three stages - in the first stage was primiarily
in the pUrvAnga of the normal sthAyi, going up to the dhaivatham
occasionally, the second part was predominantly in the uttarAnga and
the third part was predominantly in the pUrvAnga of the higher sthAyi.
The pallavi was set to Adi tALam (2 kaLai, tisra nadai). The pallavi
seemed some what lacking in "pep" with too many words. However KVN and
Muralidharan made up for it by using various patterns while doing the
niRaval. What was disappointing to me was a) no anulOma/pratilOma b)
rAgamAlika niRavals. Having heard rAgamAlika swarams often enough, I
have got used to them and infact enjoy them ( esp. by the likes of
Madurai Mani Iyer ), doing niRavals in ragamAlika seems to be a clear
break in the mood of the rAga built up so laboriously. Somehow the
thing seems incomplete. With swarams, the thing is that it comes after
the whole piece - alApana, tAnam, pallavi, niRaval, swarams - is
completed. Anyways, those are some of the few regrets I had about the
concert. The next major regret/disappointment was the thani that
followed the pallavi - it was very short - some nadais, one kOrvai,
and before you knew what was happening, the pharans, mOhra and a
somewhat tame "tadinginathom". I didn't notice anything in tisram or
khandam or misram. The only pleasing thing in the thani ( where
Ramabhadran has always scored points, IMO ) was the nAdam while
playing sarvalaghu stuff. Again, I am not at all competent to judge
his playing - but then how much competence does one need to have
opinions ?
The post-pallavi session was typical KVN - the thing which really
moved me was his rendition of varugalAmo in mAnji. I particularly
remember the lines " bhuviyil InanAi piRandhene, oru puNNiyam
seyyAmalirundhen...". For this song, the accompaniment provided by
Muralidharan and Ramabhadran was superb. If I was given to hyperbole,
I would address the song to KVN himself - asking him if I could come
and listen to more of his music. ( arugil ninRu koNdAdavum....)
On the whole, the concert was immensely satisfying. KVN was ably
supported by his wife Padma Narayanaswamy. While there were some
points where I felt that Muralidharan and Ramabhadran were not "upto
the mark", during the rest of the concert they were extremely good.
Ramana