SIFA - Carnatic Vocal Concert by Suguna Purushothaman

[K.S. Srinivasan]

******** Just a Remainder -- It is on Sunday ****************
South India Fine Arts (http://www.southindiafinearts.org)
San Francisco Bay Area

Presents

Carnatic Vocal Concert
by

Suguna Purushothaman
Anuradha Sridhar - violin
Sriram Brahmanandam - Mridangam

Sunday, October 14, 2001 at 4:00 PM.
Cubberley Theater, 4000 Middlefield Road,Palo Alto

Ticket Information
Sponsors: free
Members: $10; Non-Members: $15
Children under 18 and Seniors: $8.
(Reserved seating for sponsors guaranteed until 10 minutes prior to
the beginning of the concert)

SIFA Toll Free Nunber
1-888-664-SIFA

Executive committee members and Contacts for SIFA Concerts

Bharti Krishnan (408) 260-0939
Vijaya Sivamani (408) 248-1285
K. Balasubramanian (510) 683-8682

[Todd Michel McComb]

This was really an amazing concert. I don't know where else Suguna
Purushothaman (disciple of Musiri Subramania Iyer, Semmangudi
Srinivasa Iyer, and Thinniyam Venkatarama Iyer) might be performing,
but anyone interested in the finer points of rhythm and laya
shouldn't miss her. She began the concert by performing the Viriboni
varnam in 2 talas simultaneously, effortlessly keeping one with
each hand. I thought it was anything but showmanship. It was
crisp and effective in either tala. She has a great sense of timing
in alapana too, and showed some superb swara work. Not so much in
the way of niraval, though.

The only negative was the group who sat behind me and talked loudly
through much of the concert. They should be ashamed.

Todd McComb
mcc...@medieval.org

[K.S. Srinivasan]

Hi Folks:

Here are the various compositions that Smt. Suguna Purushothaman
rendered during the concert held on Oct 14, 2001 in San Francisco Bay
area:

1) Viriboni - Bhairavi - Atta & Adi (varnam)
2) Sree GanaPatheeNee Sevimparare - Sowrashtram - Adi
3) Gurunaathan Oruvaar - Kamaas - Adi
4) Thelisi Rama Chinthanatho Ramamu - Poornachandrika - Adi
5) Theliyaleru Rama - Dhenuka - Adi
6) Entha Ninay varninthunu Sabari Bhagya - Mukahaari - Rupaka
7) Sonnadhai Kei Kanna - Kaamavardhini - Adi
8) Balambike Pahi - Manoranjani - Madhya
9) Manasu Swadheena - Shankarabhara -Misra Chapu
10) Chaturmukha Nayaki Saraswathi - Saraswathi - Chaturmukha
11) Kaanvendum Laksham - Surati - Adi
12) Amba dhursugaa krupa - Saaveri - Adi - Syama Sastri
Tani
13) Thunai puridharul - Varamu - Adi
14) Lakshmi Sametha - Ragamalika - Dwitala
15) Kannan natanam - Kalyani Maala (with Bhavas), Poorvikalyani,
Hameerkalyani, Mohanakalyani, and Yamankalyani
16) Paahi Rama Chandra - Yadhukulakambhoji
17) Rama Bhaktha Hanuman - Jonpuri
18) Thiruppugazh - Purvikalyani
19) Mangalam

This was truly a great concert. Smt. Suguna Purushothaman demonstrated
true classism of carnatic music in every sense of the word, and showed
great caliber. Every single composition was rendered with great
respect to the tradition set forth by her guru Musuri Subramanya Iyer
and such stalwarts like Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar. There were no
gimmicks, and the main objective was to perform with great respect to
the composers, with no political pressure. Pleasing the audience was
never the primary objective, yet every one in the audience sat through
the entire concert and I guess many were pleasently surprised. I
honestly hope all the music academy's in US and elsewhere focus the
next couple of years (and continue to do so later) and look for
artists like Smt. Suguna Purushothaman and enlighten fans of carnatic
music at large. It is very easy go after known (big) names for
concerts. It is also easy to be disappointed by some known big names.

I am sure Musuri Subramanya Iyer (looking down upon all of us from the
heavens) and Semmangudi Sreenivasa Iyer are proud of Smt. Suguna
Purushothaman.

Inspite of technical difficulties with Monitor speakers Anuradha
Sridhar (niece of Violin Maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman) did a superb job
providing violin accompaniment, to a very high caliber artist such as
Smt. Suguna. Sriram Bramhanandam did an excellent job playing the
Mridangam.

I urge everyone to get hold of the CD's of the concert either at the
next event or by contacting SIFA folks (visit
www.southindiafinearts.org). This is one concert which one can enjoy
listening to many times for years to come. There are one or two places
on the 3-CD conert set, with some recording glithes. These are largely
due to momentary malfunctions with the recording system. But overall
the CD's are good and worth one's collection.

kssrin...@yahoo.com (K.S. Srinivasan) wrote in message news:<219d5f4b.01100...@posting.google.com>...