CONCERT REVIEW: MSG in Melbourne
Mohan Krishnamoorthy
Concert Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Padmasri M. S. Gopalakrishnan - carnAtic violin
M. Narmada - violin accompaniment
M. Ravichandhira - mridangam
Moorabin Town Hall, Moorabin, Melbourne
13 June 1994
6pm - 9pm
Legend/Key: S = swara kalpana, R = rAga AlApana, N = neraval
1. viribOnI (varnam), bhairavI, ata tala
2. ????, chala nAttai, mishra chApu, Dikshitar, (S)
3. niravathi sukathA, ravichandrikA, Adi, Thyagaraja (S)
4. marivErE, lathAngI, khanda chApu, Patnam S Iyer, (R, S)
5. sukhi EvvarO, sahAnA, rUpakam, ThyAgarAja (R, N, S)
I N T E R V A L
6. ninnu vInA, navarasa kAnadA, Adi, Thyagaraja
7. rAgam tAnam pallavi, shankarAbharanam, triputa tAlA
"sadguru thyAgarAjA bhajarE mAnasA"
rAgamAlika swaram suite:-
sAvErI (MSG), mOhanam (Nar), hindOlam (MSG), varAlI (Nar),
kEdAr (MSG), kharaharapriyA (Nar), gAnamoorthE (MSG),
kApI (Nar), shivaranjinI (MSG) and madhuvanthI (Nar).
8. murugAvin, bEhAg, Adi
9. bhajan, sindhubhairavI, Adi, Swati Tirunal
9. thirupugazh, hamsanAdam, Adi, Arunagirinadar
10. mangalam
The programme did not start on time! The auditorium, as well as
the stage (I daresay) was freezing (We, in Australia, are in the
thick of winter and the organizers did not, probably, realize the
importance of a heated hall!). The acoustics was, at best, passable.
The lights were disturbing and affected the concentration of the
artistes. The speeches (apart from a well-written, crisp introduction
by Prof Reis Flora, Music Dept, Monash University) were lengthy and
rather unnecessary.
But, importantly, the music was divine.....
A crowd of about 250 was present.
Sri M. S. Gopalakrishnan (MSG) and Narmada rose above the conditions
(the cold damp un--heated auditorium, the harsh lights, the late start,
and so on) to produce music of excellent quality.
I was most surprised with Narmada. I hope people don't read too much
into this statement! I felt Narmada's style was a bit more classical
(and perhaps a bit more non--Parurish) than MSG's style. Any comments
from people who have heard her play before will be appreciated. People
from here, who have heard her in the past, definitely felt that she had
improved tremendously.
Somehow, MSG and Narmada (in particular) didn't settle in easily
enough into the concert. Understandable coz' they'd only arrived
in Sydney on Friday 10 June morning. They performed in Sydney on
Sunday night (See review by Mohan Ayyar). Flew into Melbourne on
Monday morning. Flew out to Bombay the following morning! They had
very little time to acclimatize and get over their travel weariness!
Last night, the cold auditorium, and the harsh lights didn't help
at all! Mridangam accompaniment was provided by Melbournian,
M.Ravichandira.
MSG and Narmada started with the viribOnI, the bhairavi ata
tAla varnam, rendered in two speeds for both sections.
They continued with a Dikshitar kriti in mishra chApu tAlA in chalanAtai
(the 36th mElakartA and parent rAgA of nAtai). I felt that they played
it more like suddha dhanyAsI (a janyam of kharaharapriyA, the 22nd mElA).
Actually, I must give credit where it is due! The fact that they were
playing it more like suddha dhanyAsI was pointed out by Ramnath Iyer (a
prominent local veena player), who sat next to me. They seemed to use
prayOgam-s that one would use in suddha dhanyAsI. MSG, in particular
seemed to reach the G3 and M1 by sliding from the S. Hence, the effect
was more S-G2-M1 of suddha dhanyAsI, instead of the S-R3-G3-M1 that is
present in chalanAtai. Am I making sense?
MSG announced the song as a Dikshitar kritI in praise of Aanjaneya.
Anyone know this? The swara kalpanA in this was, IMO, excellent.
They then presented an excellent niravathi sukathA (Thyagaraja)
in the rAgA ravichandrikA (AdI). This was slower than the normal,
brisk niravathI that people play. And it was really superb. This
too included a very imaginative and well executed swara kalpanA.
MSG and Narmada demonstrated their bowing skills to the fullest by
playing crisp passages.
Narmada then launched into a detailed rAgA AlApana in lathAngI.
It was quite superb and full of classicism. This despite technical
problems she faced mid-way through the elaboration (the contact mike
came un-stuck!). The composition that followed was the predictable
marivErE dhikEvvarO in khanda chApU by Patnam Subramaniya Iyer. The
swara kalpana was excellent in this piece too.
MSG followed with a sahAnA rAgam. Quite excellent, IMO. They then
followd it with a very different version of Thyagaraja's sukhi EvvarO
in roopaka tAlA. I am so used to the graceful, lilting, gAyakI style
of sukhI evvarO by Lalgudi, that MSG's version seemed quite harsh at
first. Particularly the pallavI and anu pallavI sections, which had
some very `non--standard' sangatI-s (please take note of inverted commas
before flaming!). Of course, I did realize that pAdAntharam-s differ
and hence, sangatI-s. But, give me Lalgudi's pallavI and anupallavI
for sukhi EvvarO anyday, and I'll take it! The charanam sections,
however, seemed `normal' (again, note the inverted commas before
flaming, please!), and I settled down to enjoy the detailed nEraval and
imaginative swara kalpanA that followed.
The taniAvartanam that followed was crisp and good. Ravichandira had his
initial training in SriLanka (he is SriLankan) and followed this up with
advanced training from Karaikudi Mani. The result is a very accomplished
and composed player... Throughout the concert Ravichandhira provided
unruffled accompaniment and complemented the sublime music.
This was followed by an interval. During this, a few people from the
audience went back stage and asked MSG what he would play in the second
half. This was in response to an announcement by an ignorant gink at
the commencement of the concert that MSG would play light pieces and
bhajans in the second half. MSG said he was open to suggestions for
the second half for he didn't know what the audience was like. Some
people pressed him for an RTP. And he obliged...
The second half commenced with a fantastic rendition of Thyagaraja's
ninnu vina in navarasa kAnadA.
I really enjoyed the second half of his concert, in which he played
a superb RTP in triputa tAlA in the rAga shankarAbharanam. The rAga
alApanai was awesome, IMO. Despite some pyrotechnics towards the
middle of the AlApanai, it had a soul--stirring effect on me! I was
moved by the quality of MSG's (and Narmada's) bowing. IMO, MSG is one
of the finest tAnam players around. He accomplishes quite a lot,
particularly in the tAnam, through extremely well-controlled and very
fast bowing. He excelled in the shankarAbharanam RTPtAnam The pallavI
that followed: `sadguru thyAgarAjA bhajarE mAnasA' was superb. Again,
as in Sydney, the pallavI wasn't well elaborated by playing in different
speeds (anulOmA, pratilOmA, etc?). Narmada and MSG then launched into an
extensive rAgamAlikA swaram suite that included as many as 10 rAgAs, some
in vilamba kAalam. The rAgAs included sAvErI (MSG), mOhanam (N), hindOlam
(MSG), varAlI (N), kEdAr (MSG), kharaharapriyA (N), gAnamoorthE (MSG),
kApI (N), shivaranjinI (MSG) and madhuvanthI (N). The kEdAr and hindOlam
were played in a hindustAni style (MSG is the only carnAtic violinist to
have performed full length solo hindUstAnI concerts). The kEdAr was
very nice indeed. The kEdAr that he played is very different to our
kEdAram. It sounded more like hamir kalyAnI with N1 instead of N2.
Am I correct here?
This was follwed by a few tukudAs, including an excellent murugAvin
in bEhAg, a bhajan by Swati Tirunal in sindhubhairavI, a thirupugazh
in hamsanAdam and a mangalam.
The concert was very balanced in terms of the mix of rAgas, tAlas
and composers.
Although Narmada was understandably peeved at the commencement of the
concert (due to the cold stage and the harsh lights), it was a wonderful
listening experience once the artistes settled down. They seemed so
eager to create a wonderful atmosphere and to give to us, the rasikA-s,
all that they could. Thoroughout the concert, the artistes were quite
composed and presented themselves very well.
MSG did not object to audio and video recordings and was quite happy
for recordings to be distributed willy-nilly.
I shall be getting recordings of this concert shortly. I can assure
you that the concert was of excellent quality. Hopefully, the recording
will be of good quality too. I shall also be getting a copy of the
Sydney concert too. So, I would be quite happy to entertain requests.
However, I must ask prospective recepients to be prepared to *exchange*
tapes -- not merely request them!
All in all, an excellent concert. Hopefully, Melbourne will see more
such concerts...
/Mohan
-------
Mohan Krishnamoorthy, CSIRO, Div of Maths and Stats (OR Group),
(Off) Bayview Avenue, Clayton 3168, Australia.
Or: Pvt Bag 10, Rosebank MDC, Victoria 3169, Australia.
(Res) 7, Wanda Street, Mulgrave, VIC 3170, Australia.
Phone: (Off) +61 3 542 2263; (Res): +61 3 560 3305
Fax: +61 3 542 2474; email: mo...@mel.dms.CSIRO.AU
Sriram Devanathan
In article <2udspv$8...@news.dmpe.CSIRO.AU>, mo...@tau.mel.dms.CSIRO.AU (Mohan Krishnamoorthy) writes:
|>
|> Concert Review
|> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|>
|> Padmasri M. S. Gopalakrishnan - carnAtic violin
|> M. Narmada - violin accompaniment
|> M. Ravichandhira - mridangam
|>
|> Moorabin Town Hall, Moorabin, Melbourne
|> 13 June 1994
|> 6pm - 9pm
|>
|> Legend/Key: S = swara kalpana, R = rAga AlApana, N = neraval
|>
|> 1. viribOnI (varnam), bhairavI, ata tala
|> 2. ????, chala nAttai, mishra chApu, Dikshitar, (S)
|> 3. niravathi sukathA, ravichandrikA, Adi, Thyagaraja (S)
|> 4. marivErE, lathAngI, khanda chApu, Patnam S Iyer, (R, S)
|> 5. sukhi EvvarO, sahAnA, rUpakam, ThyAgarAja (R, N, S)
I've heard Madurai Mani Iyer's "Sukhi Evvaro" in KAnada. Is this a
different song?
Sriram
Vallath Nandakumar
I read the very good reviews of MSG's Australian Concerts. I
have not heard him.
My wife has a cousin in Parur near Kochi (Cochin) who plays
the violin (his name is Rajesh), and I was wondering if his
school of playing is related to MSG's. I have a couple
of concert tapes of Rajesh, and he plays well, with long
alapanas.
Which Parur is MS Gopalakrishnan from?
Vallath Nandakumar
Sriram Devanathan
OOOOOOOOOOOOPS. Sorry. I posted it without reading the review fully.
Sriram
Mohan Ayyar
MSG's father hails from Parur in Kerala and hence the name of the style
of violin propogated by MSG, his elder brother M. S. Anantaraman and their
children M. Narmada and M. A. Sundaresan, respectively. This is basically
the extent of the Parur style as far as I know. Both Narmada and
Sundaresan have brothers who also play violin but have not risen to great
heights as yet. I think MSG's son is Suresh and he is about 17.
The "M" is MSG stands for Madras as this is where they have been settled
for many years. They are resident in Apparsamy Koil St in Mylapore.
Mohan
Mohan Ayyar
>
>Concert Review
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>Padmasri M. S. Gopalakrishnan - carnAtic violin
>M. Narmada - violin accompaniment
>M. Ravichandhira - mridangam
>
>Moorabin Town Hall, Moorabin, Melbourne
>13 June 1994
>
>MSG followed with a sahAnA rAgam. Quite excellent, IMO. They then
^^^^^^
>followd it with a very different version of Thyagaraja's sukhi EvvarO
>in roopaka tAlA.
Mohan K. means kAnada rAgam not sahAna. I'm sure it was a slip of the
fingers!
I did not find the rendition of sukhi evvarO very unusual - perhaps
since I haven't got the Lalgudi version. It seemed similar to the
way Mandolin Srinivas has played it on a CD.
>
>The second half commenced with a fantastic rendition of Thyagaraja's
>ninnu vina in navarasa kAnadA.
^^^^^^ kannada.
>very nice indeed. The kEdAr that he played is very different to our
>kEdAram. It sounded more like hamir kalyAnI with N1 instead of N2.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
More like Ahir Bhairavi I think but don't know about the swaras.
Overall, I must concur with Mohan K regarding the concert. The artistes
were unsettled by the cold, lights and sound system in Melbourne but
still managed to produce a magnificent concert with an exceptional
second half.
The accompanying speeches were overwhelmingly irrelevant apart from the
artiste introduction speech which was read predominantly from the
handout which was distributed.
Mohan Ayyar
Divya Balachandran
>From: may...@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Mohan Ayyar)
>Subject: Re: MS Gopalakrishnan
>Keywords: msg, violin, parur
>Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 01:43:54 GMT
>In article <2uev0k$b...@tekgen.bv.tek.com> val...@vishnu.labs.tek.com (Vallath Nandakumar) writes:
>>
>>I read the very good reviews of MSG's Australian Concerts. I
>>have not heard him.
>>
>>My wife has a cousin in Parur near Kochi (Cochin) who plays
>>the violin (his name is Rajesh), and I was wondering if his
>>school of playing is related to MSG's. I have a couple
>>of concert tapes of Rajesh, and he plays well, with long
>>alapanas.
>>
>>Which Parur is MS Gopalakrishnan from?
>>
>>Vallath Nandakumar
>
>MSG's father hails from Parur in Kerala and hence the name of the style
>of violin propogated by MSG, his elder brother M. S. Anantaraman and their
>children M. Narmada and M. A. Sundaresan, respectively. This is basically
>the extent of the Parur style as far as I know. Both Narmada and
>Sundaresan have brothers who also play violin but have not risen to great
>heights as yet. I think MSG's son is Suresh and he is about 17.
I think his son's name is actually Raghavendra, as he is a great
devotee of Raghavendra.
>The "M" is MSG stands for Madras as this is where they have been settled
>for many years. They are resident in Apparsamy Koil St in Mylapore.>
>Mohan
Shiva Shivakumar
>
Thanks for the review. I am a big fan of MSG and one doesn't hear much about
him nowadays, esp. in this net.
The piece #2, is probably 'Pavanatmaja' in kanda chapu talam,
and one of MSG's FPPs. It's also in one of his LPs.
Piece #8, was it Muruganin marupeyar azhagu in Kanda chapu by any chance ?
(pl. don't get me wrong. I am not doubting your tala identification capability
or anything.... )
>
>The programme did not start on time! The auditorium, as well as
>the stage (I daresay) was freezing (We, in Australia, are in the
>thick of winter and the organizers did not, probably, realize the
>importance of a heated hall!). The acoustics was, at best, passable.
>The lights were disturbing and affected the concentration of the
>artistes. The speeches (apart from a well-written, crisp introduction
>by Prof Reis Flora, Music Dept, Monash University) were lengthy and
>rather unnecessary.
I think Carnatic musicians are used to and tolerate such organizational
goof-ups. Once at IITM, TVsankaranarayanan, MSG and Sivaraman was brought
to the campus in a dirty cargo van (I had graduated at that time; I wouldn't
have permitted that during my tenure as the music club secretary )
>
>But, importantly, the music was divine.....
>
>A crowd of about 250 was present.
>
>Sri M. S. Gopalakrishnan (MSG) and Narmada rose above the conditions
>(the cold damp un--heated auditorium, the harsh lights, the late start,
>and so on) to produce music of excellent quality.
>
>I was most surprised with Narmada. I hope people don't read too much
>into this statement! I felt Narmada's style was a bit more classical
>(and perhaps a bit more non--Parurish) than MSG's style. Any comments
>from people who have heard her play before will be appreciated. People
>from here, who have heard her in the past, definitely felt that she had
>improved tremendously.
Very true. When I heard them in Madras in Dec '92, I felt the same thing.
That day, the main piece was in Bhairavi (a slow tempo piece) and the
RTP was in Begada, Tisra Jampa talam, Misra nadai with the eduppu 1/2 beat
before the start of the cycle ! Before the beginning of the pallavi, Narmada
said something to MSG and then he announced the talam. That and the fact that
she was doing her PhD in music made me think that the RTP selection was her
'kaingariyam'. In the past, there used to be a big contrast in the tonal
quality of MSG's playing and Narmada's but there was little difference in
that concert. (can be partly attributed to MSG's quality deterioration also,
I guess !)
>
>Somehow, MSG and Narmada (in particular) didn't settle in easily
>enough into the concert. Understandable coz' they'd only arrived
>in Sydney on Friday 10 June morning. They performed in Sydney on
>Sunday night (See review by Mohan Ayyar). Flew into Melbourne on
>Monday morning. Flew out to Bombay the following morning! They had
>very little time to acclimatize and get over their travel weariness!
>Last night, the cold auditorium, and the harsh lights didn't help
>at all! Mridangam accompaniment was provided by Melbournian,
>M.Ravichandira.
>
>MSG and Narmada started with the viribOnI, the bhairavi ata
>tAla varnam, rendered in two speeds for both sections.
>
>They continued with a Dikshitar kriti in mishra chApu tAlA in chalanAtai
>(the 36th mElakartA and parent rAgA of nAtai). I felt that they played
>it more like suddha dhanyAsI (a janyam of kharaharapriyA, the 22nd mElA).
>Actually, I must give credit where it is due! The fact that they were
>playing it more like suddha dhanyAsI was pointed out by Ramnath Iyer (a
>prominent local veena player), who sat next to me. They seemed to use
>prayOgam-s that one would use in suddha dhanyAsI. MSG, in particular
>seemed to reach the G3 and M1 by sliding from the S. Hence, the effect
>was more S-G2-M1 of suddha dhanyAsI, instead of the S-R3-G3-M1 that is
>present in chalanAtai. Am I making sense?
Hey, big shots can do such thing and we shouldn't criticize, ok ? :-)
I have a Balamurali recording where he goes P-D2-S-N2-P in Kambodhi instead
of the usual S-N3-P. ( I have meaning to mention this sometime and thought
I will slip it in..)
Now THAT surprises me !!!!!
>
>I shall be getting recordings of this concert shortly. I can assure
>you that the concert was of excellent quality. Hopefully, the recording
>will be of good quality too. I shall also be getting a copy of the
>Sydney concert too. So, I would be quite happy to entertain requests.
>However, I must ask prospective recepients to be prepared to *exchange*
>tapes -- not merely request them!
>
>All in all, an excellent concert. Hopefully, Melbourne will see more
>such concerts...
>
>/Mohan
>
enjoyed reading,
Thanks
Jagadisan Shivakumar
Mohan Ayyar
>In article <2udspv$8...@news.dmpe.CSIRO.AU> mo...@tau.mel.dms.CSIRO.AU (Mohan Krishnamoorthy) writes:
>>
>>Concert Review
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>>Padmasri M. S. Gopalakrishnan - carnAtic violin
>>M. Narmada - violin accompaniment
>>M. Ravichandhira - mridangam
>The piece #2, is probably 'Pavanatmaja' in kanda chapu talam,
>and one of MSG's FPPs. It's also in one of his LPs.
>
>Piece #8, was it Muruganin marupeyar azhagu in Kanda chapu by any chance ?
>
Correct on both accounts.
....stuff deleted
>
>Very true. When I heard them in Madras in Dec '92, I felt the same thing.
>That day, the main piece was in Bhairavi (a slow tempo piece) and the
>RTP was in Begada, Tisra Jampa talam, Misra nadai with the eduppu 1/2 beat
>before the start of the cycle ! Before the beginning of the pallavi, Narmada
>said something to MSG and then he announced the talam. That and the fact that
>she was doing her PhD in music made me think that the RTP selection was her
>'kaingariyam'.
Narmada is very interested in pallavi-s. I had the good-fortune of
hosting MSG and Narmada in Sydney and Narmada was keen to get hold of
any pallavi recordings I had - particularly of Alathur Bros, Seshagopalan,
MLV - some of the famous pallavi exponents.
Mohan