Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

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rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

Post by rajeshnat »

Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018
-------------------------------------------------
Vocal: Amrutha Venkatesh
Violin : MA Krishnaswamy
Mrudangam : Vijay Natesan
Kanjira : Anirudh Athreya

Concert Type : Nirvana - No concert to follow
Day/Duration : Sunday/ 2 hours and 05 mins
Concert Type: Free Concert
Hall : arkays hall, Luz

01. viribOni - bhairavi -pachimiriam Adiappa
02. pAhi nikila janani (R,S) - nAttai - Iriyamman Thampi
2 mins alapana and 1 min violin return
8 mins swaras

03. Hechariga rA (R,S)- yadhukulakAmbOdhi - T
4 mins alapana and 2 mins violin return
4 mins swaras
04. kanden kanden kanden seethaiyai(S) - vasanta - AK
2 mins swaras

05A. bHAvayE sarasa nAbham (R N S T) - keeravani - ST
14 mins alapana and 7 mins violin return
neraval in bhoori kripa rasa vAsam pani parivrita talpa nivAsam for 5 mins
swaras for 11 mins
05B. tani for 13 mins

06. sAgara sayana vibhO - bhAgeshri - MDR
07. tamburi meeti dava- sindhubhairavi - PD
08. Thillana -nAdhiru diru dheem...manjula mohana murali ravali- ahirbhairav - BMK
09. nee nAma roopamulaku

When a significant set of youngsters are preparing for the annual school examinations , I had some time and luxury to spend 2 hours with a fine vidushi who had a more matured gathram . Amrutha started with a keezh kala alapana and segued to a fine bhairavi varnam viribOni. Certainly her voice strength in that lower to middle octave was extremely enjoyable . May be may be bit more bounce and leash in second speed could have made the viribOni a better boni nevertheless a great start. She announced the next composer and the nattai alapana is usually quite rare and she did sing bit joyfully and I liked the krithi pAhi nikila janani that came next . To the best of my knowledge i have not heard this thampi krithi and I enjoyed it , she made a bit stylish slam dunks in nattai swaras here and there in the sense it was not a tight leash with mrudangam in swara , but i liked it.

Lovely alapana of yadhukula kAmbOdhi showed her sensitive non disturbing approach to raga development and I liked her rendition. Her rendition of the hechariga song had brought in a lot of shades of beauty of how an artist can split the words right and bring more the yadhukula kAmBodhi raga devata. Swaras had some lovely patterns in the shake of ri ri at regular intervals , may be i thought she can build a beautiful rajagopuram there but she wrapped it too quickly there.

The kanden kanden in vasantha showed her weekness , she needs to develop more muscle in singing fast sangathis with quick turns for a longer period it did not come out well. Vasanta was not that great, the krithi was passable but swaras were not that great . The days best was indeed the keeravani main. She developed it organically without losing to any unwanted brigha aching sangathis . The start was meditative keeravani and she chiselled very well to give an extreme classical keeravani . I did not know about this swati krithi and I am told golden girl ponnammal and DKJ have sung this krithi bhavaye in keeravani. Nevertheless I love each and every keeravani krithi and I was very impressed with a very relaxing and pisiru illatha delivery from amrutha. Keeravani neraval was bit measured with a well planned rest and thrust , the swaras were very cute and was sung in short burst without percussion , her voice quality indeed went well with keeravani.


The 3 tukkkadas she anchored were from her usual songlist and tributes to yesteryear greats - MDR, TRS and BMK . All three had its own share of individuality . The melliflous sagara sayana in bhageshri was my favourite , the asymmetrical twist of BMK thillana had BMK mindset where raga bhavam comes only with limited time slices when there is few ahirbhairavishi alapana phrases . The folkish tamburi , i could think of only TRS, I do know she sings few varnams of TRS but this is the first time i am hearing tukkada popularized by TRS.


The Violinist MAK played well for slow songs but I felt his violin tone did not have a great melodic gestalt. Vijay Natesan play was good but the power was bit missing his taps were quite feeble to me . Anirudh was the best pakkavadhyam he had a great tone and showed a very arrestive stage presence just like Amrutha.


I missed may be one weighty number and may be a fast tempo song that was more convincing . But the voice texture of amrutha in lower to mid octaves was really wonderful with a myriad of textures . Overall a very good to excellent for 2 hours and 5 mins.

CRama
Posts: 2939
Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

Post by CRama »

It was an excellent concert.
    In Viriboni varnam, Amrutha gave voice modulation like MDR in some places. There were some MDR sangatis also in the varnam.
    Yadukulakambodi alapana, she could have made more sojourn in the upper sthayi.
    She sang only the keezhkala swaras for Hecharika ga raa.
    For the main song in Keeravani, she presented elaborate quarter avarta swaras which had very attractive patterns.
    Nata and Keeravani kritis are the favourite songs of her Guru Parassasla Ponnammal Mami.
    Tamboori meetidava- a TRS number - sang well mostly in the same patantharam.

    sureshvv
    Posts: 5523
    Joined: 05 Jul 2007, 18:17

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by sureshvv »

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sWD5N5qwyY

    Terrific concert, not just meeting but beating the highest of expectations.

    Amrutha's concerts are all about poetry and song. She sang all charanams of hecharikaga and the rare charanam in kanden kanden.

    The power and throw in her voice has jumped to another level even from the past season.

    CRama... I too felt the same let down with the Yadukulakambodhi swaras. It was as if she was teasing for ever in the lower ranges, raising anticipation for the dhaivatam and then it was over :( Totally not fair!!

    Heard MAK with Amrutha for the 1st time at kamalamba's concert this past season. He totally "gets" her music and provided great support. He captured all the drama that Amrutha packs in her swaras particularly in Nattai and Keeravani. Vijay Natesan and Anirudh Athreya provided good support without "taking over". The thematic thani had an innovative overflowing pattern. May be an expert can explain better.

    Rajesh.. Tamburi meetidhava is an old favorite of Amrutha from her early days. It may even be a song that has moved from Sishya to Guru as I have heard it from Rama Varmaji also but of more recent vintage. Hope that will not offend CRama ;)

    Check it out on YT.

    CRama
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    Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by CRama »

    Tamboori meetidava is very commonly sung in Bangalore. But TRS padantaram is slightly different from others. AV sang exactly in the TRS way with one variation. TRS will sing the last lines Vittalana nodidava as a continuation of the previous stanza whereas other singers of Karnataka will sing as a next stanza. IIRC, AV sang this line as the next stanza. Probably she would have learnt it that way in Bangalore. But sangatis in Purandara and n o di dava (the glide) are followed in TRS style. and I like TRS style very much, as all of you know.

    CRama
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    Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by CRama »

    If TRS version is available in YT, pl hear. You will understand what I meant. I have got many recordings of TRS. I am too lazy to search in YT.

    Sachi_R
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    Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by Sachi_R »

    Sirs,
    I tried the YouTube video a few times. It seems to have some glitch. I get a stutter every couple of seconds. Is it just me? The video is of only 1 hr 17 min. But Rajesh says the concert was for a full 2 hours. What's missing on YT?

    hnbhagavan
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    Joined: 21 Jun 2008, 22:06

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by hnbhagavan »

    Yes.I too have the same experience.

    HarishankarK
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    Joined: 27 Oct 2007, 11:55

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by HarishankarK »

    Good concert especially Y.Kamboji

    nadhasudha
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    Joined: 22 May 2006, 06:40

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by nadhasudha »

    I experienced the glitches too. In the middle of hecharikaga, it jumped to Keeravani. I could not listen to Vasantha.

    Sachi_R
    Posts: 2174
    Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by Sachi_R »

    I have written as follows:
    asrk@arkay.co.in
    Dear Sri Ramakrishnan,
    Namaskaram and Best wishes.

    First of all, thank you for hosting such an array of young talents in your Madhuradhwani. It is your and other similar efforts that give us so much good Carnatic music.

    The video uploaded on You Tube,
    https://youtu.be/-sWD5N5qwyY does not play smoothly and seems to be truncated. We read rave reviews of this concert in rasikas.org.
    Would you be so kind as to share the original video without glitches if possible?

    Thank you in advance,
    Yours,

    Sachi
    via Oneplus 5

    Sachi_R
    Posts: 2174
    Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by Sachi_R »

    Good news! Reply from Arkay:

    Yes, there were some connectivity issues on that day: will upload the full concert shortly.

    Regards
    Arkay

    rajeshnat
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    Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by rajeshnat »

    Apart from ARKAY recording, rama varma also recorded with his video camera. Possibly he can oblige by sharing. You can approach him-Sachi

    Rsachi
    Posts: 5039
    Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by Rsachi »

    Rajesh
    Lets wait for ARKAY.

    nadhasudha
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    Joined: 22 May 2006, 06:40

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by nadhasudha »

    Sachi_R wrote: 06 Mar 2018, 09:35 Good news! Reply from Arkay:

    Yes, there were some connectivity issues on that day: will upload the full concert shortly.

    Regards
    Arkay
    Sachi_R,

    Thanks for taking the initiative to contact the organizers and reporting the glitches. Looking forward to listening to the concert in its entirety.

    sankark
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    Joined: 16 Dec 2008, 09:10

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by sankark »

    sankark wrote: 30 Dec 2016, 23:31 bhairavi - a little light feel rather than the bhairavi gravitas
    That is the same feel I got with this bhairavi opener too. And nAttai too.

    HarishankarK
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    Joined: 27 Oct 2007, 11:55

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by HarishankarK »

    Excellent short swaras for Vasantha - crisp swaras for a crisp song - she could have concluded the swaras with a long multiple avartanas swaras for the sake of claps but she didn't
    For the beautiful manner in which she sings it would be much more pleasure and satisfaction for the rasikas if she were to sing every sangati twice as is the generic tradition. In Vasantha wanted to hear the charanam sangatis twice but she sang only once. Very good understanding and pronounciation of tamil words despite being non tamilian.

    Sachi_R
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    Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by Sachi_R »

    Agreed.

    I feel Amrutha is simply UNIQUE. Her approach to ragas and songs is so refreshing.

    sureshvv
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    Joined: 05 Jul 2007, 18:17

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by sureshvv »

    HarishankarK wrote: 09 Mar 2018, 16:15 despite being non tamilian.
    Where did you get that?

    HarishankarK
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    Joined: 27 Oct 2007, 11:55

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by HarishankarK »

    She is from Bangalore - in one of the interviews in tamil channel - she gave the entire i/w in tamil but it came put clearly that tamil is not her first language. But this never shows when she is singing tamil krutis. Her Ambarame Thanneere is so beautiful. One can just listen to that and learn the kruti.

    If you have any info that she is tamilian, please let me know, maybe I am wrong.

    Her repertoire of tamil songs is quite large compared to Nedunuri or Pantula Rama or Malladi Bros or M S Sheela who sang just a few repeated numbers in tamil.

    Sachi_R
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    Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by Sachi_R »

    Sirs
    I know that Amrutha Venkatesh was born and raised in Bangalore with Iyengar Tamil spoken at home and Kannada Hindi, English etc. taught in school. She has a good grasp of how to sing Samskrita and Telugu songs without distorting the words.

    When she sings Deva Deva Jagadishwara Jaya.., she is intelligent enough not to break the word bhujagaashanavaahana... unlike 99% of singers who say bhujagaa.......shanavaahana.

    Sometimes I think CM puts a premium on IQ. She has that in plenty. So languages come to her easily I think.

    It is a norm of her generation that they're most comfortable conversing in English, though 🙂

    HarishankarK
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    Joined: 27 Oct 2007, 11:55

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by HarishankarK »

    Tell us something new pl. - we all are aware here that AMV and her guru Sri Rama Varma are sticklers for lyrical perfection and accurate enunciation. Even the way she sings Banturithi koluviya something - is different and actually the correct version.
    Its v funny that all the gr8 masters whom we venerate so much have been singing incorrectly for ages.

    sureshvv
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    Joined: 05 Jul 2007, 18:17

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by sureshvv »

    Sachi_R wrote: 06 Mar 2018, 09:35 Good news! Reply from Arkay:

    Yes, there were some connectivity issues on that day: will upload the full concert shortly.

    Regards
    Arkay
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS394YQ7tbc

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0MDOvrO2G8

    ram1999
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    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by ram1999 »

    HarishankarK wrote: 09 Mar 2018, 16:15 .... and pronounciation of tamil words despite being non tamilian.
    a tamilian can speak bad tamil and a non tamilian can speak excellent tamil (and this holds good for any language).
    And what makes you think singing tamil kritis is the criteria to judge the quality of musician. why drag musicians who sings certain krutis repeatedly and so what ?? :shock:

    musicofmdr
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    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by musicofmdr »

    Thanks for the links. Nice!

    Viriboni had few nice laya plays, like at around 8:10. Similar bits were present at few other points in the concert as well. Enjoyed these small embellishments! Also liked some points where she took time to let things sink in, enjoying the music herself.

    I felt that the way she did swarAs for "hecharikagA rArA" was suiting the way she had built up that kriti till that point. AlApana was also not very different and the way she came down towards the end was beautiful. Movement from anupallavi to charaNam was lovely. So, in total, I liked they way she packaged the presentation as a "whole", rather than trying to explore octaves/swarAs all around for the sake of convention or to cover the rAga fully.

    Enjoyed some of the takes in kIravANi too, especially around the kuraippu. Percussion support matched her style - loved khanjira at many points, e.g.: "hecharikagA rA"!

    musicofmdr
    https://musicofmdr.com

    HarishankarK
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    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by HarishankarK »

    This is beautiful concert of Amrutha

    Loved the Yadukula Kambojhi here submain(was it??) as well.
    She sang superb in this one

    Especially love the way she pauses at difference places in the krithi or varnam or whatever that she sings.
    Her kalpanaswarams are really good also both sarvalaghu and also kanakku based are good - sometimes kalpanaswarams she can go a bit overboard but because of the melody and coolness of her voice it is still v v enjoyable and soaked in devotion

    I feel even though she has been performing last 10 years and also got so many senior awards from Music academy itself and elsewhere sabhas also - she is not getting her due yet. Does anyone if she has moved to Chennai now ? That is usually given as an excuse when it comes to good artistes not getting enough representation in Chennai.

    Sometimes I think/feel if we have casting couch like Bollywood in Carnatic music also (this is not only in CM capital chennai but also for other cities).

    sureshvv
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    Joined: 05 Jul 2007, 18:17

    Re: Amrutha Venkatesh@Madhuradhwani on Mar 04th,2018

    Post by sureshvv »

    musicofmdr wrote: 09 Jul 2020, 20:28
    Thanks for the links. Nice!

    <snip>

    musicofmdr
    https://musicofmdr.com
    Thank you. Such expert commentary enables us to appreciate the concert and its special moments even more. Request you to do more of these.

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