T N Krishnan, Sriram Krishnan and Viji Krishnan at Music Academy, 25/12/2018

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SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

T N Krishnan, Sriram Krishnan and Viji Krishnan at Music Academy, 25/12/2018

Post by SrinathK »

Violin : T N Krishnan, Sriram Krishnan, Viji Krishnan
Mridangam: Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam
Ghatam: Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan

Music Academy 92nd Annual Conference and concerts, 9:00 a. m

Song list:
1) dEva dEva kalayAmidE - mAyAmALavagauLa - rUpakam - Swati Tirunal - R, N, S - Neraval and swaras at jAta rUpa
2) endarO mahAnubhAvulu - Sri - Adi (+1 eDuppu) - Thyagaraja - R
3) manavinAlakincha rADaTE - nalinakAnti - Adi (1 1/2 eDuppu) - Thyagaraja
4) rAgam tAnam pallavi - tODi - tAnam in tODi, behAg, kAnaDA, mOhanam.
Pallavi in Adi 2 kaLai - 3/4 eDuppu, Arudhi at first dhrutam
Tani Avartanam in Adi Tala 2 kaLai.

Short speech by mama

5) Jingle Bells
6) anDri ivvulagum aLandAi (Thiruppavai) - sindhubhairavi - Adi (3/4 eDuppu) - Andal - R
7) geetArthamu - suruTTi - Adi (2 kaLai) - Thayagraja - R
8) madhyamAvati - R

Most people don't live to 90. Most people who live that long aren't in any position to do anything by 90, or even remember their names, let alone be able to play a violin. And among them, to be able to play the way he does at 90, T N Krishnan sir is nothing short of a living miracle. Someone like me not even a 3rd of his age has no right to comment, given I might well be playing a harp in the clouds by the time I am that old or whatever your idea of the afterlife is. But the experience of hearing mama is a privilege for our generation and the last time I heard him, it is still etched into my ears like it was yesterday.

Only yesterday mama had given a superb performance at Raga Sudha with a Simhendramadhyamam RTP, which made me doubly eager to attend today's concert.

The Hall was almost full today. And as the curtains parted, there he sat with a beaming smile, supported by his son and daughter. With the first few strokes of the bow it was clear that his rich and sonorous tone without a peer was still very much there. Only gripe was that age has finally made him use the tripod stand for supporting the violin, which for all its merits doesn't come close to the feedback of one's own leg in offering a stable anchor for the violin or the bow arm - it tends to move around and it upsets your bowing if it does. Mama therefore couldn't tilt the violin to the right to bring the power down on the lower strings as often as he wanted - but he managed though it did make things difficult for him every now and then on the lower strings. But when he did tilt the violin around the sound on the G string was so powerful. The interesting thing was that both his children followed suit with the stand as well.

The maestro took up mAyAmALavagauLa and the AlapAna was shared seamlessly between his son and daughter in an absorbing, bhava filled rendition of the raga. I knew dEva dEva was coming and it did. After the krithi, TNK mama took up neraval at jAta rUpa, which even included some speedy passages, where mama's left hand showed us what it could do. Along the way the joy of playing was unsuppressed, with mama praising Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam's sensitive strokeplay and Vaikkon Gopalakrishnan's interludes as well as the phrases played by his children. Swaras were played in 2 speeds by the trio. Sriram missed a few landings but overall it was well done. After a point Viji and Sriram took over and for the final round they even went on to play a section of orchestral passages in the raga before ending with a simple kOrvai, following which the krithi came to a high octane conclusion.

On a side note, gut strings are by far the best for tone (they are in a totally different category - forget any recordings you heard, mama's tone has to be heard in person to truly appreciate the richness) and developing a very individual sound, but they are also very unforgiving and won't tolerate the slightest bad habit in one's bowing. They will simply crunch or scratch or play radically out of tune if the bow pressure or speed is even slightly off optimal. The intonation has to be either perfect, or nothing. Tuning them is quite a pegful as they cannot use fine tuners. Only the TNK school is willing to stay old school despite these challenges with a gut G, D and A and steel E setup, which was the gold standard for the best violinists worldwide last century. This setup also needs the violin to be tuned higher, up to F at least, which helps the violin gain more power and tone, as well as adding some unique sweetness to the tone.

Following a melodious AlApana in Sri, TNK took up endarO, another of his favourite of his. Both swaras and sahitya were played. I was absorbed by the playing and it was so melodious.

Following the pancharatnam, the trio then rendered manavinALakincha rADaTe in nalinakAnti. The charanam was played at a a faster tempo.

And then came, well, another tODi! This is now officially the year of the tODi rainy season. If I hear one more tODi I will claim there's a conspiracy going on. It was by hearing TNK mama's playing for Ariyakudi where I heard him for the first time - his tODi is unique and it was an experience to hear it in person. According to one rasika after the concert, mama played many phrases from his accompaniment of ARI, GNB and Alathur Brothers apart from his own. The alapana was elaborate in all 3 octaves. Mama left the upper octave to Viji and Sriram to take turns in exploring as well as the faster phrases (there were a couple slips in the brighas though - this is why no one else plays on gut these days). Mama took over on the descent, playing his signature "sindhubahiravish" and "hindOlamish" phrases involving a lot of plain notes. There were many aha moments in the Alapana today.

Then came the tAnam. I have to admit, mama's age has taken a bit of punch out of his staccato (the best in the CM business). But the tAnam was shared by the trio with some creative phrases at the end of each round of each tAnam. Then the surprise was when TNK mama took up behAg for the next round and he played some exquisite brighas in the lower octave. The behAg was just soaked in honey and had many in the audience going gaga and there was a round of applause. The third round was in kAnaDa with some moving phrases, with a nice staccato passage by Sriram before the end of Round 3 that invited another round of applause. Round 4 was a sublime mOhanam, featuring a round of baroque style bariolage (string crossing arpeggios) as well. Finally they returned to tODi and wound up with a round of arpeggios and staccatos. What an adventure!

The intensity of tone is on another level, even the simplest passages carry a fiery intensity because of the tone of the violins and the role this is playing to keep the energy level high has to be heard and understood by all serious students of the violin from TNK mama. The sound system of the Academy is doing an unbelievable job with the violins, though the mridangam sounded better from up in the balcony. I swear this tone is melting me down.

The pallavi was rhythmically simple but very melodious. Following a few rounds of neraval, the trio took up the swaras. Special mention for Viji Krishnan's deft handling of the swara endings. A rasika next to me is speechless at mama's high speed swara playing. "Superb!" he exclaims. A few rounds of high speed Chembai-ish swaras and chords were also included. The ending was in Hindustani style grand finale.

And then the tani. Round 1 got off to a very sensitive start by Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam which moved on to some mighty thudding mid way before a round of tisra naDai with the kOrvai also in tisra Nadai with +3 extra beats to progress from the samam to the 3/4 eDuppu point. Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan' reply is in chatushram with the kOrvai in chatushra tishram. Mama's joy at this age is infectious and it's keeping him going young and strong. He is enthusiastically appreciating the efforts of both of them. It's a reminder to us that joy is far more easily available than we realize.

Then the kuraippu with lots of calculations ending on samam. A round of toppi and gumki only playing as well. Then the rejoining, a lively round of farans and an unusual mohra with long gaps. The kOrvai ending on 3/4 eDuppu.

TNK mama speaks about how happy he is to play for the Academy, thanking the Academy committee and the audience and wishing everyone Merry Christmas and a happy New Year wishing everyone peace, happiness and prosperity. He also talks about how CM has been his daily life for 90 years (huge applause). He promises to let us go by 11: 30. Dear god, no, not so soon! Of late I need 4 hour concerts before I've had my fill.

As is his custom he always plays Jingle Bells. And then of course, sindhubhairavi. No matter how many times I've heard it, it always haunts you every time. Those brighas are ageless! And there were some excellent ones by all 3 of them. By this time mama's bow arm had totally warmed up and he was playing like someone half his age. The thiruppAvai of Andal, anDri ivvulagun aLandAi aDi pOTRi followed the raga.

Then came the suruTTi. I knew geethArthamu was coming. A grand rendition it was. Sangeeta anandamu for sure, which mama embodies. Mama concluded with a moving sketch of madhyamAvti to a standing ovation, waving to the crowd as the curtains closed up.

Outside mama was mobbed by ecstatic crowds for over half an hour all seeking his blessings and recalling nostalgia, including yours truly. He is so cheerful after such an effort. One can see in mama the healing power and life energy of music. Old is gold.

I am now positive that 10 years from now we will be celebrating his centenary here and he will still be playing like this. I pray really that mama will be playing joyously as always even then. Bravo!

Sivaramakrishnan
Posts: 1582
Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: T N Krishnan, Sriram Krishnan and Viji Krishnan at Music Academy, 25/12/2018

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Hats off, Srinath, for the instant yet intimate, detailed review of the TNK treat. It has brought in lot of cheer to many including me who couldn't make it to the venue. Being a violinist yourself, the observations give a near feeling of listening the concert live!
I don't know why the Music academy is not video-reording the concerts.

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: T N Krishnan, Sriram Krishnan and Viji Krishnan at Music Academy, 25/12/2018

Post by SrinathK »

True. Now that you mention it, I am shocked as to why an institution that's the Mecca of CM isn't doing videos and putting them into their archives.

keshavansrivatsan
Posts: 6
Joined: 12 Dec 2018, 11:41

Re: T N Krishnan, Sriram Krishnan and Viji Krishnan at Music Academy, 25/12/2018

Post by keshavansrivatsan »

Hi,

Thank you for this in-depth review.

Actually, in recent years, TNK and his family have been using Pirastro Obligato strings, a synthetic alternative which have similar tone to gut strings, but are not susceptible to weather (which is an added plus).

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: T N Krishnan, Sriram Krishnan and Viji Krishnan at Music Academy, 25/12/2018

Post by SrinathK »

Today as TNK mama moves on to play for the Gods, I just can't forget the Dec 25 concerts and especially this one.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... 1391620998

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