RAMAKRISHNAN MURTHY FOR RANJANI MEMORIAL TRUST, UDUPI- 13/9/2020

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

RAMAKRISHNAN MURTHY FOR RANJANI MEMORIAL TRUST, UDUPI- 13/9/2020

Post by CRama »

The above concert was webcast in the yt and fb page of Arkay Convention Centre. The list of accompanists.
R.K.Shreeramkumar- Violin.
Patri Satishkumar- Mridangam
Anirudh Athreya- Ganjira.

The trust mentioned above is in the name of late Ranjani Hebbar- a fine vocalist whom fate snatched away in the prime of her life.

Rasikas have been fortunate in that closely following the concert of RKM organised by the family of late S.U Sitaram, this concert also conformed to the general standard of excellence by the highly versatile Ramakishnan Murthy and he was ably supported by the talented team of pakkavadyams. The entire team ensured that the rasikas are provided a grand kalyana sappadu.

The concert had a solemn start with the Sankarabharana Adi tala varnam, which is not frequently heard in the concert stage. Next came Rama ninne nammi nanu, Thyagaraja kriti in the ragam Huseni, which was rendered with all the sangatis intact and decorated with sufficient bouts of kalpana swarams with dripping raga bhavam and riding manodharmam. A Purandaradasa devaranama in Kambodi Kandena Udupi Krishnana in a sedate kalapramanam was presented exploring the sahithya bhavam of the song. This song was sung by Radha Jayalakshmi and others in Behag in the post thani session in many concerts. RKM presented a different facet of this lovely devaranama.

The first ragam of the day was Udayaravichandrika of Muthuswami Deekshitar with the prominent N3 differentiating from the Sudhadhanyasi. The Guruguha vibhakthi kriti Sree Guruguha murthey was presented with due diligence to the authentic patantharam in a leisurely tempo and appended with enough kalpana swarams.

The main ragam of the day was Thodi and I never get tired of this ragam even after listening umpteen number of times. RKM exposition of this ragam had the characteristic phrases of the ragam and his voice in good mettle supported the indulgence of fast phrases, brighas and glides and slides. There was no single inappropriate phrase or gimmicks in his alapana and he followed it with the Syama Sastri masterpiece- Rave Himagirikumari- Swarajathi. This can be taken as a dedication to the memory of M.S.Amma, whose birthday falls today. IN fact, it was M.S and Semmangudi who immortalised this song in many concerts. Elaborate neraval and swaras added lustre and sheen to the presentation. The swara prastarams had nice combinations and tempo and there was no disruption to the sowkhyam element throughout the concert.

Kakkai chiraginile Nandalala and the thillana in Pharas brought the curtains down.

R.K.Shreeramkumar embellished the concert with his sensitive accompaniment. Patri Satish kumar also added to the sowkhyam and never resorted to thunder and lightning. The link for the concert is given below.

https://youtu.be/A52drXGpneo

Thanks to the organisers and Arkay Ramakrishnan Sir, for providing us this wonderful musical experience. Rasikas may enjoy the concert and add to my observations.

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

Re: RAMAKRISHNAN MURTHY FOR RANJANI MEMORIAL TRUST, UDUPI- 13/9/2020

Post by Sachi_R »

Dear CRama
Thank you for the review. I enjoyed both concerts. My own preference was for the S U Sitaram concert. RKM's voice was very good there. Also a big sense of Saukhyam. This was a tad lower in the Ranjani memorial concert.

Both Vijay Natesan and Patri added a lot of value.

The three shlokas from Srimad Bhagavatam - depicting Rukmani's impassioned pleas sent in her desperate message to Krishna to save her from the forced alliance with Shishupala and respond to her love - were rendered very well.

RKM constantly impresses me with his keen sense of the rasikatva pulse in his audience and a keener sense of adding new and colourful items to his repertoire.

hnbhagavan
Posts: 1655
Joined: 21 Jun 2008, 22:06

Re: RAMAKRISHNAN MURTHY FOR RANJANI MEMORIAL TRUST, UDUPI- 13/9/2020

Post by hnbhagavan »

The acoustics in S U Sitaram concert definitelw was above normal standards.The tempo built in the concert is for a longer duration concert compared to Ranjani Memorial.
Yes Ramakrishnan is an established star in his own rights.

shankarank
Posts: 4043
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: RAMAKRISHNAN MURTHY FOR RANJANI MEMORIAL TRUST, UDUPI- 13/9/2020

Post by shankarank »

Thodi Alapana was just an awesome sound production, lower register and middle. Sankarabaranam vArNam had extra passage at the end . This is the second one after Bhairavi vaRNam that I am hearing extra passages rendered after ciTTa svaram that brings it back to the pallavi.

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