friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Review the latest concerts you have listened to.
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tmmurali
Posts: 35
Joined: 16 Sep 2018, 23:01

friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by tmmurali »

I watched the nearly two-hour long video of the "Friends in Concert" unconcert. Here are my impressions. There were five parts.

Part 1

The video started with T M Krishna and R K Shriramkumar sitting facing each other on opposing portions of a cemented verandah of a tiled house with carved pillars. Two microphones were the only modern intrusion on what might have been a pristine setting for music a hundred years ago.

Shriramkumar started with shankarAbharaNam. Then TMK continued with the same ragam. At some point, he transitioned smoothly to kannaDa. Drops of rain started falling.

As they switched batons with each other, out poured lalitA, dhenukA (steady drizzle, audible on the tiles), sindhubairavI (rain had petered down), kApi, nIlAmbari (downpour drumming in support), nAttaikuranji, amritavarShiNi, and begaDa.

The changes from one ragam to another were seamless, gradual, and beautiful. It took me a few seconds to latch on to the new ragam. Perhaps they changed ragams on the basis of shared gamakas (as suggested by one of the promos for this event on YouTube). I also recall reading a rasikas.org review of their much-acclaimed tour of North America a few years ago in which Shriramkumar mentioned this principle (viewtopic.php?t=24214).

I loved this part of the programme. It was about 18 minutes long.

Then TMK sang this line of a viruttam: kaNNAna kaNNai kAthida vEndum, in bEgada. Lyrics by Perumal Murugan, as per the end credits.

Part 2

Sangeetha Sivakumar started singing the same viruttam without appearing in the video. TMK and Shriramkumar faded away. Sangeetha now appeared singing by herself sans accompaniment in a new location. Seemed like the interior of a house. She continued the viruttam in rItigaula. After about five minutes, Chandrasekhara Sharma's ghatam swung into action.

Sangeetha started singing chEra rAvadE mirA. Closeup of the ghatam showed a gizmo attached to it. The instrument sounded crystal clear.

TMK joined at meragAdurA. He had transported to the same location. N. Guruprasad replaced Shriramkumar for a double ghatam accompaniment. There was a brief interlude of just the percussion instruments.

TMK sang valacucu nEnu nIdu at the lower octave, a variation that I have not heard before.

32 minutes into the video.

Sangeetha and TMK launched into the paras thillana by Poochi Shrinivasa Iyengar. There was some kannukol. Number of ghatams had doubled. (Each artiste still played only one a time, though.) Both Sangeetha and Krisnan sang new sangathis (if that is the right word in the context of a thillana) for one of the lines. At the very least, I had not heard these variations before. The singers alternated phrases at one point, which was quite pleasant to the ear.

TMK started tungA tIravirajam. Back to two ghatams, one per artiste. When Sangeetha sang the first line and mangaLakara mantrAlaya, it sounded different from the versions I have heard. She was signing in yamuna kalyAni in her turn. They didn't sing the last line. From the end credits I learnt that the ragams were sALaga bhairavi (the version I believe M. S. Subbulakshmi sings) and yamuna kalyAni. The song was tuned by Nedunuri TMKmurty and T. M. Thyagarajan.

45 minutes over by now. Time for dinner. For me, that is.

Part 3

Change of scene and dramatis personae. An open air theatre-like area with brick steps. Anirudh Athreya and K. Arun Prakash. Anirudh started off with a bang. I haven't heard such a resounding sound from the ganjira when I have heard it on stage in a live concert. R. Hemalatha on the violin was also present as was TMK.

Anirudh played solo for a few minutes. Then Arun Prakash started playing the mridangam. After a few seconds Hemalatha started bhairavi. They were seated at the corners of a square. They all got up soon after this point after TMK got confirmation from someone off camera. I think it rained heavily because in the next scene you could see their hair and clothes were wet.

Someone off-camera recited what seemed to be the line of a pallavi as Hemalatha and TMK: na-ta-nam A-dum sa-be-san en-rum a-van nam nE-san. Hemalatha started to Arun Prakash's soft accompaniment. TMK joined soon, adding "chitsabhayil" before "natanam".

Nearly one hour in.

TMK and Hemalatha started "unnai ninainduruginEn sabesha" in what sounded like pUrNachandrikA.

After about four minutes, TMK launched into Isane kAttarul sabEsanE in pUrvikalyANI. They sang just this line.

There was an absolutely spectacular scene. In the purvangam of the shot, a drone zoomed away vertically revealing that the artistes were sitting in a circular bricked area surrounded by verdant trees. In the uttarangam, the drone zoomed in slowly and then with increasing speed, apace with the singing in three speeds. This part was just four minutes long but the highlight so far to my ears and eyes.

They segued into the pallavi line in bhairavi to end this segment. The end credits said that Arun Prakash composed all three pallavi lines.

Part 4

The video focused on the right hand playing a mridangam. It became apparent that the scene had changed once again.

The abstract painting on the mridangam gave it a modernist sensibility. In front of an old-time house, reading from left to right were Praveen Sparsh, H. N. Bhaskar, Akkarai Subhalakshmi, and TMK.

After about two minutes of the mridangam, Subhalakshmi started a thanam in varAli and TMK joined in.

In his turn, Bhaskar started a thanam in kAmbodhi.

The violinists were leading and TMK was following.

Subhalakshmi and TMK continued in hamsadhvani. Then Bhaskar and TMK in valaji. (The other violinist played second fiddle in these passages.) Bhaskar's valaji was exquisite! hamsadhvani again followed by valaji and then varAli, briefly.

One hour 22 minutes.

TMK started signing the swarams underlying some song, which I could not decipher. From the end credits, I learnt that these were the mukhtayi swarams by Baluswami Dikshithar from the kirtana gajavadana in toDi.

A slow drizzle accompanied a transition to shrIranjani by TMK, which then Bhaskar took over. There was a lovely transfer to bahudAri.

All four were fairly drenched by the time this part came to a close.

One hour 33 minutes.

Part 5

TMK sang just the first line of nA jIvadhAra with double mrigandists Poongulam Subramaniam and B. Sivaraman forming an equilateral triangle with TMK. In an open tiled courtyard under sunny skies. A giant metal can shaped structure loomed in the background.

There were innumerable sangathis. Is this the song about which Semmangudi Srinivas Iyer is supposed to have quipped that it takes your life away literally? I found a reference to the quote: viewtopic.php?t=19327

The next fifteen-odd minutes were devoted to a thani avarthanam by Subramaniam and Sivaraman.

The scene shifted again to a long verandah-like area. All seven percussionists playing in concert framed by pillars. The drone zoomed out parallel to the ground to reveal empty slots to the right and zoomed in again to focus on the percussionists. Some ghatam throwing in unison added for good measure. Then as the violins and voices magically appeared on the right with singing and playing nA jivadhAra, the drone showed all of them and zoomed up, up, and away. A final shot that framed all the artistes.

Roll credits.

The production was of very high quality with glorious, hi-def videos. Audio quality was exceptional, much better than what I have observed in my limited experience of live concerts. The miked up ghatams sounded excellent. And that resonance in the kanjira in the first few beats was quite something. Even the rain sounded good. The pristine venues were well chosen. The artiste formations were imaginative. Kudos to the team, directed by Rithvik Raja, to create this programme in the midst of a raging pandemic. I enjoyed watching it from the comfort of my home.

I wish they would keep the video available after December 7. There are some portions I would like to see and listen to over and over again, e.g., all of part one, the initial ringing tones of the kanjira, the pUrvikalyANI segment, and the swarams after the toDi.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by rajeshnat »

@tmmurali

Very well written like a typical award wining moview where you take up the best screenplay. I am Personally ok with one kind of shuffle and not ok with another shuffle .

I am ok with say TMK or for that matter even TRS and few times SSI have done where they take up a a submain or taanam at front etc . But the course of the whole song has to be taken and compleed . The second kind of shuffle is one where you fragment and sing parts where you visually position that you are living in the moment . IN this visual positioning aurally you get hardly anything . What happens usually is a part of taanam , one line of pallavi and then jettison that to some line of krithi all in the realm of No one has done this before . TMK has always his chelas and media houses to cheer him.

I am assuming the concert is just slightly less than 2 hours may be 1 hour and 45 mins in total , with already another secondary main artist taking one song instead of the primary main artist

All said very well done . Please continue to write these kind of reviews in future for concerts that are non fragmented preferably 3 hours and more . You can always choose other artists too with your lovely flow of writing.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by rajeshnat »

@tmmurali
Is the overall concert 15 mins less than 2 hours . Did I get it right?

tmmurali
Posts: 35
Joined: 16 Sep 2018, 23:01

Re: friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by tmmurali »

rajeshnat wrote: 06 Dec 2020, 08:25 @tmmurali
Is the overall concert 15 mins less than 2 hours . Did I get it right?
Thanks for the feedback. The overall programme is 1 hr 52 minutes long, give or take a few seconds.

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

Re: friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by shankarank »

kaDacIla southern music dakshin chitra museuttukkE vandaDaintatu :- Finally music reaches the dakshin chitra museum of archaic houses re-created. Music is liberated , as they are seated on the tiNNai which could bill as a symbol of some lower hierarchy!

anGE oru kiLi josiyakkArar (parrot assisted tarot reader) uNDu! Corona patti any prognosis! innoruvar kANNADi UduvarE ( Glass blower!).

viNNai eTTiya tiNNai sAdakaRkaL niraiya uNDendRu kELVi! - Now give me some poet status OK! Look at the pun guys!

I see all those tiNNais being replaced by walls and very modern cantilever/projective designs trying to steal the space without the land underneath - all across many villages not unlike the mature suburbs of chennai - with no breathing space or privacy!

Some libs like Sashi Tharoor trying to keep Trivandrum undeveloped so those antique ones are retained - just for filling their taste - much to the detriment of common man - with resulting gentrification by elites and common man priced out eventually!

chennai kalai teruvizha aDuttu anda edirum pudirum muTTukira mAdhiri eDattil engayAvatu ( next venue for chennai art-road show at one of those projective spaces) ??

dakshin chitra - built with corporate donations - idu romba (too) lavish!
Last edited by shankarank on 07 Dec 2020, 19:56, edited 2 times in total.

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

Re: friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by sureshvv »

I hear that for the next production the camera will shake appropriately for the kampita gamaka :D

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

Re: friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by Sachi_R »

I thoroughly enjoyed Friends in Concert and wrote an email to TMK at his official mail ID. I have asked him if I could share my letter in public.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by rajeshnat »

Sachi_R wrote: 07 Dec 2020, 18:30 I thoroughly enjoyed Friends in Concert and wrote an email to TMK at his official mail ID. I have asked him if I could share my letter in public.
Sachi
It is your letter. If u had written few lines that were private and if you feel that has to be removed you can do it. Also his email id being official is already public.

What is there for you to ask him for you to share. It is your privilege. Am I missing something in what I stated

ram1999
Posts: 534
Joined: 26 Nov 2015, 17:20

Re: friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by ram1999 »

Sachi_R wrote: 07 Dec 2020, 18:30 I thoroughly enjoyed Friends in Concert and wrote an email to TMK at his official mail ID. I have asked him if I could share my letter in public.
I doubt if TMK is asking permission from the person whom he is critiquing. He goes all out to spew crap/venom.
Not sure why his permission needs to be sought to post what has been authored by you :lol:

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

Re: friends in concert, shaale.com, Dec 4, 2020

Post by shankarank »

cuvarillaccittiram

viNNai eTTum cuvar nammai eTTi paRkiradu
adu oru tiNNaiyin mEl ezhupiya cuvar
tiNNaiyum ini dakshiNac cittiratilE
viNNai eTTiya cuvaTRai OLi eTTAvillai
viNNai eTTiya cuvaTRin vazhi oliyum varavillai
viNNai eTTum sangItam ini sishuvidam, illai ol(L)i nADA cittirattiDam, illaiyenil sivalOhattil alladu vaikuNDattil

Aha, cittarittiRkuccuvarillai

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