Amrutha Venkatesh at Music Academy, 29/12/2018

[SrinathK]

Vocal : Amrutha Venkatesh
Violin : Edapally Ajith Kumar
Mridangam : B. Ganapathy Raman
Morsing : Bhagyalakshmi M Krishna

Live review, updated as concert progresses

Song list :

1) varnam - nATakurinji - ATa - paTnam subramaNia iyer
2) sundara tara dEham - pantuvaraLi - Adi (3/4 eDuppu) - Thyagaraja - N,S @ Agama sanchAram
3) mAnasa guruguha - tisra Ekam (2 kaLai) - Muthuswami Dikshitar
4) saraswati namostutE - saraswati - rupAka - G N Balasubramaiam - Short R, S - swaras at pallavi
5) dEvi jaga janani - shankarAbharaNam - Adi (2 kaLai 3/4 eDuppu) - Swati Tirunal - R, N, S , TA - Neraval at dEva makuTa maNi
6) RTP in malayamArutam - tisra jAti rUpaka (5 counts) mishra naDai - nalladOr ulagam seivOm nallaravum nErmaiyum nirainda

rAgamAlika swaras - varALi, hamir kalyANi, kApi

Mini tani

7) hoLaNanudututa (???) - yamunA kalyAni - mishra chApu - Purandaradasa

8) viruttham - nAdanAmakriya, punnAgavarALi, senchuruTTi

kaNNaniDam eduttu shollaDi - Adi (3/4 eDuppu) - Ambujam Krishna

9) thillAna - behAg - Adi - Dr. M Balamuralikrishna


Due to a few circumstances outside my control, I ended up missing the varnam. And worse, for despite the fact that the hall is like one quarter full, they tell me that only a dais ticket is available. As it turns out, it costs only Rs. 100, and the name of the Academy is redeemed in my mind. I guess I was misinformed then. Fortunately for me our @vijaysiddharth happened to be the guy I found a spot next to. From here the view is something special alright. But behind at the wrong end of the sound system means the acoustics suck. Things seem to so much quieter this side of the stage. Worse, I am not behind the curtains. I am out there on the stage, I can see the whole auditorium, and vice versa. I even wonder if anyone seeing my furious typing from the audience is gonna wonder what's wrong with this guy. Oh well...

Oh by the way, there is another lady on stage, this time on the morsing. What is sureshvv's revised probability estimate now?

So first thoughts, Amrutha has a soft and very melodious voice with impeccable shruti shuddham and effortless range in middle and upper octaves. As I came in, she was doing a very good neraval at Agama sanchAram for pantuvaraLi and her swaras were also excellent with a fertile imagination. She closed it out with a simple kOrvai which the violinist handed back with an arithmetic progression variation with a final poruttam for good measure.

sundara tara dEham, as a GNB enthusiast pointed out to me later, is a subtle nod to her GNB school lineage.

Then she took up a sowkhyam filled rendition of mAnasa guruguha in tisra Ekam (We both thought the kriti was in rUpakam). I am hearing this live for the first time actually. Dikshitar's compositions have an unmistakeable royal gait.

That was followed by a short sketch of saraswati before launching into an energetic rendition of GNB's saraswati namostutE with all 1 Avartanam calculated swaras on the pallavi for which the violinist tossed back everything ditto. An energetic piece of drumming (and tonguing) brought that to a close. Interestingly, no AlApana so far.

Amrutha then took up a brisk shankarAbharaNam. She excelled at singing long, gamaka filled passages. Lots of trademark phrases. A few interesting passages featuring a plainer R2 in the upper octave. The lack of sound system means my perception of her tonal modulations might be way off, but she likes adding many a delicate touch at key spots. A perfectly aligned upper G3 brought on a round of brighas before an effortless glide up to the upper P and some sweeping jhArus brought down a quick descent back down to S. A traditional AlApana overall.

Meanwhile seated on the floor, my legs are getting totally numb already and my back's complaining - this is bad, the warning signs are telling me I am no longer a teenager anymore and that my flexibility, tendons and ligaments is the first thing to go if I don't do anything quick. In 5 years time it will be the body fat, in 15 years time it will be the muscles, in another 10 the bones and then my brain and maybe my arteries and pancreas or my knees or my spine. This sedentary culture might bring it all before middle age. I am not very enthusiastic about the prospects. That yoga course and gym can't come fast enough.

Meanwhile Ajith Kumar's reply to Amrutha's AlApana was soaked in melody with tried and tested phrases. The krithi is probably one of the navaratri krithis, must check. Never heard it before. Amrutha gave an excellent rendition of the kriti before starting neraval on dEva makuTa maNi, some really superb brigha fillers in her middle octave round. I look up and spot Sh. T V Gopalakrishnan in the front row. He is joined by N Murali a while later. Meanwhile Amrutha shifted gears to the upper octave and she's totally comfortable tossing a brigha laden neraval passage with ease. A professor from IITM from my music club days is up in the balcony really enjoying every twist and turn - I forgot his name.

Amrutha went on to sing some really bhava filled swaras in slow speed. Her range lower down is there, but it's still opening up, that will typically take a decade or less, but in the middle and upper there are no barriers. Her slow speed swaras were a mini alApana to themselves like Semmangudi was fond of singing. The applause is well deserved. Meanwhile a lady next to me, unable to bear my antics anymore asks me if I'm writing a review for this. I have no idea what I look like from the other side of the stage.

Amrutha went for the kuraippu after just a couple of rounds on the middle G3. An elegant round of swaras with simple calculations for the kuraippu, a long passage of sarvalaghu, and then a fairly complex kOrvai on samam with a total 34 beat length to bring it to the eDuppu in 3 rounds - perfectly done. And then the tani. Round 1 in chatushra naDai with some tisra naDai peeking in. B Ganapathy Raman went for a really long winded kOrvai which he played in chatushra, tisra (2x) and chatushra 2x naDais to a round of applause. A superb reply by Bhagyalakshmi who apart from demonstrating her virtuosity with the various strokes on the morsing, also reproduced a near identical kOrvai in the same 3 naDais to applause. Round 2 transitioned to tisra naDai with an atypical beginning. The highlight was a furious round of farans followed by a kOrvai that progressed from samam to 3/4 eDuppu with a length of 51 counts (2x speeds). Bhagyalakshmi replied with great speed and control. Then the kuraippu began with each pattern starting with long pauses followed by fireworks to end it. Quickly came down to patterns lasting 1/8 Avartanams, before rejoining for a short round of faran fireworks, the mohra and the kOrvai on samam of a total length of 66 counts to move back to the eDuppu. A quick burst of tisra naDai fireworks brought the kriti to a close. Claps.

The Academy Annual report and schedule indicates an RTP is coming up next. malayamArutam it is and Amrutha got off to a strong start with both smart and touching phrases. Not much time on the clock left - another 40 min max. Amrutha went for a fast and furious Alapana. Violinist Ajith Kumar gave a good reply on similar lines. Amrutha saved her best for the tanam which was fairly extended. The tanam was superbly done in all 3 octaves. An enthusiastic round of applause.

The pallavi was in the 5 count tisra rUpaka (the classical D+L that you last saw while learning alankArams) in mishra naDai. After a short neraval, trikAlam was in slow speed, chatushra tisram, and chatushra 2x speed, followed by tAla speed change and the next round was (well, now I asked her and it's confirmed) chatushra tisram 0.5x and 0.25x speeds with the tAla at 2x speed. Dear Lord, I was utterly clean bowled.

Then the rAgamAlika swaras in varALi featuring a nice gOpuccha yati (descending arithmetic progression) ending. The next rAgA is hamir kalyAni. Writing this review ain't letting me put the tAla at all, which I am normally fond of doing in complex pallavis. Then kApi (bit of muscle power in her swaras here as well). Ajith Kumar did a nice job in responding to the challenges in the swara segment.

The mini tAni had a long mohra and kOrvai given the length of this tAla (= 5x mishra chApu). The kOrvai had a neat gOpuccha yati and a poruttam to finish off a hand breaker of a pallavi. Well done.

The next was a sprightly composition in yamunA kalyAni, a dasar pada. Rsachi, can you correct my lyrics up there? This is not my current cup of tea.

Then a viruttham in the popular combo of nAdanAmakriya, punnAgavarALi and senchuruTTi with some Aha phrases followed by kaNNaniDam eduttu shollaDi.

The thillAna in behAg had some really fast 2x speed sollus and some eccentric passages. As it turns out, it is M Balamuralikrishna's. Amrutha's voice control is quite something to handle a piece like this.

Amrutha ended right on time at 6:30 and it was an excellent concert. Vijay vanished right away for Sanjay's at Broadway. As for me, I can't believe that I'm the same guy who could sit for a whole day on the floor in college and play my violin for hours together. Muscles and tendons and ligaments I never knew hurt like hell. Damn this office culture of sitting on chairs all day and night. Time for some anti-aging therapy before it's too late.

[Sachi_R]

SSP:

[sureshvv]

I am in the nosebleed section. Acoustics good but reflection off the heads of the male musicians on stage is blinding.

Nice octave drop & pick up in the slow speed swaras in Sankarabharanam.

[SrinathK]

Nosebleed section? Where are you?

[sureshvv]

Nosebleed section? Where are you?

Way up in the balcony eye to eye with a ceiling fan.

[SrinathK]

You see two bespectacled guys with mobiles in hand on the left side of Amrutha? That's Vijay and me.

[sureshvv]

5 count rupak. Tisra jathi.

[rajeshnat]

And worse, for despite the fact that the hall is like one quarter full, they tell me that only a dais ticket is available. As it turns out, it costs only Rs. 100, and the name of the Academy is redeemed in my mind. I guess I was misinformed then. Fortunately for me our @vijaysiddharth happened to be the guy I found a spot next to.

Vishaka Hari is slated to perform next after Amrutha Venkatesh . I prefer better crowd pullers are pushed to evening I. Every year RAGA, Sudha, and this year Sanjay performed in evening I . In that 15 minutes gap evening II folks can buy tickets and come . But logically it is difficult to implement as within 15 mins , you cannot really gauge the near equal evening I and II crowd puller , In this case Amrutha Venkatesh atleast could have been pushed to Evening II at least our SrinathK aches can be saved .

Nice song list - the pantuvarali agama sancharam with sundara tara deham is a very dear and rare number . MAlayamruthtam was a short capsule pallavi keeping in mind of time. I have seen and talked with Vijay Siddharth but with Srinath not yet .Both of you are the future rasikas of rasikas.org, The young vijay siddharth- from royapettah to Broadway with only 30 mins spare time - you will only start with pantuvarali submain@Broadway.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

7) hoLaNanudututa - yamunA kalyAni - mishra chApu - Purandaradasa

I am thinking this is koLalanUduttA banda

and about.. "Oh by the way, there is another lady on stage, this time on the morsing. What is sureshvv's revised probability estimate now?"

Morsing : Bhagyalakshmi M Krishna

.... Vid Bhagyalakshmi is no stranger to rasika-s in Karnataka. She is a seasoned performer, comes from a family of illustrious vidvAn-s. Her Father Vid L Bhimachar was a well known morsing artist. Her brother Vid B Rajashekar is well known too - he's regularly featured with Vid Kadri Gopalanath.

[HarishankarK]

Wow- how did she pack so much into a single 2hr concert
Must-have been awesome

[HarishankarK]

Wow- how did she pack so much into a single 2hr concert
Must-have been awesome
MalayamaRutham excellent /rarechoice for
RTP

[HarishankarK]

4 of the 5 bigs are covered too
Plus PSI plus BMK

[rshankar]

Experts can confirm (or deny), but that pallavi seems a bit off...the first and second parts are at odds to me.

[sureshvv]

IIRC:

nalladOr ulagam seivOm ! nal aramum nErmaiyum nirainda !!

[rshankar]

Makes much more sense... niRaindOm was grating with me...

[SrinathK]

It was nirainda...damned autocorrect....

[sureshvv]

The pallavi was in the 5 count tisra rUpaka (the classical D+L that you last saw while learning alankArams) in mishra naDai. After a short neraval, trikAlam was in slow speed, chatushra tisram, and chatushra 2x speed, followed by tAla speed change and the next round was (well, now I asked her and it's confirmed) chatushra tisram 0.5x and 0.25x speeds with the tAla at 2x speed. Dear Lord, I was utterly clean bowled.

Thought she gestured to someone on your side of the dais to put the thala softer during the trikalam. Not sure if it was you

[SrinathK]

No I was busy typing the above paragraph.

[CRama]

Wow- how did she pack so much into a single 2hr concert
Must-have been awesome
MalayamaRutham excellent /rarechoice for
RTP

The concert was for two and half hours.

There were only two alapanas in the concert. Sankarabharanam was very elaborate. Malayamarutham not much- to the extent that it can go. And there was lot of time. So the Sankarabharanam keeezh kala swaram and the tani were long. She could have sung alapana for Anandabhairavi or Saraswathi. There was time available.

But a wonderful concert.

[SrinathK]

In fact, I myself wonder where the time vanished. There seemed to be plenty of time when shankarAbharaNam started (maybe around 4:45 p.m or so) - so much that I thought the RTP was going to be longer. It really went on for much longer than I thought.

[HarishankarK]

It is my observation too that her alapanais are long to the extent of tiring the listener even though very beautiful and interesting
Same thing for swaras segment of submain and main
In the charsur concert she overdid both the alapanais and no time for neraval. Such a shame because her neravals are so ģood
And the above are not big issues-her concert was of a high standard

[sureshvv]

She could have sung alapana for Anandabhairavi or Saraswathi. There was time available.

Totally agree. There was an all too brief overview of Saraswathi that could have been built up into a wonderful alapana. Think it might have happened at any other venue.

Also Edapally Ajith's returns were all graciously succinct.

[Sachi_R]

graciously succinct

What a beautiful expression!
SureshVV