Lalgudi G J R Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi, Music Academy, 23/12/2018

[SrinathK]

Venue : Music Academy Main Hall, 92nd Annual Conference and Concerts 2018

Date : 23/12/2018
Time : 6:45 p.m

Violin : Lalgudi G J R Krishnan , Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi
Mridangam : Trichy Sankaran
Ghatam : V Suresh


Live review: Updated as concert progresses

Song list:

1) varnam - husEni - Adi - Lalgudi Jayaraman - short R
2) rAmachandram bhAvayAmi - vasantam - rUpaka - Muthuswami Dikshitar - short R, S - Swaras on anupallavi
3) rAvE himagiri kumAri - tODi - Adi (2 kaLai) - Shyama Sastri - R
4) innu daya bAradE - kalyAna vasantam - khanDa chApu (3/10 eDuppu) - Purandaradasa - short R
5) manasu vishaya - nAtakurinji - Adi 2 kaLai 1/2 eDuppu - Thyagaraja - R, S, TA - Swaras at pallavi
6) rAgam tAnam pallavi - simhendramadhyamam - khanDa jAti aTa 2 kalai 1/4 eDuppu, chatushra naDai, with Arudhi at 1st dhrutam - Ananda naTaNa prAkasha sabhEshA naTEshA .... jagadeeshA

rAgamAlika swaras with rAgamAlika pallavi in mishra chApu - kEdAram, aTANA, hamir kalyANi, kuntalavarALi, AbhOghi, before cycling back.

Mini tani in mishra chApu

7) ayyE mettakkaDinam - punnAgavarALi, nAdanAmakriya, brindAvani (??), senchuruTTi, - Adi - Gopalakrishna Bharatiyar

8) thillAna - tilAng - Adi (2 kaLai) - Lalgudi Jayaraman

9) nee nAma rUpamulaku (mangaLam) - sourAshTramam, madhyamAvati - Adi (1/2 eDuppu) - Thyagaraja

The Academy now has a habit of ringing a bell at 6 45 sharp following which the curtains part. Before that, at 6 43 there is another bell to tell them to be ready and finish the sound check. The ambience and lighting onstage is visually very pleasing and soothing while the sound system at the Academy is the best I've ever heard anywhere in Chennai's halls. Up here from high in the balcony, the bird's eye view of the stage is quite a sight (it's so high you can feel a bit dizzy if you're not used to the Academy Hall). The crowd up here is very decent, more than I expected, but I suspect the sky high ticket prices for the ground floor might have played a part in sending the crowd sky high to the balcony (pun intended). I was shocked to know that a ticket for sitting on the stage (which used to be a last resort worth Rs 50-100 a few years back) is now priced at Rs. 500. So while on the one hand we have a lot of free concerts most of the time, every possible surge pricing strategy is being used for in paid concerts.

That and the fact that it was Sudha Raghunathan (and a jam packed house and insane crowd and traffic outside with no place to park my bike) just before this concert. The tickets are valid for both evening concerts, so at least that is some consolation. So there.

The concert got off to a melodious start with Lalgudi Jayaraman's varnam in husEni preceded by a short AlApana. The sound system's beautiful in the way it captured the tone of the instruments, particularly the violin's rich spectrum, the sound of Trichy Sankaran sir's mridangam (what a soothing toppi!) and V Suresh's gumki. No mic for the tambura.

The duo then commenced a commanding rendition of rAmachandram bhAvayami followed by some nice calculative kalpana swaras. The final pattern by Sri. Trichy Sankaran to bring the kriti to an end was a special touch.

It seems to be raining tODis at the Academy this year (or is it)and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi took it up for elaboration. (I wonder what Sudha Raghunathan sang in the concert before this, circumstances forced me to miss it, but a few rasikas ahead of me just reacted like they've heard their 10th tODi in 10 days). For me though, this is the 2nd one. Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi played the rAga with longer and more fluid phrases in her individual style emphasizing the gamakAs.

The surprise number turned out to be the tOdi swarajati - rAvE himagiri kumAri. The duo played both the swara and sAhitya for the charanams in a sowkhyam filled rendition. From here I get an unrestricted view of their bowing and left hand articulation of every phrase and note. Some lilting accompaniment on the percussion side as well.

A short teaser of kalyANa vasantam was followed by innu daya bAradE (surprise again) - it was interesting to see how the Lalgudi school has refreshed this composition according to their version of kalyAna vasantam. When I say this, don't imagine big changes. The song is for the most part the same as usual, but many phrases and sangatis reflect the way kalyAna vasantam is today.

Krishnan then took up nAtakurinji for elaboration in his style of digging the thirupArkkadaL of phrases (mostly shorter and medium length ones - this is a stylistic difference between the siblings). I was expecting manasu vishaya (a Lalgudi workhorse) and sure enough, it was. After the kriti, swaras were played in 2 speeds at the pallavi. The calculative swaras for the kuraippu ended around M1 and on samam. An arithmetic progression first played ascending, then descending the next round caught my ear. This was followed by a round of long flowing swaras ending in a fiendishly complicated kOrvai that took more than 1 missed approach & go around to get the split right, but to my relief it fell in place next time.

The tani Avartanam followed. Round 1 in chatushra naDai featuring arithmetic progressions and some poruttams. All patterns ending on samam or even intervals. What is that ringing stroke on the mridangam (dhin, nam??) - TS does it so perfectly. What clarity of strokes! Round 2 was more complex in (will confirm if it was khaNda chatushram -- ok after enquiring, it turns out it was khaNda naDai after all for the most part, but there was also mishra naDai as well and the sollus had patterns of all lengths from 3 to 9) that drew a round of applause. This and the next round was a lesson in playing cross patterns. The same thing continued with some fireworks in the kuraippu portion as well (exact details some one with real laya expertise needs to tell us). After that they came together for the farans, mohra and a novel kOrvai returning to 1/2 eDuppu. What elegance!

And then with around 45 min to 9 pm, Krishnan Sir started a lovely alApana of Simhendramadhyamam for it ain't a Lalgudi concert without a novel RTP. Followed by the duo taking turns. This brought back a memory of a thrilling pallavi played by LGJ and Ramani sir back in the 70s when they toured USA. There was a lot of rAga played between them, that included a nice graha bhEdam on R2 to bowLi as well. Music students would be immensely benefited to learn how to dig and interpret rAgas from the Lalgudis.

The tAnam started like the strokes of an orchestral prelude with a few harmonics for good measure. The playing of tanam by the Lalgudi school is something special. It should be noted that they are also known for playing 'endless' phrases with no discontinuity and this wasn't left out either. tAnam was also split between the duo.

I mentioned the LGJ RTP right? The high speed tAnam from the upper S onwards made its appearance briefly followed by a slow speed tAnam that marked the ending of this phase. The pallavi was definitely keeping in theme with Arudhra darshanam and it was sung by Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi before they got to work on it. Neraval on pallavi is always a level of difficulty above normal which they handled like it was routine.

The trikAlam was done by Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi in slow speed (0.5x), normal, chatushra tisram and finally chatushra 2x followed by a round of very complex calculated swara before starting a round sarvalaghu swaras. The trikAlam was one epic tightrope walk. Well done.

Then the rAgamalika - first kEdAram (in line with Ananda from Ananda naTana prakAsham, should see if all the swaras are pointers to krithis). In my typing haste I missed it that the swaras were not only rAgamAlika but also the tAla changed to mishra chApu! Which of course is the 7 counts to the original 28 beat pattern, so the pallavi still holds good.

I admit I lost the plot. Should pay better attention, which I could if this typing didn't take up my attention.

So then come the aTHANA , hamir kalyAni, kuntalavarALi, and then the AbhOghi. Every round drew applause from the audience. A quick backtrack later, we were back on Simhendramadhyamam for the final kOrvai.

Then the 2nd mini tani Avartanam in mishra chApu only of mohra and kOrvai before the pallavi was grandly conluded.

Then immediately came ayyE mettakkaDinam, which I heard last maybe in 2003 or 2004 on New Year's day in a trio with their father. Brought back the memories.

Finally the tilAng thillAna - which is probably celebrating 50 years by now (the oldest recording I have of it is in 1968). Played in madhyama shruti with race tempo, the thillAnA is notable for a lot of lilting passages and more trillwork than an entire concerto (and even some chords) - it's a virtuoso masterpiece of a composition both melodically and technically. The siblings have added their own interpretative touches and variations to it as well.

And with that, the mangaLam brought the curtains down on an excellent concert of exactly 2 and a half hours, a testament to the undercurrent of discipline underneath some seriously inspired and romantic violin music.

Good night!

[hnbhagavan]

Keep going.Thank you very much.i am an ardent fan of the Lalgudi school.

[Ananth]

You covered everything, SrinathK!

Excellent planning by the duo, choosing one each of the trinity, a hoary thamizh composition, a varnam and a tillana of their guru (Krishnan could have said "our" guru instead of "my" guru). In much contrast to how Aishwarya Vidya and even Sudha planned their concerts, not leaving good time for the lighter pieces and not covering a variety of compositions.

[rbharath]

In much contrast to how Aishwarya Vidya and even Sudha planned their concerts, not leaving good time for the lighter pieces and not covering a variety of compositions.

Beg to differ sir. I thought Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath had a very well planned concert for the 2 hours she had at her disposal. 2 elaborate pieces, an intricate pallavi, a padam. A good composer coverage. It was indeed well balanced and executed.

If you are looking for lighter music, you must make appropriate choices. There was still a nice yamunA kalyANi song on Nataraja to wrap up, that can be accounted for the prati madhyama representation, arudra darshan, light ragam piece and many more such categories. It was in Tamil too.

[rbharath]

Very nice write up srinath. Good job. Been eons since one heard manasu vishaya.

[hnbhagavan]

The Violin Pair of Lalgudi duo have been playing duet since late 1980's.Earliest performances as i remember is in 1989-90.The frequency was less as Lalgudi Sir used to play duet with Sri GJRKrishnan and some times with Vijayalakshmi.Then a few years on the Lalgudi Trio was introduced and was a roaring success.
At present the most melodious duo playing in the concert circuit some times under estimated by Rasikas.But I have observed gradual increase in the Viewership over the years.
Excellent on the spot improvisation and Each concert has variety of Compositions.

[rajeshnat]

1) varnam - husEni - Adi - Lalgudi Jayaraman - short R
...
8) thillAna - tilAng - Adi (2 kaLai) - Lalgudi Jayaraman

lovely write up Srinath, I could not attend this concert as I went to hear another vidwan who ended the concert with rageshri thillana of maestro LGJ. One thing that exceptionally stands out is this siblings always start with the varnam and thillana both usually only from the maestro. These numbers are usually not that much cycled outside of their schools.

IIRC ,I have not heard Huseni as a varnam yet and I think I have heard thillang thillana. Anything coupled with Trichy Sankaran sir and ghatam suresh who also supports very well is a joy.

[SrinathK]

1) varnam - husEni - Adi - Lalgudi Jayaraman - short R
...
8) thillAna - tilAng - Adi (2 kaLai) - Lalgudi Jayaraman

lovely write up Srinath, I could not attend this concert as I went to hear another artist who ended the concert with rageshri thillana of maestro LGJ. One thing that exceptionally stands out is this siblings always start with the varnam and thillana both usually only from the maestro. They are usually not that much cycled outside of their schools.

IIRC ,I have not heard Huseni as a varnam yet and I think I have heard thillang thillana. Anything coupled with Trichy Sankaran sir and ghatam suresh who also supports very well is a joy.

That must have been Sudha Raghunathan. My original plan was to attend both concerts, but it didn't materialize. And I think we have been attending concerts but often not knowing the other is also there.

[ssramesh]

Great write up, thoroughly enjoyed it as much as the concert. Couple of non musical notes:
- the ticket fare for 'dais' is still 100 not 500. Checked this morning at MA counter.
- the balcony crowd thinned as the concert progress seated on the right as you face the stage, enjoyed the concert all alone after the main ragam as all others left
- as usual a very satisfying concert from this duo.

[SrinathK]

The Hindu's review : https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/ ... PyfFw10dd0

Surprising how long it took to come to the news.

[rajeshnat]

The Hindu's review : https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/ ... PyfFw10dd0

Surprising how long it took to come to the news.

srinathk,
I just checked Lji siblings performed on a Sunday Dec 23rd, from there this was published on second friday from then- this is not surprise at all. Most of The Hindu reviews share is taken by academy. Few years back they were even published 2 months after Jan.