Vignesh Ishwar at MFAC for Thyagaraja Aradhana, 26/1/2019

[SrinathK]

Vocal : Vignesh Ishwar
Violin : H N Bhaskar
Mridangam : J Vaidyanathan
Ghatam : Guru Prasad
Tambura : Sh. Mani

Venue : Mylapore Fine Arts

An Incomplete review this one.

Unfortunately due to finding out about it on FB a bit late, I was only able to come in by 7 15 for a 6 30 concert and so missed the 1st 45 min.

Song list (specifically for Thyagaraja aradhana)

rAma bhakti - shuddha bangALa - Adi (3/4 eDuppu)
nArada muni - pantuvarALi - Adi (tisra naDai)
inta sowkhya - kApi - Adi 2 kaLai 1/2 eDuppu - R
O rAjeevAksha - Arabhi - mishra chApu - R,N,S - Neraval and swaras at mA vara suguNa

koluvamara kada - tODi - Adi 2 kaLai 3/4 eDuppu - R,N,S,TA - Neraval, swaras and Tani @ tambura
cEkoni guNamula using "tambura" as the starting point

nArayaNa hari - yamunA kalyANI - Adi - R
tava dAsOham - punnAgavarALi - Adi (1/2 eDuppu)
patiki hAra teerE - suruTTi - Adi (1/2 eDuppu)
nee nAma rupamulaku (mangaLam) - sourAshtramam - Adi 1/2 eDuppu

Vignesh Ishwar, disciple of TM Krishna, has an amazing voice with effortless brighas, a big range, a rich imagination and masterly rendering. He's also known to me since my IITM days so there.... - In this concert, he was ably supported by H N Bhaskar on the violin, J Vaidyanathan on mridangam and Guru Prasad on the ghaTam.

Vignesh was singing a sublime inta sowkhya as I walked in - the brighas in the sangatis were beautiful and packed with details. He excels at both high speed singing and especially slow speed singing. This rendition was one of the best I've heard (and I'm not saying that because I know him for a while).

A turbocharged AlApanA of Arabhi saw Vignesh pushing his voice to top speed with brighas across the spectrum. HN Bhaskar played a brisk response in his AlApana. That was followed by O rAjeevAksha. He gave it the full works. (will update this in the morning, getting a little tired, it's late and memory strangely a little hazy).

Then came tODi, which meant that despite the season now officially over, the running gag (if you call that a gag) is still on us. That aside, the AlApana was well done across all 3 octaves, exploring a lot of gamaka laden phrases and brighas. What a range he has in the upper octave! HNB's reply was excellent - he showed all his Parur school special skillset in his reply playing phrases reminiscent of his guru MSG.

Somehow I knew that it couldn't be anything other than koluvamara kada and I was right. This being a Semmangudi masterpiece, it got the full treatment. neraval was taken up at tambura chEkoni gunAmula and with tambura being the starting point, the eDuppu was in the last 3 quarters of the cycle. A round of neraval where JV played the exact note of the upper R1 in line with Vignesh singing "tambura chEkoni" was a delicate moment. The kalpanasawaras took off in such a way that it felt like it happened during the neraval - the final grand round of neraval was eliminated in favour of a seamless transition.

The swaras were all in slow speed till the kuraippu, and even there we had slow speed kuraippu swaras ending at P until it came to 1/2 an avartanam per round - this was a new effect which I didn't hear before and I liked it - I have never heard anyone attempt kuraippu in slow speed swaras. Only at 1/4 avartanam did the fast swaras come rolling, ending in a very complex kOrvai. HNB excelled in all his replies and the whole team went about the concert like a well oiled machine. The tani by J Vaidyanathan and Guru Prasad was played in chatushra and tisra naDais using the same eDuppu point as well.

nArAyaNa hari (the opening lines of which are often sung for bhajans) followed a very pleasing AlApanA of yamunA kalyANi (this raga is one mystery I am yet to crack, so it's just what the doctor ordered). A quick tava dAsoham and patiki hAra teerE (starting from the anupallavi) and then the mangaLam, for which a novel pattern on the percussion brought the concert to a close. A 90+ year old rasika sat next to me for a while noting down each and every song and went up on stage to ask for the first 2 songs, which he had also missed. I wonder who he was and what must be his passion to come and sit through concerts at an age where he's hunched over and barely able to walk.

Vignesh Ishwar was already extremely good back in the IITM music club days. Now he's gone to the next level. I also did attend his all varnams concert for Jaya TV, but didn't write about it.