Jayanti Kumaresh MFAC- RTP Special

[grsastrigal]

24.12.21- MFAC``
Jayanti Kumaresh (JK)- Veena

KU Jayachanra Rao -Mridangam
Trichy S Krishnaswamy- Ghatam

It is always difficult to write a review of an instrument concert. I had to sit down and recollect special movements (anecdote, pep talk etc) during the concert.

Vidwans like JK or Shashank are God-gifted. Writing the review – “Concert was wonderful, exceptional” is like “insulting their intelligence”- Instead of writing how they performed, better to write what innovations they brought out in their concert.

Her performance in one para

Definition of Bliss- At 2 am, suddenly you get up and turn aside for another “round” of sleep, in these 10 seconds, you recollect the beautiful hamsanAdam or a breath-taking simhavAhini (without moving her head), JK’s ‘fait accompli”. You see the world is wonderful like BharatirAja film song “ where slowly children along with heroin running in slow motion holding balloons and flowers”………

I think JKs and shashanks (in instruments) give us solace through their respective instruments whenever we are down. There is youtube video of JK with Ustad Zakir ussain. It was 6 minutes KeeravAni. Oops. (which has reached almost 1 million views.). If you watch, you won’t miss the exuberance of JK and master ZH.
Let us take RTP first:

She played a beautiful hamsanAdam raagam and a bit of Talam. She stopped and said –

“ Normally, we take “some lines” as pallavi like muruganE, shanmuganE, guhanE etc etc., but in the concert, I play – somewhere around the neraval, you people don’t know whether I play neraval or swaram and which part of the improvisation… in totO, it is all confusing”
She continued- “I bring a new concept”
Put it in equation (!!!) (from my side…)

Moods of different situations or sequences in Ramayana + Put it to suitable Ragams + fix it into suitable Talams = RTP
What are the Moods ?

Lord Rama comes to Mithila along with Vishwamitra (to get married to Sita)
He comes to the “swayamvara” mandapam where he saw the – “Siva danusu”

Mood No 1 - He has a look at the “Danusu”
Changed the tAlam in HamsAnandi with slow beats.

Mood No 2 - Mudiyuma pakkaraar (Wonders whether I can lift it)
Mind voice- increase the tAlam speed.

Mood No 3 He lifts and breaks it
Take hamsanAdam at its best.

Mood No 4 Sita is happy and others too
Reaction in- kEdAram.

Mood No 5 Janaka is happy and worried (happy because of groom and sad because of “going to miss” Sita)
Reaction in Ritigowlai

Mood No 6-Swayamvaram-
Raaga Kurinji

To end the RTP in behAg to leave the wedding guests happy

Tani – another excellent Tani

She concluded by saying after this, you (rasikas) can witness rama-rAvana yudham (pointing out the mridhangam and ghatam) leaving the rasikas in splits.

Concert List:

mAtE malayadwaja- kamAs (she was finishing this song. I thought this was the song). Any corrections. welocome

Sriranjani raagam followed by sari evvarE Shri jAnaki

PurvikalyAni rAgam followed by jaya jaya ramA nAtha- Narayana Teerta Tarangam – (see my Note)

Mokshamu galadA- Saramati- Thyagarajar

RTP- Hamsanaadaam - (pallavi mishra chapu, samathil eduppu)- pallavi rAgams explained below:

Tani

PibarE rAmarasam – sadAsiva brahmedra – ahir bairavi (?)

Tillaana- KamAs.

Mangalam

A full crowd in MFAC surprised me. Sheer magic with her strings.

[RaghuPS]

Great Kamban's verse on the Shiva Dhanusu episode as memory recall by Seeta from Asokavana

தேங்கு கங்கை திருமுடிச்செங்கணான்
வாங்கு கோல வடவரை வார்சிலை
ஏங்கு மாத்திரத்து இற்று இரண்டாய் விழ
வீங்கு தோளை நினைத்து மெலிந்துளாள்!

Salute my Tamil lecturer, this verse has stayed with me close to 45 years !

Felt like sharing on reading about JK's Hamsanaadham !

[gardabha_gana]

It's rare these days to hear Jayanthi render solo veena concerts. Usually, it is with a violin or jugalbandi - and emphasis turns to display of virtuosity. Nice set of songs. Yearn for good instrumental music. SruthiSagar being a notable exception.

[shankarank]

So we once heard [:cough;], we don't have an instrumental story in Carnatic music . Now instrumentalists have a story to tell huh?!

They turned that statement which is figurative, upside down into a literal now. That is some commentary on the intelligence of the audience - is it?