Flute Concert by Shashank at Philadelphia - Apr 23

[srutiphila]

Sruti Philadelphia (www.sruti.org) is pleased to present a Carnatic Flute Concert by Vidwan Shashank Subramanyam, accompanied by Mysore Srikanth on the violin and Patri Satish Kumar on the Mridangam.

Date: Saturday, Apr 23, 2022 at 4:30 PM
Venue: Fugett Middle School Auditorium, 500 Ellis Lane, West Chester, PA 19380

More details and tickets at https://www.sruti.org/event/carnatic-flute-concert-6/

[rajeshnat]

I keep hearing thru grapevine that usa tours are just happening. Not too sure if it is but with your post indeed it is. Very nice to see iindian artists having usa tour....best wishes to the trio, good show srutiphily in organizing the concert.

[Sachi_R]

Posted on behalf of Jayram Sataluri:

I’m attaching a photo that I took of the concert.

I attended Shashank’s concert in Philly on April 23rd and would like to share my review with you.

Live at Fugett Middle School, West Chester, PA (Sruti concert

Shashank Subramaniam- Flute

Mysore Srikanth- violin

Patri Satish Kumar- mridangam

Duration: approx: 2 hours 20 mins

Audience: at least 100 people

sAmi ninnE kOri- Sri, Adi, Karur Devudu Iyer
ninnADanEla- kannaDa, dESAdi, Thyagaraja
ardha nArISvaram – kumudakriyA, rUpakaM, Dikshitar
suma sAyaka- karnATaka kApi, rUpakaM (2 kalai), Swathi Thirunal
Dual rAgam RT (kAmbhOji & vAgadhISvari)
kAmbhOji (w/ rAgamAlikA- hindOLaM, kEdAra gauLa, bEgaDa, aThANa) pallavi (about Muruga)- mISra CApu w/ swarams in kAmbhOji)- flwd by 2 to 3 min thani by Patri
vAgadhISvari pallavi (same line as kAmbhOji)- Adi w/ rAgamAlikA swarams (pantuvarALi, bAgEshri, haMsadhvani, mOhanam, hindustAni tODi) flwd by 4 to 5 min thani by Patri
rAma nAmamE- dESh, Adi, Thanjavur Sankara Iyer
vEnkaTAcala nilayam- sindu bhairavi, Adi, Purandaradasara


This was my first live Shashank concert although I had listened to him throughout the years. He, Mysore Srikanth and Patri Satish Kumar teamed up to deliver a solid start to the 2022 Sruti season which all rasikas joyfully lapped up. The stage was set up differently this time as Mysore Srikanth was to Shashank’s right (our left) and Patri was to his left (our right), but was facing the audience at an angle, which helped us enjoy the intricacies of his mridangam playing on both sides.

Shashank thanked Sruti for organizing the concert and was happy he was performing in Philadelphia after a long while. He started off with a short Sri ragam alapana in G sruti and announced that he would render the varnam. He started at 1 ½ speed and brought out the ragam’s beauty in the pallavi. When he needed to take a break, he let Mysore Srikanth take charge. After the mukthayi swaram, he repeated in 3rd speed and displayed his mastery. After the pallavi, he played 2nd speed for the charanam and the ettugada swarams twice. He ended with a tara sthayi shadja and Patri finished with a small theermanam.

Then Shashank played a short Kannada ragam alapana where he and Mysore Srikanth focused on the different variations of the ragam. He then announced he would render Ninnadanela and did justice to Thyagaraja’s krithi by playing the usual sangatis that we’ve heard before. But it was the swaraprastara where he shined brightly by combining both mathematics and musicality much to Patri’s glee. For the shorter portions, he would end at the ring finger. The audience enjoyed it immensely.

After the captivating Kannada, Shashank gave us two choices of ragams: Sriranjani or Kumudakriya. We chose the latter and Shashank delved into exploring each facet of the ragam and brought different dimensions which I wouldn’t have paid attention to earlier. He switched flutes in between. He would bounce between the different notes and at one point I thought I could hear a grahabhedam somewhere. His faster taans were brilliant. After his alapana, Shashank announced the raga’s name, what janya raga it was based off of and its characteristics (no panchama and kaakali nishada in the arohanam, but there is kaakali nishada in the avarohanam). As we’re all aware, there is only one krithi in Kumudakriya, Dikshitar’s Ardhanareeshwaram and Shashank said he would render it. Mysore Srikanth provided a short response which contained the Parur stamp and maintained the solemn mood throughout. The trio then proceeded to render the krithi with serenity and divine bhavam. One could say that the image of Ardhanareeshwaram was vividly visualized by the trio. The charanam especially was charming and I liked how Shashank switched from the small piccolo type flute to the bigger bambooish flute. I’m not too sure if there was a neraval, but the Kumudakriya swarams were entrancing. One just couldn’t get enough of them.

Next was Suma Sayaka, one of my favorite Swathi Thirunal krithis and it was wonderful to hear it once again. It brought back memories of listening to recordings of KVN render this with such profundity. And Shashank definitely would have made his late guru proud. He played the swara sahityas twice and made sure they sounded different each time. The Ragamalika was exquisite as always and the trio were in sync. Patri’s radiant gumkis stood out. Shashank mentioned it was one of KVN’s signature songs that he formally learnt and it was the first time he had played it in decades; he humbly said that he hoped he did justice to it.

Shashank asked us if we wanted to hear Kambhoji or Vagadeeshwari. At first, most of the audience said the latter whereas some wanted the former. But there were a few people (including yours truly) who wanted both and we declared “Both!” out loud. With a smile, Shashank said 50-50 and played a familiar permutation of notes which defined both the ragams; he announced the same to which the audience broke into laughter. Then he proceeded to highlight Vagadeeshwari in the mandra and madhya sthayis and made sure to emphasize Shatsruthi Rishabham. He ended on the tara sthayi and let Mysore Srikanth take over where the violinist responded resplendently by echoing whatever Shashank did and alternating between slow and faster gamakas. When he finished at the tara sthayi, Shashank took over and made a clean transition from Vagadeeshwari to Kambhoji and highlighted the raga in the tara sthayi. He was also playing chords on the flute which made it sound more Western like and bounced between notes during the faster taans. He made another clean transition to the tanam and easily adjusted between the two ragams during each turn. I especially enjoyed when he played kanda gathi in the faster kalams. Mysore Srikanth’s responses were subdued yet impressive and he did not falter a bit.

After the tanam, Shashank said although both ragams could be rendered together in equal measure, it would be hard for some of the listeners to differentiate between the two. Therefore, he would render two pallavis: the first would be Kambhoji in Misra Chapu Talam (started at samam) with a pallavi dedicated to Muruga which he sang (I don’t remember the pallavi line) and the second one would be the same pallavi line in Vagadeeshwari this time in Adi talam (started at samam). He then played the Kambhoji pallavi in Misra Chapu. In the same pallavi line, he did a Ragamalika for each turn with Mysore Srikanth responding each time. Then he returned to Kambhoji and played the pallavi a few more times before proceeding with the swarams without doing trikalam. Like he did with the Kannada swarams, he did algebraic calculations in the shorter swarams and made them sound beautiful. He let Patri play a short Misra Chapu thani and the enthusiasm of the vidwan was infectious. He played misra gathi briefly and he played an electrifying korvai in 2 speeds which kept us on our toes; Shashank joined during the last turn of the faster speed.

Then Shashank quickly started Vagadeeshwari in Adi talam and played the pallavi line a few times without going into trikalam. He went into the shorter swarams and did Ragamalika for each turn by making sure we were able to identify each of the ragams’ phraseology, although the last ragam was a bit tricky to identify. But the swaram finish was stupendous. Patri did slip up a bit towards the end, but made it up with a 4 to 5 min thani where he displayed his speed and control. His kanda gathi was wonderful and his farans, mohara and korvai were terrific. Like always, he picked up the pallavi line in his korvai much to the delight of Shashank who complemented him with his fast taans as Patri finished the pallavi with rousing thunder.

After the tremendous finish of the Vagadeeshwari pallavi and an applause session that lasted 15 to 20 seconds, Shashank proceeded with Thanjavur Sankara Iyer’s Rama Namame and the trio went into the bhakti mode. It sounded so heavenly and the grace of Sri Rama appeared in my mind and I murmured His name silently. Next was a short but sublime Sindhubhairavi alapana where Shashank brought out Hindustani pidis and played Venkatachala Nilayam. The bhakti mode was still intact and everyone was in bliss. Just when we thought he would play a thillana or mangalam, Shashank announced the concert was over much to our surprise. Yet we rose up and applauded the trio fervently.

Shashank was in command and displayed his brilliance all around. I was happy he played rare ragams like Kannada, Kumudakriya and Vagadeeshwari, because we wouldn’t have heard such unique and shining displays of each ragam. Although I wish he had rendered a dual RTP, he didn’t disappoint with 2 separate ones. He combined purity and dexterity and delighted us all. He is on his way to become one of the legends of Bharatiya Sangeetham and we need to encourage him further

Mysore Srikanth was at his supportive best. The Parur school was alive inside him (which I told him after the concert) and one felt the presence of MSG in the auditorium. His responses to Shashank were appreciable where he was able to exhibit the finer attributes of the Parur school. His nimbleness was exceptional and his staccato side was splendid. I had heard him in recordings but never saw him live and was glad to see him.

This is the 5th time I have seen Patri live and he never ceases to amaze. This wizard is already a legend as far as I’m concerned. Layam reverberates from his entire body and soul. His beaming smile, inexhaustible joyfulness and 100% concentration and involvement in the concert is always a sight to behold. He is always in the moment and always enriches every concert he’s in. Though his mic is on the higher side, his style which contains a lot of gumki and some tabla phraseology is just magical. I joked to him that it would have been great to have a dual RTP in Panchamukhi Adi talam which he would have aced with flying colors!

The trio was humble and thankful that they got to perform in Philadelphia. They were benevolent to take photos with the audience members at the end of the concert.



Overall, it was a wonderful start to a promising Sruti 2022 season and the rasikas couldn’t stop appreciating what the trio delivered. The 2022 season has started with a bang and looking forward to the upcoming concerts this season!





Best,

Jayram



Sent from Mail for Windows

[rajeshnat]

Jayram Sataluri
Very well written and a top class coverage of every part of the concert . You seemed to ask both together , but just in case as it is instrument too much of shuffle will confuse that too one ragam being vaagadeshwari it may be a big risk. Certainly shashank playing in sequence is a great thing . All said flute concerts are very rare in indian cities . If you look at it very closely tani was very short not even 7 mins ,with 20 mins more than 2 hours , Philadeliphia has given more space and life to Shashank. If say tani was played for 15 more mins than this concert is actually a near 3 hour concert. The sequence of shree ragam varnam that destresses you completely with a RTP that is elaborate is a personal joy to me. Well written with a nice paragraph spacing . You yourself can come into rasikas too and cover phily-ny-nj tristate area.

If you can help you can post the usa tour schedule of remaining concerts of shashank- shrikant and undrained Battery, that will help all of us.

@Sachi_R
thank you for posting it . I am getting fed up with lot of reviews getting into closed wall facebook. Putting in rasikas is a testimony where any one can agree or disagree equally.