The Cleveland Tygaraja Festival 2026

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 02 Apr 2026, 08:32

The annual Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, the nearly half a century-old unique music festival in the US began today. A festival which marks its beginnings in the suburban basement of an indian family which brought friends and lovers of carnatic music together. So far away from the south of India, this phenomenon grew into a major event over the years.

The festival this year commenced today (always coinciding with Easter holidays when Cleveland University offers its halls for the celebration of saint Tyagaraja of TiruvaiyAru from across the seas).

Kudos to the organizers, next year, it will be the 50th Aradhana in Cleveland!

I do hope rasikas will bring in reviews and snippets about the festival with enthusiasm to share with others. It is a tradition on Rasikas too, to cover the concerts that the rasikas attend every year. Hope we can do it this year too! And, also see all the lovely pictures taken during the festivities!

I caught up with the listing only today, and thanks to icarnatic, on subscribing, I could get the streaming within hours. There will be free streaming of many events, of course, besides ticketed ones.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 02 Apr 2026, 08:53

Though it was well into the concert, guess whose lively music I could savor straight away? Suryaprakash's! He was singing swarAs in Mohanam to VV Murari's violin, Murugabhupathy's mridangam and Minnesota's Balaji Chandran's ghatam.

SwarAvaLi by Suryaprakash, in the true MMI's mode, winding up in the patent cycle of swaras. Was it mOhana rAma that he sang? Now, the tani--a very good and an elaborate one at that .

I am back to the concert again, when Surya is singing gAnAmudapAnam, starting from the anupallavi. A quick and crisp delivery.

A tiruvAimozhi virutham, prefacing Purandaradasa's venkatAchala nilayam in Sindhu bhairavi.

Wonder what all he sang before Mohanam! If you heard the concert from the beginning, pleas fill in!

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 02 Apr 2026, 12:19

Yet to catchup with Surya Prakash

Meanwhile :

Kala Rathna Dr Aishwarya Shankar (Vocal)
Srilakshmi Bhat (violin)
J.P. Suriya Nambisan (mridangam)
Balaji Chandran of MN (ghatam)

pAhi Sri GirirAja sutE - Anandabhairavi - the sa-pa-sa kriti of SrI SyAmaSastri. svarams to pAhi Sri
Short bahudAri
brOva BArama – neraval at karuNAkara tyAgarAjanuta
varALI Alapana – mAmava mInAkshi
mAl Maruga Shanmuga
Bilahari Alapana, dorakunA iTuvanti sEva
vANi pondu cAluvaddanE – kAnaDa
Slokam in Desh
jOnpuri
hari citta satya

She began with an unhurried pace with pAhi Sri and Surya Nambisan held the pace to allow the singer to continue the same. She gave both ornamented as well as jAru laden sangatis. svarams to pAhi Sri were done with initial rounds reaching down to lower ni - which was nice.

A brisk brOva bArama followed by vArALi Alapana. Both her and Srilakshmi gave a good enunciation of the rAgam. And mAmava mInkashi - was rendered without a nerval.

Bilahari was taken for main and was well sung. The kriti was sung with much azhuttam and verve. A very traditional and crisp rendering - svarams followed by tani. Don't remember if there was a neraval. Will check VOD when it becomes available and update it. << Updated Apr 2:: there was not a neraval - but svarams to rAma brahma tanuyudau in initial slow rounds >>.

A Short tani by the Surya and Balaji Chandran followed. She concluded with a Slokam in Desh followed by a line in Jonpuri leading to a Dasara kriti.

P:S : << recollections on dorakuNA . First heard in 1989 or so concert in Music club IIT by Vid. Sowmya. When I mentioned it to my music teacher - Smt. Seetha Subramaniam, she recollected that she also learnt this kriti from Dr S. Ramanathan - may be the versions floating around could be attributed to his teaching many this one>>

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 03 Apr 2026, 07:22

April 2
Sunil R. Gargyan (Vocal)
R. Raghul (violin)
Sai Raghavan (mridangam)
Nerkunam Dr S. Sankar (kanjira)

PantuvaraLi Alapana

Enna gAnu Rama Bhajana - PantuvarALi –
- Svarams at rAmA Bhajana
bEgaDa – Alapana

nAdOpAsana. - 2 Kalai Adi by SrI tyagarAja.

anjilE onRai peTRAn ( Kamba Ramayanam)
<missed one rAgam>
kamAs
madhuvanti

anumanai anudinam ninai maname - Guru Surajananda. – rAgamAlika
https://www.karnatik.com/c18752.shtml
tam tam udanatOm tana Dhim – Kamaj tillana

I might have missed some items. He started with a Alapana when I positioned the feed. The slider on the VOD is very short and hard to position accurately. The svarams to rAma Bhajana , which occures with 2 mAtra offset on rUpakam, he
shifted the eduppu gradually to vIccu + 1/4th and samam on vIccu. There was initial mismatch with Ragul replying to the standard sama eduppu.

bEgada Alapana virtuous one. He executes very well even with some voice limitations.
Ragul’s MC style reply with the same quiver was a refreshing addition to the concert. A Profuse reply with Azhuttam and flourish.

Neraval was started with measured pace and then graduated to one line exchanges in middle speed and fast phrasing. Svarams directly plunging to higher kalam.

Sai Raghavan launched nicely into tani. Persisted with the initial abhiprAyams even if it didn’t reach samam in first tries and got it. Dr Nerkunam Sankar brought his experience to do a nice koRvai to the arai iDam. And they concluded with korraippus for 63 mAtrAs ( I think but it might have been be samam to samam). I didn't hear any miSram there , some combination phrases. My Computer it seems has a lag with video for some reason.

viruttam was sung nicely launching to the Guru Surajananda rAgamAlika composition (https://www.karnatik.com/c18752.shtml).

Concluded with a brisk tillAna.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Apr 2026, 17:08

A refreshing choice of songs. Happy that Kamban has been included; Surjananda too. What a lovely song on HanumAn by him! Thank you for bringing the lyrics.

The pakka vAdyams... I happen to like their playing! Would listen to the concert.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 03 Apr 2026, 19:55

Shankarank and Arasi
Thank you for starting the thread .

Kudos to the entire Cleveland Aradhana team ranging from core founders like Shri VVS /Cleveland Balu etal and many from next gen - all listed here
https://www.aradhana.org/about.html#:~: ... rly%20'70s.

IT takes super himalayan effort for them to organize this year considering the global situation with so many flight disruptions
@meenaakshi your photos are going to come in soon right . Do share please

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 04 Apr 2026, 00:07

This morning, someone whose concert I would never easily miss!

Chithravina Ravikiran with Raghavendra Rao on the violin, veteran Yella Venkateshwara Rao on the mridangam, and Dr. Ravi Balasubramanian from our own shores on the ghatam. Lending vocal accompaniment to Ravikiran was Pranav Kikkeri, a young talent from here (of the Cleveland crop). He has sung during the Chennai seasons too.

The concert started with the Sankarabharanam varnam.

rAgA in Huseni. Detailed and moving.

Raghavendra is an able and seasoned violinist. Ravikiran seemed to be asking for more responses from him which made us miss some of his own spontaneous expositions which we so look forward to. Also, his parsing of the raga snatched away some of the lyrical flow of the rAga. He asked Pranav who sings very well to join in expanding the rAga. Then signaled Rao to play more, his usual dedication giving way to a bit of delegation...

A lovely hamsAnandi piece followed. His own composition: nijamAnavar nADum rAma, continuing with the names of rAmAnuja and other parama vaishNava bhakthAs.

Percussion which had high quality was prominent. Would have been perfect in a classy vocal concert. I say this may be because I look for a lot of kuzhaivu in chithravina, and that too from the master! Orchestral it gets now, pleasing, but I am looking more for tranquil and fine expressions of the master himself, I guess!

Then comes the kIravANi, and am I pleased! Now, he is playing! Rao responding, good going.

Percussion enters the picture and we have a bit of orchestral music now.

kIravAni pallavi pleases no end. Warm response from Rao.

A very appealing tani--even for novices like us follows. Shankarank would treat and educate us with its intricacies, we hope.

sindhubhairavi Dasara pada was suggested from the front row. Ravikiran mentions venkaTAchala nilayam, kaNDu dhanynAdE etc, and then plays Harihara ninnanu....narara olisuvudu bahu kaTinA??

A Ravikiran concert is always a gift. I only wish it had been a bit longer and more soul-satisfying...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 04 Apr 2026, 00:21

I had not watched last year's competition winner Vaijayanthi Pappu play the vina.

What a treat she is! A chit of a child holding so much talent! She is confident and graceful at the same time. At the very start, she established herself with her smile and skill, and with a solid Sri varalakshmi namastubhyam.
I heard her here and there. Caught a bit of her RTP in PanthuvarALi. She sang the pallavi line on Ganesha: Eka dantam. She played with care and with such ease.

Every year, it's heart-warming to see youngsters applying themselves to music and dance, win prizes at Cleveland and with some--even taking their art very seriously to become able performing artistes!

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 04 Apr 2026, 01:55

arasi wrote: ↑02 Apr 2026, 08:53 Wonder what all he sang before Mohanam! If you heard the concert from the beginning, pleas fill in!

To your request:

Tatva mariya tarama (svarams)
Evarani

Mic comfort reached with settings adjustment.

Latangi rAgam
vEnkata ramaNa
AlarmEL mangai – neraval, svarams.

muKhAri – rAgaam
pAhimAm ratnAcalanAyaka of Sri dikshitar
paramasAmbhavA ( sarasa sAmadAna) - svarams

mOhanam rAgam
mOhana rAmA
tani

gnAna amuda sILan - gAnamuda pAnam – jyOtiswarUpiNI

akalakilEn – pAsuram – Sindhu Bhairavi
venkAta cala nilayam

AlarmEL mangai – neraval, svarams were nicely done with a crisp kOrvai.
Malar tAzh maRandu irumAndEn needs a paragraph or two of exposition.

The sandhi split if done once to be clear to the listeners is OK, but then it should ideally get merged in subsequent sangatis as malar tAzh maRandirumAndEn , gaining and stealing a mAtra for elongating the kArvais, in long syllables the composer has afforded to musicians before and after! More sangatis , more rAgam, more extension of vowels syncopation viz-a-viz the tALam flow , laya experience possibilities and beyond.

It is the Sandhi that brings to center stage the SRngAra principle in all of BhAratIya conscious, including Bhashas and mozhis making them sAhitya ( sa hitam - dear and endearing to the listener) , not only in semantic cognition, but also in the experience of the sound, dhvani, nAdam. The word, "literature" and it's etymology are completely devoid of this sense, bringing in echoes of Western sense of history making and reading of history and writings. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=literature.

Azhagu paNNum nErattil, sErndiruppavaigaLai pirikkalAmO? In times of enjoyment of beauty why seperate the two beautiful things?

Let listeners get some work to do in padam piruccufying (split) and glean the meaning!

muKhAri rAgam was the sub main. Now during Alapana , as he reached the upper Sa and then wound down to reach it again, he brought a tentative phrase of Karaharapriya. Murari remained mute or just bowing.

pAhimAm ratnAcalanAyaka of SrI dIkshitar was taken up.
https://sriramv.com/2020/11/03/iyermala ... ar-temple/

<< Updated: sAhityam here : http://www.sangeetasudha.org/dikshitar/vol3/D27.html >>

Now the story is captured in Sri Vijay Siva's pandemic time talk on Smt. DKP. mOhajARAlakEsi - has karaharapriyA take and Vijay mentions that Smt. DKP stuck to her stand and sang it as is.

Well you all know what my take on that is. KHP has no patents as it is not a rAgA. And there is no KHP in Dikshitar sampradAyam , then why should this doubt even arise? May be SrI dIkshitar took that deliberate turn as this phrase in sAhitya has a SRnGAra bhAva which can transgress norms?

Suryaprakash sang the first sangati of anupallavi - mOhajAra somewhat flat , but I could hear it only as pd1N2d1 and no D2 there. He proceeded to sing subsequent sangatis with a clear conventional mukhAri take.

sarasa sAmadAna was started with anupallavi (time management) with nice round of svarams. MurAri was a bit extended on last round of svaram, but then liberties of 1-1/2 offset brings lot of freedom to musicians I suppose.

mOhana Rama was a standard MMI fare with Suryaprakash show casing his bANi and skill with trade mark svarams.

tani had khAnDa nadai to make it interesting. And Sri Murugabhoopathy brings stability and gravitas to his accompaniment. Balaji Chandran the resident artiste joined him well in all rounds.

jYOti svarUpiNi kriti of kOTISvara Iyer was done in a rush and did not give time for artistes to settle in to expose the grand miSra cApu that it is.

Concluded with Azhwar pAsuram and Venkatacala nilayam.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 04 Apr 2026, 06:00

sankarank,
Kind of you to oblige with all the details of the numbers which preceded mOhanam, the main. I have to listen to the concert from the very start to note all the nuances you bring about lyrics and padam piruchufying (separating words aesthetically while rendering). Of course, all within the tAlA structure without fail.

Papanasam Sivan-highlighted, Koteeswara Iyer-featured concert. While several musicians zero in on just Tyagaraja kritis, tamizh and kannaDa lyrics, singing even telugu kritis by others like AnnamAcharya and of course, sanskrit ones by the trinity makes the festival concerts a repository of rich offering.

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 04 Apr 2026, 06:19

Apr 2
<< Listened on Video on Demand today>>
Anahita & Apoorva (Vocal)
Kamalakiran Vinjamuri of VA (violin)
Akshay Anantapadmanabhan (mridangam)
Sowmiya J. Narayanan of VA (ghatam)

Ela nI dayarAdu – ATana
SESha cala nAyakam – varALi - svarams
Vaiyam alandu – nAdanAmakriya – m. cApu - OVK
vAgadISvari - rAgam - main
paramAtmudu veligE
tani
pAyOji mainE - miSra yaman??
Mora TOpu – sahana
rama nAmAvaLi & slokam - candra jyOthi

Concert started with Ela nI dayarAdu – ATana with quick svaram rounds.

They followed with what I would consider a fast paced rendition of SESha cala nAyakam followed by svarams to aravinda patra nayanam. The pace did not allow the kArvais of this rAgam to expressed well. The virtuous jumps from note to note across tetra chord created a light flavor of the rAgam. And the kriti rendition was more focused on duo-polizing the rendering to achieve a synchronous output. svarams also were utilized to pep the concert ending with a fiery performance.

After a sedate vaiyam aLandu in nAdanAmakriya , the sisters proceeded take up vAgadISvari Alapana. Now the current trend in last decade or more of this rAga is all virtuosity, to express the vivAdi more explicitly. With more agility , I have to remove the traditional hat and don an ilayarAja listener hat for sometime to absorb the music.

Kriti rendition briefly brought them back to traditional handling only to return back to modern approach once svarams began. They employed mathematical rounds with one round of caturaSra trisram and two rounds of triSram in svarams and final kOrvai ending with a poruttam suffixed to reach pa-ra-ma.

Akshay did an effective tani with triSram.

After the Bhajan - which was also a miSra rAgam, they talked about many requests they got to sing a padam. And rendered a nice mora TOPu of SrI Kshetrajna in Sahana. It was refreshing after almost consecutive vivAdis.

Concluded with a rAma nAma rendering in candra jyOti and a slokam rendered with rhythym with one of the sisters providing background melody.

As a performance they gave a good one bringing their usual poise and verve.

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 04 Apr 2026, 07:37

arasi wrote: ↑04 Apr 2026, 06:00 Papanasam Sivan-highlighted, Koteeswara Iyer-featured concert. While several musicians zero in on just Tyagaraja kritis, tamizh and kannaDa lyrics, singing even telugu kritis by others like AnnamAcharya and of course, sanskrit ones by the trinity makes the festival concerts a repository of rich offering.

Indeed! The festival is a tribute to the SrI tyagarAja parampara actually. SrI tyAgarAja is not a person in history as we the modern educated tend to think. From our vantage point the correct sense is to consider this as parampara.

Wallajahpet Venkataramana Bhagavathar, PaTnam, Poochi , Koteeswara Iyer, and Mysore V are SrI tyAgaraja parampara. Papanasam Sivan adopted the same compositional method and also his parampara through Konerirajapuram.

And the trinity converged on similar compositional structure if you compare it with what was before them. We don't know how the trinity compositions were sung before concert era, however the potentiality of music that is unique to these compositions has common aspects, even if we accept they were all polished only on concert stage in 20th century.

Attempts to put similar treatment to other prior era compositions have not yielded good results. From that we can conclude that these compositions belong to a class distinct from others.

meenaakshi · Post by **meenaakshi** » 05 Apr 2026, 00:34

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xHA19aaFwoLQNHs29

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Apr 2026, 01:51

My oh my!
Up to date you are, Minakshi, with your 'a must' part of the festival! Many lovely pictures. Rajesh would be pleased. Bharath Sundar just finished his concert and there he is too, with the accompanying artistes

The sound system needs to be looked into, it seems. The one in the stadium (for the AradhanA), I can understand, but when the vote of thanks was given, the sound was such a scramble in the hall as well

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 05 Apr 2026, 07:37

Kala Rathna K. Bharat Sundar (Vocal)
Sruti Sarathy of CA (violin)
Sangeetha Kala Sagaram Neyveli R. Narayanan (mridangam)
Dr Ravi Balasubramanian of OR (ghatam)

danyudevadO – neraval @ varamaddala, svarams
nAyaki rAgam
kanukonu saukyamu – rUPakam
kIRavANI rAgam.
vAnanai madi sUDiya maindanai – tEVaram by Appar – m. cApu
pAl ninaniduTTum viruttam
irakkam varaMal – BehAg – rUpakam - GKB
tillAna nAdRtIm – kadanakutUhalam – Dr BMK composition

While audio and feedback were still getting adjusted, and impending compressed timeframe clock ticking, the concert began with a brisk dhanyuDevvaDO. Neraval was full of laya verve. Bharat is one of those that brings that majesty right off the bat, like a clean stroke opening batsman. And svarams no less. Sruthi gave fitting replies.

He had some ear-phone feedback which did not work to pickup tambura and claimed he was singing without tambura! Well less gadgets and simplicity is what works finally.

nAyaki rAgam was nicely done and a nice return by Sruthi here. She used familiar takes in kanukonu and Ranga nAyakam to build up the phrases.

kanukonu sowkyamu – the trade mark of SrI Ramnad Krishnan came with it’s special sedate, yet anchored on brahma layam that Neyveli Narayanan latched on to. tyAgarAja svAmi created such compositions with what intent we don’t know, but the subtlety of layam reaches a pinnacle stage with such kritis. Narayanan elevated it starting with a nice nadai in anupallavi.

kIRavANI rAgam was profuse with all virtuous nAdaasvarams type Akarams and brighas. As he worked upwards to higher octave G2, a Sruthi bhEdam using gAndharam – which has a Suddha madyamam in d1 – must be some pancama varjya rAga like a miSra mAND??

vANaNai madi sUDiya maindanai in miSra cApu was a surprise choice.

Neraval at Enanai - a very elaborate neraval that explored the possibilities of kIRavaNi again. Very brilliant exposition of the tEVAram . I have heard recordings of Vid. SRI T.M Thyagarajan sing this. Not sure if he was the one to tune this to this current Carnatic form. Many artistes have handled it as given in the links with words here: https://periscope-narada.blogspot.com/2 ... udiya.html

And finished off brilliant svara exchanges with the violinist.

In the tani, SrI Neyveli Narayanan and Ravi Balasubramaniam launched into triSra naDai and kOrvais along with kuRaippus reducing to one syllable.

After viruttam, irakkam varAmal began at karuNai KadalendRunnai - anupallavi. Concluded with Dr BMK composed tillana on kadana kutUhalam.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Apr 2026, 08:50

Well, after seeing all the glitter among the audience and the performers through the hours of the Aradhana, was it a relief to see Bharath Sundar in a plain white cotton kurta (a tad loose-fitting?) and tulsi beads?! Sruti too was clad in a simple silk sari.

Well, the sound business was a bit off-putting initially, but the concert had a lot to offer. Quite a bit of nagAsu (polished embellishment) in nAyaki. His flowing voice brought out the bhAva of the song.

KIravANi AlApana progressed well, bringing with it quite a bit of nuances and meditative moments. He kept the momentum going and then launched into more exploration. Neraval at Ananai, aDiyEn maRanduyvenO? Sruti's responses made me go back to my childhood days of listening to Chowdiah!
How she is evolving!

Bharath Sundar now took Anan to new heights and glorified him. His kIravAni got bolder with tiruvaNNAmalaiyan.

Percussion too gets into the act. SwarAs flow. Narayanan's tani is a lively exposition. Ghatam gets drawn in, and even a novice gets to savor it all.

Surati virutham--puram eritha sivanE...pAviyEn unai maRandEn...??

Standing ovation! Lots of applauding during the concert too.

I am waiting for your NSG concert review. enna mAdiri vidwan! He looked tired when he started. What support from fellow artistes! What a slAgyamAna (praiseworthy) concert he gave us!

Waiting for your expert pronouncements...

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 05 Apr 2026, 23:25

Sri NSG's concert will need to be understood as abhiprAya sangItam. Students should listen to him everywhere. The way he handled the SAma Alapana and svara prastAram to the 3 mAtra offset in AnnapURNE was a treat. The kAPi Alapana was done with expertise and inta saukya is also a tasteful rendition.

As he said in a recent visit to Dallas in the fall last year, as one ages, one has to sing with gnAnam and he is the one that sets that example the most.

I enjoy his renditions online , but was not sure if forum members are keen on listening to such music.

A good recent one when we came out of pandemic is his fiery rendition with gaNapatE suguNa nidE - janaranjani of Dr HMB available online.

He makes his concerts always interesting with something to savor on.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Apr 2026, 01:27

Thanks, Shankarank, but couldn't find NSG singing his guruvin guruvin guru's ganapathE on line

As for the concert, he had a busy day from the morning with the ArAdhana and then the presentation by the youngsters. He did look tired at the start of the concert. Then, all who were occupying the stage became his cheerleaders-progeny, students, every other artiste on stage--and he bloomed. The saha-sangeetha kalanidhi and sweet Dr. Nelsen joined in too.

Nagai's response to the kAsi rAmakriya was sweet, and his playing throughout the concert was nothing but fine music.

NSG's sahAna Alapanai was lovely. Then, sAma, and Murali's response! neraval at pAyasAnna and delicious swarams. Again, Nagai's response.

Parama purusham hrudaya bhAvayEtam, a filler of ST is something which I am listening to after many years.

Their kApi! 'enta sowkhyamani cheppa' galanu. Every line savored by him and shared, and the swarams! They were tops (sikharam) when the naDai changed and they made it a hypnotic kApi--instead of a 'wake me up' beverage.
NSG NSG-tAn (NSG is just NSG)

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 06 Apr 2026, 07:32

arasi wrote: ↑06 Apr 2026, 01:27 Thanks, Shankarank, but couldn't find NSG singing his guruvin guruvin guru's ganapathE on line

https://youtu.be/yHn4DmRcx5Q?t=1184

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 06 Apr 2026, 08:33

shankarank wrote: ↑05 Apr 2026, 07:37 ....
vANaNai madi sUDiya maindanai in miSra cApu was a surprise choice.
....
I have heard recordings of Vid. SRI T.M Thyagarajan sing this. Not sure if he was the one to tune this to this current Carnatic form.

Todi Kannan is the tunesmith of this tevaram vAnanai madhi sUdiya maindanai

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 06 Apr 2026, 12:09

rajeshnat wrote: ↑06 Apr 2026, 08:33 Todi Kannan is the tunesmith of this tevaram vAnanai madhi sUdiya maindanai

Thankyou @rajeshnat. Any further details on this Vidvan? Not heard of him.

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 06 Apr 2026, 12:38

Kala Rathna K.S. Vishnudev (Vocal)
B. Ananthakrishnan (violin)
Sangeetha Rathnakara Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan (mridangam)
Sangeetha Kala Sagaram K.V. Gopalakrishnan (kanjira)

vandE sada padmanabham – navarasa kannada – Adi
Lalitha – rAgam
hiranmayIm lakshmIm
gIta vadya – neraval.
varugamalAmo
kamas – ragam – return
brocEvarevarura – svarams to Pallavi
tani
Alasara paritApam ( starting with anupallavai : Jalajabandu) – suruTTi
paSyati diSi diSi rahasibhavantam of nAda haRE – jagannata harE - AshTapati
– madhuvanti

viSvEsvar(u) darshan(u)kar(u) sindhu Bhairavi

Vishnudev was in full form today. The calibre of accompanists especially Anathakrishnan helped him scale the concert to greater heights. Alapana on Lalitha was another level, both him and the violin return. After a perfect rendition, the neraval I would say is the highlight of the day. Almost he made it a bandish like treatment at the end and higher kAla neraval was scintillating. He could have added a round of svarams to match the ending.

After a sedate varugalAmo, he took kamAs - with all it's appeal and substance. His silken voice just brought out the best in this rAgA. Apart from Ramakrishna Murthy, Vishnudev has a complete voice that is appealing and fully finished. He continues the Kerala tradition of Jesudas, Sankaran Namboothiri having that silken voice.

bRocEvArevarura , I am unable to accept it as main though given it's SankarabaraNam movie adoption, well then it is 2-KaLai Adi , tani piece, taniyAna piece, tanikkAna piece.

But the svara prastaram was well done both the lower kAlAm and the speedy one. They both made it a grand performance with it.

After the tani, Jalajabandu of AlasaraparitApam brought memories of MDR singing it.

And madhuvanti AshTapati brought memories of TNS concluding his fiery concert with a soothing rendition. And the lines Seedhathi rAdhA vAsa gruhE - melts one's hearts yearning for the Lord to reside with us just as he did with RAdha.

Sindhu Bhairavi piece also was done nicely, with Bandish like take offs at the end and then all miSram. All the 22 Sruthis showed their appearance and the Kashi-kArar violinist also joined the party with the kerala-kArar, with his multi string horns somewhere there - some Chords and such!

Grand concert. The compere (Gopi Sundaram) mentioned that some harshest critic in his family likes Vishnudev a lot. Don't know who that would be.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Apr 2026, 19:59

Yes, the kEraLa & KASi (Parur)connection was very pleasing to the ears from start to finish. No distractions here (mainly on mike matters). It has become the main pre-concert and during the concert distraction for the audience these days, just as we have to deal with all the non-stop video and cell phone shots littering a scene, may it be music or any other occasion. For a moment, I thought how the old time musicians who dealt with no sound or bothersome relics of mikes would react to the new age musicians' discontent with what they have in sound today!

Well, what I am trying to convey is that for us listeners, we have to wait until all the furor dies down in each and every concert we listen to, wherever it takes place. Ah, this concert had no such nonsensical beginnings. It progressed smoothly, the momentum was sustained, and no fuss.

From the start (vandE sadA), Ananthakrishnan's responses were pleasing.
HiraNmayIm was sung with feeling and Parur school responded readily.
varugalAmO started with parama krupAnidhi nI allavO? Well-felt, but a tad dragging in delivery?

Again, voice and the strings lent themselves for a pleasing flowing of 'brOchEvArevarurA'.

A short and pleasing tani from Tiruvarur V and kahanjira TVG.

The surati jalaja bandhu/alsara paritApam (ST) was well emoted. Jayadeva's brindAvana sArang too. ViswEsvara darSan, a true Swathi ending.

I really liked this concert!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Apr 2026, 20:08

shankarank,
Thanks for Neyveli's super concert and the HMB song in it! dhanyOsmi. If I were in India, I might have heard him in person in a venue like that

Rajesh,
TODi Kannan? Yes, more info about him, please.

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 07 Apr 2026, 05:57

arasi wrote: ↑06 Apr 2026, 19:59 Yes, the kEraLa & KASi (Parur)connection was very pleasing to the ears from start to finish.

Vid. B. Ananthakrishnan is actually from Varanasi - going by the buzz I have seen in Parivadini chats. I do read the chats as I listen to concerts even belatedly many times. Those in Chennai closer to musicians can confirm. @rajeshnath?

Of course pArUr school is all vaDakku-terku - going by SSI's taunts to the younger ones or even his "accha " retort to MSG's returns.

While we amaze at the diaspora outside of India, now turning artistes to us, We did not quite grasp the significance of inner diasporas in the last 3 decades becoming artistes within India.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Apr 2026, 07:50

shankarank,
I stand corrected on it, about the Parur connection. I knew some in the family while I was a youngster. Vidwan Anantharaman in particular. He had accompanied my uncle a lot, and even after decades, when he came to play in Bengaluru, he recollected memories of him and the family in a moving way.
Dr. Narmada is very amicable too.

When we started going to India every year from the nineties and in the two thousands until the pandemic, we met vidwan Sundaresan quite often during the season (mostly after Suryaprakash's concerts), would meet his wife and I remember her introducing their teenager son. She said: ivanum violin vAsikkaRAn (he too is playing the violin), give him your ASIrvAdams. When I heard Ananthakrishnan after years, I was so pleased. Someone said to me that he was that very kid! They could have been wrong. I don't know.

Rajesh would know. Most certainly, Suryaprakash...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Apr 2026, 08:11

The inner diasporas you speak about: yes, again in the violin genre itself, how the Trivandrum family of Narayana Iyer moved to Chennai, gave us a TNK, and the young daughter (namesake!) got married, settled in the north and has spawned a few generations of HM instumentalists

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Apr 2026, 08:13

Since Rajesh isn't asking: where are the pictures, photographer??

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 08 Apr 2026, 07:59

I think you may have mixed up the names. Vid. B. Ananthakrishnan is not the same as M.S. Ananthakrishnan of the parUr family.

Here is the former's bio: https://sumanasafoundation.org/b-ananthakrishnan/

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 08 Apr 2026, 08:13

Friday April 3, 2026

Kala Rathna Kruthi Vittal (Vocal)
Kala Rathna Kamalakiran Vinjamuri of VA (violin)
Abhinav Seetharaman of VA (mridangam)
Sunil Kumar (kanjira)

karuNa jUDa ninnu nammina vADanugadA - SrI – Adi – SyamaSatry
SubhapantuvarALI – rAgam
paripAhimAm shrI dAsharathE – dESAdi - Mysore SrI VAsudEvacharya
https://www.karnatik.com/c22911.shtml
kEdAra gowla rAgam
tulasi bilva – Adi – 2 kaLai - main
Neraval at karunatO
tani
kARNA Ranjani tillAnA of SrI Lalgudi

I was wanting to do a re-listen on this one, but On-Demand channel is delayed and not yet caught up. So decided to post what I had gathered while I listened live.

Kruthi Vittal, gave a bhava filled , serene concert. Oru amasamAna sangItam. Always been wanting to do a posting on her concerts, but never got a chance. Especially the thematic one she did for SrI Ashok Madhav’s compositions almost 2 years ago @Arkay. She was known through the local buzz about national competitions held in Dallas. I was a bit hesitant to post reports, lest I will be accused of Dallas or Texas bias.

For a change, kruthi took bhava laden rAgas to tailor her exposition for the most part with the ShubhapantuvarALi – as sub main as a lighter interlude. With a thin voice, she has developed good azhuttam.
She started with KaruNa jUDa vamma in a nice measured pace , a auspicious rAgAm too, with SrI. SastrivAL’s gravitas was brought out nicely.

With a short Subha pantuvarali rAgam, she took the brisk pariPAhimAm to rev-up the concert.
Next came a bhava laden kEdAragaula Alapana and equally good reply by Kamalakiran. She sang with utmost fidelity to the serenity of this composition, and she would have made SrI Nedunuri gAru proud – this kriti is his forte – I have heard it in Music Academy morning concerts.

As regards the Mridangam artist of this concert:
With Kamalakiran providing excellent support as always, Abhinav Seetharaman is a new name on big stage for me , lest I missed some prior year performances. A US raised Mridangam artiste of this calibre now spells the arrival of KarnATaka SangItam in full form on U.S Shores. Well, it seems he is situated himself in Singapore that throws a bit of doubt on that statement.

The body language of Carnatic layam is a bigger challenge than the Gamakas which themselves had a traumatic pathways to gain some foot hold here. Imagine the controversies Rohan Krishnamoorthy went through in this forum. Mridangam players need right concert grade opportunities to hone their skills. And his Singapore Sojourn keeps him close to Chennai eco system more easily.

And Abhinav played the familiar Karaikudi Mani sir arudhis – tAkudhom tAkudhom, tagu- tAkudhom, tagu-tagu- tAkudhom, for the half take off when returning back from Anupallavi to Pallavi. Something that stays with me after 24 plus years. It was in 2002 or so when I heard this in R.R. Sabha for Sanjay’s svara-raga-sudha.

And with the professional Sunil Kumar as a senior by his side, he rose to the occasion to set a good standard in the tani Avartanam.

Kruthi concluded with a kaRNa Rajani tillAna.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 08 Apr 2026, 12:12

shankarank wrote: ↑08 Apr 2026, 07:59 I think you may have mixed up the names. Vid. B. Ananthakrishnan is not the same as M.S. Ananthakrishnan of the parUr family.

B Ananthakrishnan was a child prodigy, he trained under his grandfather V.K. Venkata Ramanujam and father Dr. V. Balaji, later expanding his expertise with training from Vidwan Sri S. Varadarajan.
Dr V Balaji spent considerable years in varanasi , perhaps there is also some connection atleast as a manaseega guru with Dr Rajam (TN Krishnan sister)

I have no idea about Todi Kannan other than this forum where once it was mentioned that VAnanai madhi soodhiya was tuned by him.

Parur AnanthaKrishnan (Son of MA Sundaresan )is indeed different from B Ananthakrishnan and also very different from Anantha R Krishnan (Palakkad Raghu Grandson and cousin of Abhishek Raghuram)

meenaakshi · Post by **meenaakshi** » 08 Apr 2026, 16:42

arasi, here are the pictutres

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xHA19aaFwoLQNHs29

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 08 Apr 2026, 16:52

Nice to see your pics!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Apr 2026, 18:37

shankarank and Rajesh,
Thank you both for your posts about this very talented young violinist and for correcting me about his lineage. I am sorry for the mix up. On the other hand,
those of us who didn't know about his lineage, now do know!

It all boils down to this: Chennai is the place to be or anywhere in the US, with talent and persistence, with a Cleveland seal of approval.

Anyhow, the few concerts that I have heard him play in, made me notice and appreciate his playing quite a bit.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Apr 2026, 18:43

Meenakshi,
Thank you! What's a feast without sweets!
Could you add a few pictures of the venue--of the campus area of the Cleveland State University? I assume a few spring flowers are in bloom now!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 10 Apr 2026, 03:26

shankarank,
Waiting for your expert reviews.

Meanwhile, Suryaprkash's Trishakthi presentation Tuesday with the kids singing early in the morning was a crisp and pleasing affair. Opening with Durbar, the chorus sounded so good in sAvEri, the rAgA sung sweetly by all, even by the littlest one! A very young violinist played with lots of bhAvam. Good mridangam players joined in. Nice tamizh song about Tripura sundari which I am not familiar with. The rAga bhAva was kept intact throughout. Sorry, I did not write down the name of the teacher who trained them--she has to be appreciated for her efforts.

Muthiah Bhagavathar's mahisAsura mardani came in with a sweet violin intro and the kids did shine in their singing sArasamukhi sakala bhAgya in unison.

Saw a six or seven year old singing sweetly with such seriousness and confidence about vAgISwari. Then Bharathi's veLLaith thAmaraiip pUvil iruppAL. The tani by the tiny vidwAns was impressive.

A crisp presentation, but Suryaprakash's 'Thank you' list was quite long!

Shankarank,
Take your time, but please do write about more concerts,

Tygarajan's flute concert and Vidya Kalyanaraman's were remarkable. The accompanists in the latter were in their elements too.

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 10 Apr 2026, 07:36

Kala Rathna Vidya Kalyanaraman (Vocal)
B. Ananthakrishnan (violin)
Kala Seva Mani Vijay Ganesh of VA (mridangam)
Kala Rathna G. Chandrasekara Sharma (ghatam)

svAminatha paripalayAsumam - svarams @ vAmadEva
ennagAnu rAma Bhajana -neraval @ prEmamIra bhadrAdri and svarams
mOhanam
evarUra ninnuvina - mOhanam - svarams to evarUra
mOkshamu galadA
tAyE tripura Sundari

simHendra madyamam rAgam
rAmA rAmA guNa sIma - main - https://www.karnatik.com/c1817.shtml
neraval @ munimAnasa dhAmA
tani
haridAsulu veTalE
ITTiya selvamum - viruttam - hamsAnandi
bhAgyAda lakshmi bAramma

Vidya Kalyanaraman gave a scintillating concert. Svarams to opener kriti in nATTai itself was full of energy. PantuvarALi neraval was also class. So ARI format – nah – nah – ARI philosophy took hold with that vervy rUpakam.

mOhanam Alapana was naLinam. evarUra is that old tyAgaraja festival in childhood memory and it disappeared as soon as I left the janaranjakam area into expert area in Chennai. There was a lone recording by KVN @ vidvat samajam. Vidya brought that stamp of authenticity to the rendition in the enunciation of sangatis and made this light rAga weighty. Svarams were done nicely with ending kOrvai fitting(poruttam) to e-va-ru-u-ra that was expanded like a jati to utilize the 2 mAtrA offset ( in 14 mAtra count) which leaves 12 and hence can be done in 3(s). And B. Ananth did not flinch and made an impressive return. The kOrvai pattern was reversed in the final round to do shorter syllables first and leave the longer pattern to be taken with ea-va-ru-u-ra and make this fit. And both percussionists only added to the charm.

After a serene mOkshamu galadA, she went on to a fast one on tAyE Tripura Sundari. It had SSI type of verve in ciTTAsvaram. When she paused with half rendered first line of the ciTTAsvaram along with Vijay Ganesh, ChandraSekhara Sarma got into the act and rendered a thrilling filler “tadInta- tadInta- tadInta- tadInta….” Some 10 5s in higher kAlam to fill the pause and she took it right back to render the svaram. They both aced this one!

She is so damn good a performer indeed!

SimhEndra madyamam was full of nice melodic touches and she utilized the semitones in this rAga to slide and the big jumps to glide. It was in S. Kalayanaraman style with all brighas and flourishes! SKR excels in this Shamugapriya zone! She was all light touches and virtuous employing her pliable voice to do a delectable one.

I listened to this thrice yesterday with my headsets and mobile as did my chores.

B. Ananthakrishnan provided an inspiring return with no less of flourish.

rAmA rAmA was taken sedately and neraval with munimAnasa was a master class in neraval. Svarams were again a grand execution.

Vijay and Chandra played miSra naDai in tani and gave it back to her with a fitting sollus to take off with munimAnasa.

HaridAsulu veTale for me is a memory listening to SrI TKG in Doordarshan National telecast in late 80’s. First months of when Television appeared with a transmitter in Kodaikkanal installed for the Madurai zone.

This may be an authentic version in the muSiri school? Sometimes I get surprised that Sri tyAgaraja also handled rAgas like Yaman kalyAni. And the kriti, not only has the stamp of the bard’s narrative sol-nayam, but also the bhajan spirit in the words that gels with this rAgA that is used in that Genre. Goose bumps.

And with a poignantly philosophical viruttam that asks us to eschew everything to surrender to Lord Siva, she concluded with BhagyAda calling mA Lakshmi , Siva’s sister back to leave us in delightful mood! I did find the epithet for Janaka localized as janakarAyana kumAri , interesting. How poets across the country do it in beautiful ways to fill the meter.

And that part of that stanza I understood!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 10 Apr 2026, 09:52

My! Your response to Vidya's concert is touching.

There I was, trying to temper my enthusiasm in my previous post (this old lady can get carried away, and that's the truth). I had to consider the experts and their response to my delight on listening to such music which nourishes the soul!

I was wrapped in her music the whole time and to what those who supported her on the stage had to offer. How with abandon she sang! Yes, I felt the essence of both MMI and Ari-culture flourishing there, and of what her musical journey initially drew up on.

I also had an idea about her music in her formative years through cousins who have known her for years and are proud of her. The past several years I had not heard Vidya in person and yes, I had liked her solid singing and the vazhi (school) of merit, but that she has sprouted such wings to take her soaring like this, was a wonderful surprise. Azham (depth) she had, and the way she has grown into a free spirit is a delight to witness! Yet, she emotes with depth while she sings with abandon.

The violin, ghatam and mridangam were bent on taking the concert one notch higher.

I liked the way she did not choose lengthy songs (yet, they were not tukkaDa-ish in content). Her neraval at prEma mIra bhadrADri rAmuDu was emoted with depth and took one on a joy ride.

Grounded in solid pATAntharam, her Mohanam had many nuNukkams (nuanced details). I jAlamu sEYa was indulged in with subtlety!

Then, she had to bring in one of my favored flash of a song haridAsulu, which always makes me visualize Tyagaraja in a blissful state, when it is sung in the way she did...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Apr 2026, 00:12

As for vidwan Tyagarajan, his playing of the flute has all the stamp of his father's gift and his concert, though it was engaging, only spoke partially of his talent.

After vara rAga laya, he played a soothing kalyANi. irAnavara brOtumu followed. Neraval was so very pleasing, reminiscent of his father. SwarAs too. Sruti's returns in the lower notes were appealing.

The KharaharapriyA which came next was very satisfying. He handled each note with such finesse and focus. Every note was cradled as it were with care. The nidAnam in his polishing each note as it rolled out of his flute was soothing to hear--not a note wasted, delayed or hastened. The winding up of the rAgA was meaningful. naTachi naTachi was exceptional. The elongated rgmpd nI dapa...all played by him with sweetness and grace.

Sruti, who kept a low key until now, responded in a detailed manner to Tyagarajan's pristine presentation.

The percussion was something else! I can only savor it, but the intricacies are beyond my reckoning. KSG is always a positive addition to any concert.

kApi breezing in, bringing in JagadOdhAraNana ADisidaLu yaSOda. Then, Sakhi pRANa sakhudiTu jEsE. The mangalam was a sweet piece in itself...

Now, what draws me to the dance programs, besides seeing the youngsters performing so well is the fact that Sri. Tyagarajan fills those hours most of the time with his melodic playing!

I can't but salute his father at this hour