Gayathri Venkataraghavan @ Naada Inbam, Chennai (17 Apr 2007

ram · Post by **ram** » 17 Apr 2007, 23:45

Venue: Raga Sudha Hall, 85/2, Luz Avenue, Mylapore, Chennai

Date: 17 Apr 2007

Organizer: Naada Inbam (SVK Birthday Concerts Series)

Vocal: Vid. Gayathri Venkataraghavan

Violin: Vid. Mysore V. Srikanth

Mrudangam: Vid. Manoj Siva

List of songs:

1) vighnarAja krupA sindhO (slOkam) - hamsadhwani

2) yAkundEndu tushAra hAra (slOkam) - yamunA kalyANi

3) sAmI daya (varnam) - kEdAragowLa - Adi - tiruvOtriyUr tyAgayyA (O)

4) brOchEvArevarE - srIranjani - Adi - thyAgarAja (AS)

5) ANdavanE unnai - shanmukhapriyA - rUpakam - pApanAsam sivan (ANS)

6) inkevarunnAru - sahAnA - Adi - aNNAswAmi sAstri (A)

7) gOvardana girIsham - hindOlam - rUpakam - muthuswAmi dIkshitar (S)

8 ) dvaitamu sukhamA - rItigauLa - Adi - thyAgarAja (AS)

9) koniyADina nApai - kAmbOji - Adi - vINai kuppaiyer (ANST)

10) alivEni endu cheyvu - kurinji - misra chApu - swAti tiruNAL

11) peTra tAi tanai (viruttam) - hamsAnandi - rAmalinga swAmigaL

tandai tAi vEr evar ayyanE (viruttam) - behAg

irakkam varAmal - behAg - rUpakam - gOpAlakrishna bhArati

12) nI nAma rUpa mulaku (mangaLam) - saurAshTram - Adi - thyAgarAja

13) mangaLam kOsalEndrAya (slOkam) - madyamAvati

(Key: O=raga outline, A=raga alapana, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram, T=taniavartanam)

For a second I thought I was listening to Smt. M.S. Subhalakshmi (MS) when the concert started. The first slOkam was rendered in MS style in exactly the same tune that MS used in many of her concerts. All this happened just when I was thinking about how Vid. Gayathri Venkataraghavan and her husband remind me sometimes of Smt. M.S. Subhalakshmi and Sri Sadasivam. I don't mean to compare the two couples but Sri Venkataraghavan can be spotted in almost all concerts of Vid. Gayathri. He also seems to keep the PR stuff running with his face almost always sporting that million dollar smile.

If the starting slOkam reminded me of MS, the main alapana of the day - that of kAmbOji had Sri K.V. Narayanaswamy (KVN) written all over it. Or may be its just my ears that have become so accustomed to hearing KVN's kAmbOji that they keep going back to KVN's version even when someone else sings the raga. kAmbOji was surely a gem. The reply from Vid. Mysore Srikanth was also very satisfying. The other alapana I liked a lot was that of sahAnA. The kriti "inkevarunnAru" was rendered so beautifully with Sri Venkataraghavan joining the action from the first row, moving his lips in sync with the lyrics !!! The chiTTa swarams in the kriti were very beautiful and seemed to cover swarams from the lower octave madhyamam to the higher octave madhyamam. The very range covered by the chiTTa swarams soaked in the beauty of sahAnA impressed me a lot in this very first time that I am listening to this composition. On top of this, "dvaitamu sukhama", so full of rItigauLa, was served soon after and my happiness knew no bounds !! I somehow feel that one can always expect Vid. Gayathri Venkataraghavan to do a fantastic job with slow kritis that need a lot of bhAvam and azhutham. For that very reason I think I can spend days together just listening to her sing Sri Syama Sastri's compositions.

Taniavartanam was played by Sri Manoj Siva in Adi tALam 2 kaLai and comprised primarily the chatusra and tisra naDais. The tisra naDai was played in both slow as well as faster speed with patterns of 7 aksharams + 5 aksharams ( = 12 aksharams) coming within 2 beats in the latter part of the naDai in place of the usual 6 aksharams per beat patterns.

Source: http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/2007/04/ ... i17042007/

sraja · Post by **sraja** » 18 Apr 2007, 07:13

Ram where you the person in the grey tee shirt in the fourth row? BTW Gayathri is giving an exclusive Shyama Sastri Concert on 19th April at NGS.

ram · Post by **ram** » 18 Apr 2007, 08:17

Yes (I was in the third row).

Where were you seated? Just trying to see if I am able to place you.

The 19th concert is very tempting.

sraja · Post by **sraja** » 18 Apr 2007, 08:56

Ah yes third row. Was a few seats to your right . I think a colleague/friend was to your immediate right. Good ,we can talk if we meet tomorrow at NGS.

ram · Post by **ram** » 18 Apr 2007, 09:14

I remember that there was this youngster to my right (whom I don't know), then a somewhat older person and then a couple. Can't seem to recall beyond that. Were you any of them?

Hoping to meet you on 19th in case I am able to make it.

Sincere apologies for deviating from the topic of the thread.

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 18 Apr 2007, 11:08

Here is a Koniyadina that I like a lot - http://www.sangeethapriya.org/~sripathy ... mbodhi.mp3

kalgada78 · Post by **kalgada78** » 18 Apr 2007, 18:56

Sripathy Sir,
Thanks much for the Kambhoji piece!Can you share the whole concert with us?

Sarma.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 18 Apr 2007, 22:19

sripathi, thank you for pointing to this one of a kind kAmbhOji.
Of course, thanks to saneethapriya...

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 19 Apr 2007, 21:44

kalgada78, I'll have to search for the whole concert. I attended this concert when I was in India in 2003. That particular rendition is a favorite because Kamboji is my favorite raga and that rendition is simply superb. The audience were left in a trance at the end of it.

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 19 Apr 2007, 21:45

And yeah, please ignore the numerous 'aha's. I tend to get carried away sometimes.

kalgada78 · Post by **kalgada78** » 19 Apr 2007, 21:49

shripathi_g wrote:kalgada78, I'll have to search for the whole concert. I attended this concert when I was in India in 2003. That particular rendition is a favorite because Kamboji is my favorite raga and that rendition is simply superb. The audience were left in a trance at the end of it.

Thanks Shripathi Sir!..i know Sanjay is a Master of Kambhoji.His treatment to this raga is always unique.

Sarma.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 19 Apr 2007, 22:11

shripathy, thanks again! Did not notice that you were the one who recorded it too...

Rengarajan · Post by **Rengarajan** » 20 Apr 2007, 15:16

I think it is high time, we stop bringing in references of old masters like Ms or KVN, since it is my considered view that each performance of an artist is backed by hard work on their part . Influence of the old masters on artists is incidental. When we do refer, it may affect the artist personally as he or she may feel that their own contribution is not recognised. I am not critical of such observations ;I am only asking reviewers to be sensitive to the possible adverse impact of such observations on the artist. Similarly comparisons of artists is better avoided, as I personally Know how comparison of artists in a review of December series affected both the artists and their rasikas

apasruthi · Post by **apasruthi** » 20 Apr 2007, 16:17

I completely agree with Rengarajan on this point. It doesn't do any good to the artist to be compared un-necessarily to someonelse, unless the performing artiste is a pure clone to the past masters or is following their baani being in that school as a disciple...

Apasruthi

saranga · Post by **saranga** » 20 Apr 2007, 18:37

I completely disagree. I think comparing the talent of today with the greats of yester year will be a great boost to them a motivating factor. Dont we do that comparision in sports too? Comparing Roger Federer and Rod Laver for instance? Nothing wrong in that.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 20 Apr 2007, 21:11

So long as we give credit to the artiste for his or her own talents. 'He or she reminds me of so and so' is fine too. It is when a fan of the older musician resents the reference that trouble starts...

HarishankarK · Post by **HarishankarK** » 08 Apr 2019, 15:56

Hi
Can I please get the lyrics for Vighnaraja krupa sindho shlokam

Thank you

rasikas.org

Gayathri Venkataraghavan @ Naada Inbam, Chennai (17 Apr 2007

Re: Gayathri Venkataraghavan @ Naada Inbam, Chennai (17 Apr 2007