TM Krishna @ Sringeri Bharathi Vidyashram, Chennai, 25 Sep 2

ram · Post by **ram** » 25 Sep 2006, 23:04

Venue: Sringeri Bharathi Vidyashram, 11, Venkatnarayana Road, T. Nagar, Chennai

Date: 25th Sep 2006

Vocal: Sri T. M. Krishna

Violin: Sri V. L. Kumar

Mridangam: Sri Tanjore Murugabhupathy

Ghatam: Sri Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan

List of songs:

1) AnandAmrutakarshini - amritavarshini - Adi - muthuswAmi dIkshitar

2) sanAtanA - phalamanjari - Adi - thyAgarAja

3) vazhi maraithirukkudE - tOdi - Adi - gOpAlakrishna bhArati (AN)

4) pArvati ninnu nE - kalgada - Adi (tisra gati) - syAma sAstri

5) kamalAmbA - Anandabhairavi - misra chApu - muthuswAmi dIkshitar (AS - main)

6) sEvikka vEndum - AndOlikA - Adi - muthuthAndavar

7) pullAgi (viruttam) - sahAnA, kalyANi, bilahari, atANA and sAmA

varuvArO - sAmA - Adi - gOpAlakrishna bhArati

8 ) sarvam brahmamayam - madhivanti - Adi - sadAsiva brahmendra

9) kanakamaya - husEni - rUpakam - swAti tiruNAL

10) pavamAna (mangaLam) - sOwrAshtram - Adi - thyAgarAja

Another beautiful concert by TMK with the lilting AnandabhAiravi kriti kamalAmbA chosen as the main song. Sri Tanjore Murugabhupathy played the mridangam very well and provided very good accompaniment for the songs.

http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/2006/09/ ... m-chennai/

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 26 Sep 2006, 15:34

I think you meant "maduvanthi".

Nice list. I think GKB's item is in dEsya todi?

ram · Post by **ram** » 26 Sep 2006, 21:36

The raga name is madhivanti ... I had got it confirmed in an earlier concert from TMK himself. It is not madhuvanti.

GKB's composition was sung in tOdi. There is actually a December Season 1999 recording of a live TMK concert released by Charsur where he has sung the same song. The way TMK sang it in the concert at Sringeri Bharathi Vidyashram was almost exactly similar to the one in that recording from Charsur.

gdg · Post by **gdg** » 01 Oct 2006, 17:38

sevikka vendumaiya was electric. probably TMK wanted to give heed to a rasika's specific request and and at the same time wanted to register his displeasure a little. in any case it was a vibrant andolika. had he chosen ragasudharasa it would have been at a lower voltage and the rasikas would not have seen the nuances in a rapid fire.
it is agressive yet scintillating. kudos to TMK.

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 04 Oct 2006, 08:34

When it comes to honoring rasikas requests of krithis/ragams...(tukkadas dont count), TMK is in a class all of his own. I remember him singing a Dhanyasi krithi and Shankarabharanam RTP per request from friends some years ago....he sang sri mathrubhootham another time, a Darbar RTP another time and yet another time, a gowrimanohari RTP @ the request of rasikas....Ofcourse, his Keeravani RTP he sang for a concert honoring the Kanchi paramacharya in 2005 along with RK Shriramkumar. I've also seen him apologize for not being able to comply to a request. He tries, and that is a wonderful thing.

I have seen several prominent artists agree to sing requests in a concert, and then never comply with the request....this is a regrettable practice. It is better to refuse rasikas, rather than to promise and eventually not sing requests. Personally speaking, I never make requests of musicians, since I enjoy all ragams/most krithis. These are just instances that I have been privy to, that I figured were worthwhile mentioning.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 04 Oct 2006, 15:18

"I have seen several prominent artists agree to sing requests in a concert, and then never comply with the request"

I'm curious at this remark, how many - who?? Of the prominent artists I've seen in concert, I've never had it missed or declined...though maybe because it's rarely an ordinary request of the kinda person who goes around to every concert to hear songs like Katrinile Varum Geetham, Kurai Ondrum Illai, Jagadhodharana, etc. again and again and again...!

Though I've seen many "prominent" musicians decline requests, I've never seen them agree and then miss requests...

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 04 Oct 2006, 15:22

TM Krishna sang a lovely mangalam in Manirangu a few years ago at Melbourne. Haven't heard it anywhere else. Does anyone here have a recording of the Manirangu mangalam?

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 04 Oct 2006, 15:23

I find this habit of sending 'chits' quite annoying. Especially when people start doing it early in the concert. Why don't they learn to patiently listen to what the artiste has planned for the evening?

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 04 Oct 2006, 21:05

Jayaram, I agree with you. Chits are an annoyance. In recent Ranjani Gayathri concerts, the frequency and nature of requests that rasikas made, as early as after the second song in the concert made it really tough to focus. Due to this trend, it is only a matter of time before Ranjani-Gayathri go the Aruna Sairam way...sing a couple of krithis and then launch into tukkadas full blast. The requests of TMK I mentioned were made before the concert began, so, I found it interesting that he could accomadate it into his presentation without sacrificing what he wanted to put out.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 04 Oct 2006, 22:03

mahesh3,
Yes, chits in general are an annoyance and are distracting to the performer, let alone the audience. Yes, such requests earlier in the concert are even worse. (You speak of R& G. Yes, they need to concentrate more on the serious early part of the concert). Asking for tukkaDAs from commercial releases is not necessary. After all, the rasika has heard it and can hear it again and the singer too has sung it many times over. A pallavi or a particular rAgA? For those artists who have a website, you could E-mail in advance, I suppose. If you are early for the concert, giving the chit to the organizer BEFORE the artist comes to the stage is an alternative? What do the performers themselves feel about it? Some may not like requests and others might not mind because it is a sign of appreciation from a fan.
I have to admit. The one time I asked for a piece a day in advance (??) and the vocalist sang it, I was very pleased!

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 04 Oct 2006, 23:44

Arasi, I dont quite understand what u meant. If I am right, u r just making a series of general observations ...

.As for RG, I am not commenting on the capability of the artists, but rather what they put up with. The fans that come to see their concerts r mostly for the abhang and kurai ondrum illai type....a trend that is disturbing and evil, in my opinion. Strong words, but that is exactly how I feel. Kurai Ondrum Illai sounds pedestrian, no matter who sings it, with the exception of the honorable MS.

Aruna Sairam and the lady that sings the rasam song....Good God, I'd rather not go there. They may be the most popular in terms of turn-out, and I dont mean to be on a high horse, but honestly, I feel this trend of Tukkada singing is a disturbing one. No wonder Lady artists dont get taken seriously enough....MS Sheela, Srirangam Gopalarathnam, many many others with serious talent who just dint make it to the mainstream. More pity, that.....

meena · Post by **meena** » 04 Oct 2006, 23:55

Aruna Sairam and the lady that sings the rasam song....Good God, I'd rather not go there

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 05 Oct 2006, 01:02

Aruna Sairam and the lady that sings the rasam song....Good God, I'd rather not go there

I must have missed that...who is this rasam singing lady??!

sangeetarasikan · Post by **sangeetarasikan** » 05 Oct 2006, 01:24

The rasam song lady is Nithyashree. It would take the cake for being the silliest song ever sung in a concert (rasam taking the cake doesn't sound like a very appealing combination, does it?). Ragatthil sirandadu and Kurai onrum illai would come a close second, imo.

Btw, another silly song is being popularised by the Mambalam sisters. Anyone know the words?

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 05 Oct 2006, 02:04

You must be referring to the 'sambandhi' song by Mambalam sisters. I thought that was a funny song, not sung by them at regular katcheris.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 05 Oct 2006, 02:14

Is it "Ananda kaDal tanilE", a rAgamAlikA in 26 rAgAs?

meena · Post by **meena** » 05 Oct 2006, 02:46

Deleted

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 05 Oct 2006, 02:54

Did you guys forget hAsya is one of the nava rasas?:lol:

If you did, just recite the charaNa of sogasugA mRudanga tALamu of Tyagaraja and be happy

that Mambalam sisters are doing their bit

towards achiving this!

-Ramakriya

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 05 Oct 2006, 03:08

Also don't forget MD sang sRingArAdi navarasAngI brhadambAlingita pungava dhavaLAnga

Why step motherly treatment to hAsya alone?

Just kidding!

-Ramakriya

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Oct 2006, 08:02

rAmakriyA,
Just kidding, you say
Rather, the kid in you says.
Who needs kids like you and me
When prodigies abound
And music is strictly serious, it seems?

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Oct 2006, 08:29

Mahesh3,
Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. All I am doing is agreeing with you! Tukkada requests (you have named my 'oh no, not again!'
pieces too) get to me too. That's what I meant by saying that commercial recordings are available for rasikas to hear them over and over again at home. The purpose of attending a live concert is for us to savor rAgAs and kritis other than those often heard tukkadas and other more classical kritis and ragas. I do not favor any kind of request any time during the concert. If one would request any way, I suggested to do that through the organizers before the artistes came to to the stage or E-mail him or her if feasible. Not ideal practises, I agree. There is an exception and a rarity. Last year when Shashank asked mid-concert "What raga would you like me to play?" an orderly audience came out with a few ragas. He chose one of them and played.
Personally, I like surprises and hope that I get some old classics and some rarely heard ones. In my last post I mentioned my only request years ago. I had met the singer the previous day at the host's lunch and had mentioned one of my favorites. No wonder I was pleased when I heard that song the next day!
Believe me, I don't intend to 'chit pass' (kutchery parlance and indianism like hand wash) any time...

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 05 Oct 2006, 09:30

arasi wrote:The purpose of attending a live concert is for us to savor rAgAs and kritis other than those often heard tukkadas and other more classical kritis and ragas.

There are many different kinds of listeners - those who like rare ragas & compositions; those who like to hear compositions they already are familiar with; those who like to hear some krithis that evoke nostalgia, (TVS, for example, often gets requests to render items popularised by Madurai Mani), etc. Some people come to the concerts specifically for the thukkadas.

As a concert organiser, I often get handed chits to hand to the artistes. I have seen numerous requests for songs like 'Kurai Onrum Illai' or 'Venkatachalanilayam'. Sometimes I get passed a chit for some heavy item just after the artiste has finished an RTP.

Ideally a concert would have a mix of popular and rare items in a variety of ragas and talas. It is up to the artiste to judge the audience and present a concert that is enjoyable to the majority.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 05 Oct 2006, 13:50

Perhaps they should keep a separate section towards the end of the concert to respond to the chit requests. Call it the 'chit section'. This way, some of us can make a safe exit.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 05 Oct 2006, 18:23

mahesh3 wrote:Kurai Ondrum Illai sounds pedestrian, no matter who sings it, with the exception of the honorable MS.

Am I hearing right?? Many would beg to differ. I can accept if it's over-sung or over-repeated or over-sung - but to say that any other artist's rendition of the composition sounds pedestrian?? In reality, a whole line of compositions rendered by any artist could be dismissed as "pedestrian" - including TMK's supposedly electric rendition of Sevikka Vendum. You, or I, or many others might agree MSS's version is unmatched, but this doesn't give you the right to judge musician's renditions which you haven't heard yet, let alone have come onto the kutcheri stage yet. Extremely, EXTREMELY, disappointing indeed!

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 05 Oct 2006, 18:25

...many many others with serious talent who just dint make it to the mainstream

Yet, perhaps, CM would be even more closer to extinction without the artists with the greatest turnouts. I believe mohan's points are quite valid, generally. I also think that audience members who make those kind of thukkada requests (who come to the kutcheri specifically for thukkada requests) think they will be disappointed if they don't make the request, in case the artist decides to render just 1 thukkada in the whole concert. If so, can this section of audience members really be blamed? They paid (or made the effort to come), they want to get at least something that they come for.

As for requests on chits, they can be annoying. But the suggestion of a 'chit section' is just as bad as people getting up at the beginning of a thani to leave. Seriously, give it some thought.

This is a neutral point of view, I think. How can one expect any improvement in..."conditions" if there's no difference in the way one chooses to think? Whether it's part of the whole "psychology" of "lovers" of CM or it's something else, there seriously needs to be a reform. Though it might not seem that way to the people who feel so strongly about it, reading some of these messages seems like reading a line of complaints that go "this part of the audience is leaving", "this part of the audience is annoying" blah blah blah, "either they should go or we want to go" - but this doesn't resolve anything - maybe just a temporary solution that benefits you, and a group of others who may agree with you, but certainly not (even nearly) everyone. Rather than thinking of ourselves purely, no matter whether you are a chit passer or not, considering the audience as a whole might actually work in the long run. I suppose we ARE all adults, after all.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 05 Oct 2006, 18:28

Personally, my requests have only ever been made when I'm talking to the artist. But again, this is also rare.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 05 Oct 2006, 18:39

Vocalist wrote:Personally, my requests have only ever been made when I'm talking to the artist. But again, this is also rare.

Recently there was a series of concerts by a violin duo. Just about everywhere they played songs only in Adi talam. I pointed this out to them, and suggested a Chapu (my favorite type of talam) piece next time. They appreciated my request.

I am not opposed to chits completely. But there needs to be a protocol to be followed. It doesn't look nice when chits are sent in even before the prati madhyama kriti has been sung!

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 05 Oct 2006, 18:57

Here is an idea: now that everyone, including the artists have blue and blackerrries all over, why not get into the habit of sending requests by email to the artists a couple of weeks prior to the concert, so that they can incorporate it and plan for it, instead of either winging it or refusing to comply? It will be upto the organizer of the concert to collect and collate the requests and email them to the artist to prevent a deluge of emails. Will make the requests a chitless process, and will also give the artist an opportunity to gauge the taste of the crowd: i.e.: an eclectic audience into heavy rAga essays, vs a more pedestrian, tukkuda oriented crowd.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 05 Oct 2006, 19:56

Emailing chits...hmm, don't think this will work. Paper chits will always find their way onto the stage!

Based on recent concerts here, my feeling is that there's two categories of concert-goers: the heavy kriti listeners vs the thukkada priyas. (Don't forget to include the Tamiz Isai-ers too!) We had chamber concerts where we got to listen to serious music, and left the auditorium katcheris for the light stuff. (Besides, the auditorium concerts cannot last longer than 2 hours - and it takes this long to reach the main ragam of a 'heavy' concert.)

Going by the trends today, this seems to be where we are headed. Perhaps this is the best solution!

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 05 Oct 2006, 21:21

i remember a concert of Sri Santhanam. It was towards the fag end of a 3 hr concert & requests were being made not only by chits but also by rasikas standing up & shouting their choice. Santhanam looked at his watch , sang "vilaiyada ithu nerama" & concluded the concert

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Oct 2006, 21:39

Vocalist,
To analyse initially (focusing on problems) and then to benefit by it IS the adult thing to do. Yes, you are right. The audience--with all their individual differences are ONE in their intent (again, I am speaking of those who have come to listen and not to chat and distract). The performers have to cater as well as they can to all the different types of listeners. Yes, during the analysis, we have a tendency to get carried away with our viewpoints when they are different from those of others. So long as we do it maturely and with responsibility, it is fine.
Above all, having goodwill towards others (and their preferences too) is ideal. Hope we practise tolerance...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Oct 2006, 21:54

Ravi,
Yes, E-mailing those who have their web-sites is a sound idea. After all,aren't performers' websites an indication of their desire to communicate with their audience? Forgetting the chit bit for a moment, as you say, the most beneficial outcome would be for the performers--to gauge the audience of a particular rasika community and plan a concert around it. Of course, performers come in different personality types too. Those who are eager to give their best will appreciate the request input in shaping their offerings accordingly. I suppose it applies more to artistes on tour in places other than chennai...

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 06 Oct 2006, 13:36

Compromise is the key, which in our case, is certainly achievable if we put our minds to it. I'm sure you will agree, arasi.

I can appreciate your request to the violin brothers jayaram, but I can't feel the same way for the chamber concerts sentiment. There's no harm in considering compromise from both ends.

In regards to emailing, sure, it will work - but only for those who use the internet. Many don't use the internet because they can't, or because they don't have the time to spend on reading up, emailing, learning about CM etc. etc. However, arasi's idea to have this as an option, OR to pass the chits through organisors is a sound idea. On the other hand, I prefer chits rather than people shouting requests from the audience, like the retard who was shouting requests in an Unnikrishnan kutcheri (can't remember who reviewed the concert, but it's something that I certainly wouldn't appreciate if I was attending).