Ranjani-Gayatri, Chennai Cultural Academy Trust, Dec 27, 2019

[tmmurali]

Ranjani-Gayatri
M Rajeev (Violin)
K V Prasad (Mridangam)
Anirudh Athreya (Kanjira)

I was one of the thronging multitudes who gathered at Rama Rao Kalyana Mantap (A/C auditorium) two nights ago to listen to Ranjani and Gayatri. Habibullah Road, where the auditorium is located, used to feel like a grand road when I was an undergraduate student. It has now shrunk to a shell of its former glory.

During the drive up, my mother, whom I accompanied to the concert, was saying that the sisters rarely, if ever, start a concert with a varnam. But as we showed our tickets to the durwan just around 6:30pm, we could hear the Kalyani varnam. But it was a false alarm. They were merely checking the sound system ...

The hall was packed. There was a hum of anticipation in the air, which built up as the clock ticked to 6:42pm. Thunderous applause when the curtain arose. The stage was packed too, with as many people on it as attended the Akkarai sisters concert here two days ago. The organisers had thoughtfully provided chairs for the stage audience, young and old alike.

Gayatri announced that they would sing a Purandaradasa kriti in naTA in khanda Chapu. They sang vandisuvudAdiyali (although they said vandisuvOdAdiyali) prefaced by a very short alapanai. There were brisk, short swaram passages, sort of like three-person tennis with volleys at the net, until Ranjani retreated to the baseline for a long solo passage. After the concert, I noticed on their Twitter page that someone had requested them to sing a Purandaradasa kriti on the 27th to mark his Utsavam being celebrated on 24th-26th Jan in Pandharpur. They had responded positively on Twitter. I hope that rasika attended this concert.

Next, Gayatri announced they would present a Dikshitar kriti in nAgagAndhAri. sarasijanAbha sOdari it was. So it was going to be an announced concert. Would I get a chance to figure out any ragams at all?

In a few minutes, Ranjani answered this burning question in the affirmative by starting a leisurely alapanai of vAchaspati. I really like vAchaspati, so I settled down to enjoy her unhurried delineation. If memory serves me right, the last time I heard it live was by Balaji Shankar. Gayatri took over after some time. Rajeev's return was good. They announced they would sing a Thyagaraja song and launched into kaNTa jUDumi. I heard (a recording of) this song for the first time a few months ago after a passing mention in rasikas.org. I quite enjoy the sound of the words here even if I do not know their import. They sang a fairly elaborate neraval at alanADu saumitri, with applause for both sisters. Swarams were also very good.

Next was asAveri in Misra chapu from the Ramanatakam. The song was sharaNam sharaNam raghurAma. I tried to figure out the context in the story but failed. The song was slow, serene, and meditative, like Gavaskar's 36 not out at Lord's in 1975.

The next song (also announced) was the brisk enai nI maRavAdE in amrutavarshiNi by M. M. Dandapani Desikar. I like this ragam and enjoyed this song. As I was listening, I was wondering if Ilayaraja took his inspiration for Thoongaatha Vizhigal Rendu in the film "Agni Natchathiram" from here. Some of the passages sounded very similar between these songs.

About an hour had passed. Ranjani started singing a ragam that I could not readily identify. My mother was puzzled as well. Ranjani stuck mostly to the lower octave. It sounded like jaganmOhini; I felt I could hear phrases from DKP's RTP in this ragam. There was a brief flash of kamalAmanOhari before she handed over the baton to Rajeev. She had spent just a couple of minutes. Was it RTP time already? Rajeev's essay sounded more like kamalAmanOhari. When Gayatri's turn came, it sounded like out-and-out kamalAmanOhari. I thought I knew how to recognise kamalAmanOhari; I had even heard TNS's RTP in it just a few weeks earlier. Poking around the web, I chanced upon a Raga Surabhi page that said that the two ragams were similar. This is the problem with extra information. Until a minute ago, I did not even know that these two ragams could be confused. Now, I will confuse between them for some time.

Whatever it was, Gayatri was singing it really very well. I baited my breath to hear what they announced. After a brief tAnam, Gayatri said they were presenting an RTP in kamalAmanOhari in khanda jAti triputa tAlam. I took their word for it. The words of the pallavi were kAtyayini kamAkshi kamalA manOhari mAmpAhi. They spent quite some time on the pallavi before embarking on the swarams. All of this was top-notch. I can't tell you much about the technicalities.

Ragamalika swarams started with mAlavi (also announced by Gayatri). Next Ranjani sang a Hindustani-sounding ragam. It was like brindavAna saRanga but I convinced myself that I heard both M1 and M2 and there was clearly a D floating around. Is this shuddha sArang? After the jaganmOhini-kamalAmanOhari fiasco, I was low on confidence. Gayatri concluded with mAnd. Rajeev replied very well to all these ragams.

A spirited thani followed much enjoyed by both artistes and the singers. Not a soul stirred during the thani, except for those that did. Perhaps the audience knew what was coming next.

Gayatri started a virutham in ShanmukhapriyA. I do not recall the ragam that Ranjani sang next. Gayatri concluded with chandrakauns. The virutham was superlative. One passage in the chandrakauns was especially moving. The audience was very appreciative. The sisters segued into nALai varum enru nambalAmA guhan.

Next, based on a request they had received, they sang cinnan siru kiLiyE with extra flourishes. Gayatri wrung out every last, little vestige of drop of pathos out of "un kaNNil nIr vazhindAl".

They said they would conclude the concert with a Marathi abhang, to whoops of delight and applause. They sang sakhA mAzA narayaN, which is in Lalit, as per my mother.

Then they sang a mangalam. The audience gave them a half-standing, half-sitting, half-let-us-start-doing-the-post-concert-shuffle-out ovation.

There were some minor flaws: a wrong note or two in vachaspati swarams and a clear talam fault by Ranjani at the conclusion of the kamalAmanOhari swarams (evidenced by her consternation and my mother's reaction). A notebook made its unobtrusive appearance before the virutham. They must have very good eyesight if they can read from that distance.

On the plus side, rather than wind down in intensity, the concert actually kicked into a higher gear with the swarams in the RTP. The audience applause also increased in frequency.

Standouts in the concert were vAchaspati, the RTP, the virutham, and the abhang, i.e., everything with a manodharma aspect. Gayatri was especially creative with her flights of fancy.

Here is the complete song list. I am noting only the talams they announced.

0. Kalyani varnam (sample, amuse-bouche, sound check)

1. vandisuvudAdiyali, naTa, khanda chApu, Purandardasa

2. sarasijanAbha sOdari, nAgagAndhAri, Muthuswami Dikshitar

3. kaNTa jUDumi, vAchaspati, Thyagaraja

4. sharaNam sharaNam raghurAma, asAvEri, misra chapu, ArunAchala Kavi

5. enai nI maRavAdE, amrutavarshiNi, M. M. Dandapani Desikar

6. RTP in kamalAmanOhari, Katyayini kamakshi kamala manohari mampahi, khanda jAti triputa tAlam, swarams in mAlavi, shuddha sArang (??), and mAnd

7. thani

8. Virutham, shanmukhapriyA, ???, chandrakauns

9. Nalai Varum endru nambalama guhan, chandrakauns, Madurai G. S. Mani

10. cinnan siru kiLiyE, Subrahmanya Bharathiar

11. sakhA mAzA narayaN, lalit, Marathi abhang

12. Mangalam

[rajeshnat]

TMMurali
You are writing lovely reviews. Keep up your enthusiasm please and contribute more. Madurai GS Mani is the vaggeyakkara of the lovely number that rAgA sisters sang.

nALai varum enru nambalAmA guhan tALai paNindaruL -chandrakowns - Madurai GS Mani

[rajeshnat]

Next was asAveri in Misra chapu from the Ramanatakam. The song was sharaNam sharaNam raghurAma. I tried to figure out the context in the story but failed. The song was slow, serene, and meditative, like Gavaskar's 36 not out at Lord's in 1975.
....
4. sharaNam sharaNam raghurAma, asAvEri, misra chapu, ArunAchala Kavi

Oh No comparing a pristine sharNam sharaNam raghurAma with gavaskar 36 not out . I think the more apt comparison would be 100 runs scored by Javed Miandad in sharjah with just one boundary and 96 singles in a sharjah match in 80's miandad batting from the time he arrives till 50th over. This arunachala kavi -asaveri krithi is one of a kind.

[tmmurali]

TMMurali
You are writing lovely reviews. Keep up your enthusiasm please and contribute more. Madurai GS Mani is the vaggeyakkara of the lovely number that rAgA sisters sang.

nALai varum enru nambalAmA guhan tALai paNindaruL -chandrakowns - Madurai GS Mani

Thank you for the encouragement and the information. I have edited the post accordingly.

[tmmurali]

Next was asAveri in Misra chapu from the Ramanatakam. The song was sharaNam sharaNam raghurAma. I tried to figure out the context in the story but failed. The song was slow, serene, and meditative, like Gavaskar's 36 not out at Lord's in 1975.
....
4. sharaNam sharaNam raghurAma, asAvEri, misra chapu, ArunAchala Kavi

Oh No comparing a pristine sharNam sharaNam raghurAma with gavaskar 36 not out . I think the more apt comparison would be 100 runs scored by Javed Miandad in sharjah with just one boundary and 96 singles in a sharjah match in 80's miandad batting from the time he arrives till 50th over. This arunachala kavi -asaveri krithi is one of a kind.

I did debate with myself about that comparison, but irreverence won over prudence. I imagined that Gavaskar may have been in a meditative state of mind during that innings, despite the infamy in which it lives.

[arasi]

TMMurali,
Yes, a very nice review.
Rajesh, G.S. Mani's singing his own composition was a treat to hear years ago at MA and elsewhere.

By the way, who really was the violinist? Sanjeev or Rajeev?

[tmmurali]

TMMurali,
Yes, a very nice review.

Thank you, @arasi.

By the way, who really was the violinist? Sanjeev or Rajeev?

I have so much confusion about the concert. jaganmOhini or kamalAmanOhari? Gavaskar or Miandad? Sanjeev or Rajeev?

I will fix the name. Thank you for pointing out the error.