SIFAS 7th Festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance

ramarama · Post by **ramarama** » 13 Mar 2009, 13:00

The 7th Festival will be launched today with a sitar recital by Sauravbrata Chakraborty (Kolkata) and a Kuchipudi solo by Dr Siri Rama (Singapore).

The entire festival line-up is as follows. All concerts are free and at the SIFAS auditorium at 2A Starlight Road, except for four at the Esplanade on March 22 (Roja Kannan and group), March 25 (Aruna Sairam), March 26 (T V Sankaranarayanan) and March 27 (Amjad Ali Khan and sons).

More details at www.sifas.org - and the entire festival brochure with descriptions of all the festival artistes is at http://www.sifas.org/pdf/Festival_2009_DOE.pdf

Date Time Artiste
March 13 6:30 pm Souravbrata Chakarabarty (sitar)
8:15 pm Dr Siri Rama (Kuchipudi)
March 14 9:30 am Sonali Sinha Biswas (Hindustani vocal)
11: 15 am Lavanya Ramesh (Carnatic vocal)
2:15 pm Thayapari Niranjan (Carnatic veena)
4:00 pm Praveena Avanti Krishna (Carnatic vocal)
6:15 pm Vijay Kumar (Carnatic vocal)
8:30 pm Swarna Iyer (Bharata Natyam)
March 15 9:30 am Suresh Thyagarajan (Carnatic flute)
11:45 am S Sripriya (Carnatic vocal)
2:15 pm S Hariharan (Carnatic vocal)
4:00 pm Chitra Poornima Satish (Carnatic vocal)
6:15 pm V Shankaranarayanan (Carnatic vocal)
8:30 pm Soumee De (Odissi)
March 16 6:30 pm SIFAS Orchestra (music)
8:15 pm Sathiabhavani d/o S Pillai (Bharata Natyam)
March 17 6:30 pm G Achintyan (Carnatic violin)
8:15 pm Sushma Somasekharan (Carnatic vocal)
March 18 6:30 pm Rasika Viswanath (Carnatic vocal)
8:15 pm Rajaraman Iyer (Carnatic vocal)
March 19 6:30 pm Sucheta Bhattacharya (Hindustani vocal)
8:15 pm Jaya Roy Choudhury (Kathak)
March 20 6:30 pm Savitha Narasimhan (Carnatic vocal)
8:15 pm Ranjani Rangan (Bharata Natyam)
March 21 9:30 am Nishanth Thiagarajan (Carnatic vocal)
10:20 am Aarthi Devarajan (Carnatic vocal)
11:10 am Priyadarshini and Sharanya (Carnatic violin duet)
12:00 nn Rajam Iyer Bhavana (Carnatic vocal)
2:00 pm S Akshayaa (Carnatic vocal)
2:50 pm Aishwarya R and Sriram Sami (Carnatic violin duet)
3:40 pm Ganesh and Sriram (Carnatic vocal duet)
4:30 pm Rhythms (Percussion ensemble)
5:15 pm Aparna Premkumar (Bharata Natyam)
6:05 pm Aarthi Devarajan (Bharata Natyam)
6:55 pm Sambhavi Rajangam (Bharata Natyam)
7:45 pm Mitali Sadan Mukerjee (Kathak)
March 22 9:30 am King Brothers (Carnatic violin duet)
11:15 am Mangalam Shankar (Carnatic vocal)
8:00 pm Bharathi in Bharatham: A Bharata Natyam recital by Roja Kannan, Priya Murle, N Srikanth and Aswathy Srikanth. Esplanade Theatre. Tickets: $80*, $50*, $25.
March 24 6:30 pm SIFAS alumni (music and dance)
March 25 7:30 pm Aruna Sairam (Carnatic vocal), accompanied by Ragavendra Rao (violin), Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam). Esplanade Concert Hall. Tickets: $60*, $40*, $25.
March 26 7:30 pm T V Sankaranarayanan (Carnatic vocal), accompanied by Ragavendra Rao (violin), Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam), T R Sundaresan (morsing). Esplanade Concert Hall. Tickets: $60*, $40*, $25.
March 27 7:30 pm Amjad Ali Khan with Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan (sarod), accompanied by Tanmoy Bose and Mithilesh Kumar Jha (tabla). Esplanade Concert Hall. Tickets: $150, $100*, $80*, $50, $25.
March 28 9:30 am Meenakshi Somasundaram (Carnatic veena)
11:15 am V M Sai Vighneshwar (Carnatic vocal)
2:15 pm Prashanti Rao (Carnatic vocal)
4:00 pm Kavitha Jayaraman (Carnatic vocal)
7:30 pm Sikkil Gurucharan (Carnatic vocal)
March 29 9:00 am Mummoorthigal Vizha led by Sikkil Gurucharan

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 13 Mar 2009, 13:16

Don't they usually have a Carnatic instrumental concert at the Esplanade (I remember Mandolin Srinivas last year and Ganesh-Kumaresh the year before)? Other than that I see most of the regulars.

jananee · Post by **jananee** » 15 Mar 2009, 12:36

Bilahari..we miss you this festival! We did have 2 Carnatic instrumental concerts last 2 years but i dont think it happens every year.This year it is Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

The festival started off well on 13th with a sitar recital by Souravbrata Choudhury and a nice kuchipudi recital by Dr Siri Rama.

I attended 2 concerts yday...Vijay Kumar from Mumbai ( student of Smt Balamani Mumbai) gave a high energy brilliant concert. His Pantuvarali ( sambho Mahadeva ) and Todi ( Sri Krishnam) stood out . We also had a dance recital By Swarna Iyer a tutor of SIFAS which was again a visual treat with special mention of the orchestra which supported her - Mangalam Shankar on vocals, K Sivaraman on violin, TR sundaresan on mridangam, K SIvakumar on flute.

You can read more about the festival at http://festivebeats09.blogspot.com/

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 15 Mar 2009, 12:51

I miss the festival too, jananee! Especially the major ones at the Esplanade. Still remember TMK and Sowmya last year so vividly... Thanks for the reports and do continue writing your impressions- I'll attend the festival vicariously through you!

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 15 Mar 2009, 16:20

bilahari , . Mohan (kamalamba) will also miss many performances as he is leaving for L ondon on 18th , arriving back on 27th . If he comes back on 27 th morning, he can attend amjad , sikkil gurucharan and mummorthygal vizha .I always think of our visit last year, the gettogethers, concerts etc . hope you are enjoying the spring. Do you read my posts?. jananee, pl continue your posts .gobilalitha

jananee · Post by **jananee** » 15 Mar 2009, 21:35

We miss u too GBL and mami.. I remember last year u came for most of the concerts. Today we had Suresh Thiagarajan's concert ( flute) Grand son of DR Ramani. I heard it was a wonderful concert followed by vocal concerts by S Sripriya/ S Hariharan/ Chitra Poornima Satish. The general opinion was the standards has been quite high this year.

I listened to V Shankaranarayanan. Ritigowlai Ata Tala varnam, Janakiramana, a brilliant Karaharapriya as the main - Pakkala nila , Sarasamukhi, RTP in Nattakurinji and a few tukkadas. Excellent concert as always. This was followed by a Odissi dance recital by Soumee De.

So far the festival has been very enjoyable...the standard seems to have gone up and we are seeing a lot of new talent.

And yes - the food stall by Saravana Bhawan has added a lot more colour this year to the festival..reminds us of the music season back home!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 15 Mar 2009, 22:37

Balu mama, those were indeed good times last year! Are you planning to visit Singapore this year?
Jananee, V Shankaranarayanan's concert seems to have been a great one right from the start! I didn't know they had a food stall?!

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 21 Mar 2009, 07:50

why no further posts about kutcheris? gobilalitha

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 21 Mar 2009, 08:03

I was also wondering... but maybe Jananee only gets time to attend the weekend concerts?

jananee · Post by **jananee** » 21 Mar 2009, 10:09

Sorry GBL/Bilahari: Was there throughout the week. Have been keeping very late hours. And not found time to type..will do so today. We had Savita Narasimhan yday. Will post in detial today.

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 21 Mar 2009, 17:00

Pl do so. fully aware of your busy daily routine. Have a very nice time. best wishes for the mummorthigal vizha in which you are also taking part ..gobilalitha

jananee · Post by **jananee** » 16 Apr 2009, 22:44

A GBL/Bilahari special..Tho it comes late i thought i would reacapitulate some concerts atleast!

Aruna Sairam / Raghavendra Rao / Neyveli Narayanan " Esplanade Mar 25th 2009

1. Ata tala Varnam - Bhairavi
2. Entha Muddo - Bindumalini - Adi- Tyagaraja
3. Vara Narada - Vijayasree - Adi- Tyagaraja
4. Abhogi - Tiruvachagam " Namachivayam Vazhga" followed by Sabapathikku - Rupakam - GB
5.Koniyadine Naapai - Veena Kuppaiyer - Adi
6. Venkataramanane baro - Saveri- Purandhara Dasar - Adi
7.RTP- Shanmukhapriya " Velai panivadhe yen velai " - Kanda Eka talam- Swarams in Bhoopalam, Sama, Revathi
8. Maragadha manimaya chela - Arabhi - OVK
9. Teertha Vittala - namdev
10. Madumeikkum Kanna - Kurinji
11. Enna kavi padinalum - Neelamani
12. Kalinga nartana Tillana

A nice concert. I would like to recapitulate a review of this concert " True to her belief that no art form exists in isolation, Aruna's concert had all the ingredients for a good entertaining evening : story , in the form of good kritis, drma through facial expressions and hastha mudras, thus adding bhava to the rendition, a powerhouse of vocals and captivation of the audience"

To be honest I had expected a lot more histrionics on stage but she did play it down.The first part of the concert was good..later part did not appeal to me as much as the first half...

Will get in a few more reviews by tom!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 17 Apr 2009, 01:33

Aha, finally. Thanks, jananee!

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 17 Apr 2009, 02:08

Jananee you must have taken good notes! She sang mADu meikkum kannA in kurinji? I could not tell if this is kurinji - can someone confirm - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAvNsc1H ... re=related (I know I am risking life and limb here!

)

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 17 Apr 2009, 04:35

Ravi: Thank you for sharing that youtube video. I get the feeling that it is in sahana.

jananee · Post by **jananee** » 17 Apr 2009, 13:20

Not sure Shankar..it does have shades of Kurinji and i cross checked with a review of the concert..maybe some one else can clarify.

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 17 Apr 2009, 16:02

Jananee, Thanks for the candid review. I remember your telling me that a reviewer should be honest in reviewing irrespective of his or her admiration for the artist . I am rather awestruck by THE MARVELLOUS reviews of Bilahari from USA. musical knowledge in abundance!!!gobilalitha

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 17 Apr 2009, 16:23

Jananee and Ravi, Due to some technical problem, I am not able to get madu meikum on you tube,but I have heard her sing it in raaga chenchuruti, but she could have made some jugglery to make it sound like its equivalent in hm JHEJUTI GOBILALITHA

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 17 Apr 2009, 20:16

I know this song in chenchuruTTi too...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 18 Apr 2009, 02:07

cencuruTTi witha folksy overtone...?

malavi · Post by **malavi** » 18 Apr 2009, 22:21

deleted

jananee · Post by **jananee** » 18 Apr 2009, 22:36

Some more short reviews:

Savita Narasimhan - K. Sivaraman ( violin) - TR Sundaresan ( mridangam) - Pallavarajan ( Ghatam) 20 0th Mar 2009

1. varnam - Sarasooda - saveri
2. Gananathane Gunabodane - Saranga - Periyasami Thooran S
3. Sabapathiku Vera Deivam- Abhogi -GB
4. Apparama Bhakti - Pantuvarali - R,N
5. Endraikku Siva krupai - Mukhari - Neelakantan Sivan R
6. Ramachandram Bhavayami - Vasanta - MD
7. kapali- Mohanam - Papanasam Sivan R,S Tani
8. Saramaina - behag
9. kaliyuga Varadhan - Brindavana Saranga - Periasamy Thooran

This was Savita's maiden concert in Singapore and was a very fulfilling one. A brilliant Mukhari..she brought out all the beauty of the ragam . Mohanam was the piece de resistance of the evening. The flexibility of her voice and her ability to evoke raga bhavam was very impressive. Perfect alignment to sruti abd wonderful diction reallt stood out. Very refined singing. I loved the pace at which she sang. All in all one of my favourites of this season in Singapore!

jananee · Post by **jananee** » 18 Apr 2009, 22:50

Sikkil Gurucharan - K Sivaraman ( Violin) - TR Sundaresan ( Mridangam) - Sai Akhileshwar ( ghatam) - V Devarajan ( Morsing)- Mar 28th 2009

1. Varnam -Neranammi - Kaanada
2. Seethamma Mayamma - Vasantha - N , S - Tyagaraja
3. Surutti - Sri venkata girisam - R ,N S - MD
4. Devi Brova Samayamithe - Chintamani - Syama sastri
5. Anju Ezhthinai - Ragavinodhini - Dandapani Desikar
6. Ninne namithi - Simhendramadyamam - Mysore Vasudevachar - R N S
7. Nee Dayaratha - Vasantha Bhairavi
8. Chathur Raga pallavi - " Shankarabarananai Azhaithodi Vadi kalyani darbarinil" - Ariyakudi Ramanajua Iyengar
9. Sarvam Braham Mayam - madhuvanti
10. Thevaram - Kunitha Puruvamum followed by Kanaka Sabayil Kanda - Papanasam Sivan
110. Thillana - Bageswari - lalgudi Jayaraman

A power packed 3 hour concert. Packed house - event managers had to run to add more and more chairs. The surutti was handled very intricately by Gurucharan. Simhendra madyamam was also very well done but the star of the evning was the RTP. He switched effortlessly from ragam to ragam during the raga alapanai and kalpana swarams with no pause whatsoever. Gurucharan's voice is very uncomplicated and a pleasure to hear. A fitting finale to the music festival.

jananee · Post by **jananee** » 18 Apr 2009, 23:26

Mangalam Shankar - K. Sivaraman - TR Sundaresan - Mar 22nd 2009

1. Varnam - Todi - Adi
2. Sri Mahaganapathim - Atana - Swaram at gajaranya vasinam
3. Apparama Bhakti - Pantuvarali - Tyagaraja - RNS
4. Brocheva - Khamas - Mysore vasudevachar
5. Nee Dayaradha- Vasantha Bhairavi- Tyagaraja
6. Karpagamanohara - Malayamarutam - Papanasam Sivan
7. Viruttam " Katra kalviyum Vittriya Padaviyum " followed by Nambikettavar - Hindolam - PS
8. Nijadasavarade - Kalyani -Patnam Subramaniam
9. Andavan Darisanam - Jonpuri

Mangalam Shankar presented a concert of high standard in the festival series.She follows the TMT bani being a senior student of TMT himself and I find that style very addictive - an extension of tradition judiciuosly blended with innovation.

Right from the start of the cocnert she had the audience totally in her grip. Pantuvarali was very well rendered esp the raga alapanai. Brocheva was magnificently rendered. I was lsitening to it after ages and loved the way she sang it..shortly followed by Nee dayaradha. malayamarutam was a welcome change..not at all heard much in Singapore. And yes the kalyani was the star..a rare piece again.

On the whole a very traditional kutcheri which left you extremely happy and satisfied and full! For the rasikas in chennai do listen to her if you get a chance...

We had many more nice concerts..just captured a few of the very best...will try to add a couple more too

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 21 Apr 2009, 07:13

Thanks, Jananee for all the reviews, This year there has been more performances by well known seniors than 2008., when many budding youngsters were given opportunities. We had the opportunity of hearing Mangalam Shan kar some years back at K alyani Rao's residence during Dasara, had a very satisfied mind of hearing a good performance Nijadasavarada is not a commoly heard kriti be contributing . gobilalitha

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 27 Apr 2009, 11:26

Jananee/ Kamalamba, did you attend AKC's concert last Sat? My grandfather said it was quite nice, with a hEmavathy main.