Category Archives: T.M.Krishna

Am super-excited!

It’s a Friday today and weekend is just a few hours away! šŸ™‚
There is a T.M.Krishna’s concert today! šŸ™‚
It is Sanjay’s first concert of the Season tomorrow! šŸ™‚

Today morning, I had so many things to be happy about and I was, indeed, so very excited that I thought it wouldn’t be possible for me to be more excited than I already was, when I saw in ‘The Hindu”s ‘Friday Review’ that Mani Ratnam is going to be one of the guests of honour at the release of the DVD of T.M.Krishna and Bombay Jayashri’s ‘Margazhi Raagam’!!!

The day in 2005 when I saw in ‘Metro Plus’ that DVDs of Mani Ratnam’s movies are going to be launched by Mani Ratnam himself still remains evergreen in my memory, while seeing Mani Ratnam and even getting his autograph still seems like an unbelievable dream!! Despite all the excitement, there is this big disappointment that my sister is not there in India now. šŸ™ She wasn’t able to come for the DVD launch of Mani Ratnam’s movies itself! šŸ™ Anyway, irrespective of whether I see Mani Ratnam this Sunday or not, I am super-excited!!! šŸ™‚

The ‘Margazhi Raagam’ DVD launch is going to happen at Cafe Ashvita in Radhakrishnan Salai on December 6th (4 pm – 5 pm). I don’t think any invite is needed for this. So, all you Mani Ratnam fans out there, mark your calendar! šŸ™‚

Concerts – Part 6 (The last part)

T.M.Krishna’s concerts
I went to 9 concerts of T.M.Krishna in the past one and a half months. I initially thought if I should even write about some of them since itā€™s already very late and many of you must have read about these concerts. But I am finding time to write it only now (Am not that busy and all but blame it on my laziness). Anyway, this is going to be a long post. Read it if you have the patience.
In TMK’s website, in his profile it is written, “His renditions of vilamba kalam (slow tempo) compositions are soaked with bhakthi (devotion) and bhava (emotion) are a treat to every listener.” In almost all the concerts he proved it. I just love it whenever he sings a slow song with bhava.
On 16th December, at Asthika Samajam, TMK started the concert 15 minutes late since it took him a long time to tune the Tamburas. Many got impatient. In fact a person sitting behind me said loudly, ā€˜Paadu paā€™ (Not sure if TMK heard it). But, when he started singing, the audience was in for a treat. Starting off with Tanavaari Tanamuleda in Begada, he then sang Nagumomu in Abheri and Mokshamu Galada in Saramathi for nearly 40 minutes each with Maakelara in Ravichandrika raaga in between the two songs. I am sure not even a single person would be there who wasnā€™t moved by TMKā€™s singing on that day. Well, I got so moved by the concert that I couldnā€™t stop myself from going to his concert the very next day even though I wanted to go to Sanjayā€™s concert. The next concert was at Bharat Kalachar. There he sang Janakipate in Karaharapriya as the main piece. In this concert, the ones that I loved were the Mukhari and Karaharapriya alapana, Swarams in Manavyala in Nalinakanti raaga and Tillana in Poornachandrika.
The next concert that I went to was at Music Academy. After reading the review of this concert at Hindu, I actually feel happy that I donā€™t have in depth knowledge of Carnatic Music. It was written that he didnā€™t sing Todi alapana in the usual way it is sung and also he sang Anandeshwara in Ananda Bhairavi a bit too slow and there was an exodus of audience after he started singing both these. But, I thoroughly enjoyed both. But more than these two, I liked the RTP in Saraswathi, Brocheva in Khamas and Adineepai in Yamun Kalyani even more.
At Dakshinamoorthy Auditorium on the 29th December, TMK sang O Rangasayee in Kambhoji as the main piece. It was superb. But the highlight of this concert was Enna Thavam in Kapi that he sang in a very slow pace soaked with Bhava. This one is the best rendition of Enna Thavam that I have heard.
The next one happens to be the last concert that I went to in 2006 on the 31st at Jaigopal Garodia School (Rasika Fine Arts). It was just a 2-hour concert. There was a very good selection of songs in this concert: Ekkalatthilum in Nattakurunji, Padavini in Karaharapriya, Nannupalimpa in Mohanam (the main piece), Vishweshwar Darshan in Sindhu Bhairavi, Karapooram Naarumo in Khamas and Sri Ramachandra in Yamun Kalyani.
The first concert of TMK that I went to in 2007 was on 5th January at Vidya Bharati (Sri Bhairavi Gana Sabha). In this concert too another superb Mukhari alapana followed by the Tyagaraja krithi Ksheenamai with neraval and swarams at the line Etijesina Jagannathudu Shriramuna. The raaga chosen for elaboration in this concert was my favourite Sahana! The song was the Tyagaraja kriti, Giripai. M.A.Sundaresan played the violin for this concert. Sometimes, it was difficult to say whether it was Sundaresanā€™s violin or TMKā€™s singing that was better! The surprise in this concert was the Kambhoji Raagam Taanam Pallavi. The Kambhoji raagam and taanam were awesome.
The last concert that I went to was on 6th January at Raaga Sudha Hall that was conducted by T.N.Krishnan Foundation. TMK started the concert with Deva Deva in Mayamalavagowlai and then sang Kripajoochutaku (Chayatarangini raga) and Sumasaayaka (Karnataka Kapi). He was about to start singing RaamachandreNa in Maanji when T.N.Krishnan asked him to sing the raga alapana. So after an alapana of Maanji, he sang the song. Hereā€™s what I liked the most in this concert: Maanji and Surutti alapana, his rendition of the songs Kripajoochutaku, Ramachandrena and Sapashya in Jonpuri. The main song of the concert was Endukku Pedale in Sankarabharanam.
Today, I am going to the launch of the book, ā€˜Voices Within Carnatic Musicā€™ written by T.M.Krishna and Bombay Jayashri with Mythili Chandrasekar. There is going to be a ā€˜unique music presentationā€™ by the two of them according to the ads. Let me see how it is.

Concerts – Part 5

Sanjay Subrahmanyan this Season
I went to 7 concerts of Sanjay this season. Needless to say all his concerts were simply superb! His concert at Kalarasana on the 24th of December is the one that I enjoyed the most. To begin with, this one was a 3-hour 24-minute concert. Sanjay was accompanied by S.Varadarajan on the violin, C.S.Venkataraman on the mridangam and Neyveli B.Venkatesh on the khanjira. The Sri Ranjani, Jyothiswaroopini and Karaharapriya (Chakkani Raja was the main song) alapana were all amazing! I loved the neraval and swarams at the line ‘Chintateerchuda Kentamodira’ in the Tyagaraja krithi ‘Entavedukondu Raghava’ in Saraswathi Manohari raaga. RTP was in Lalita raagam (Pallavi – Seethamma Mayamma). He sang the pallavi in Ananda Bhairavi, Neeleambari and Huseni. That was awesome. Varadarajan on the violin was excellent as usual. The claps didnt stop for a long time after each alapana/song. The audience gave a standing ovation at the end of the concert!
Coming to Sanjay’s concert at Music Academy, the Mohanam alapana and the RTP in Brindavana Saranga were the ones that I loved. Incidentally, T.M.Krishna and Sangeetha Sivakumar had also come to this concert.
At Rasika Fine Arts’ concert, he sang Appan Avadaritta in Karaharapriya and Karikalaba in Saveri for nearly 40 minutes each with elaborate alapana of both the raagas. In between these two he sang a very beautiful song in Neelambari, KaaNa KaNNaayiram veNdum, that lasted for nearly 10 minutes.
The last concert of Sanjay that I attended was at Asthika Samajam on 11th January. The Nattakuruji alapana that he sang that day will remain etched in my memory for a long time to come. I don’t have words to describe the way he sang Gopalakrishna Bharati’s song Vazhi Maraitthirukkudhu in a slow tempo with a very beautiful neraval at the line Utru Paarkave. This is the first time I am hearing Sanjay singing each and every word of the song clearly. In contrast to Vazhi Maraitthirukudhu, he sang a very fast-paced Aadum Chidambaramo in Behag. For this concert too, Sanjay was accompanied by Varadarajan on the violin.

Now that the Season has come to an end, I don’t know when his next concert at Madras is on. Am eagerly waiting for the next one.

Concerts – Part 4

Rithvik Raja on 30/12/2006 at Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium (Brahma Gana Sabha)
Rithvik Raja is T.M.Krishna’s student and you can spot him on the stage with TMK in all his concerts. After going to too many concerts of TMK, I went to Rithvik’s concert just to see how he sings. I must say I was not disappointed. He sang quite well. Starting with Sahana varnam, he then sang Rama Neepai in Kedaram. After a neat alapana of Varali, he sang Seshachala Nayakam. Neraval was done at the line Aravindapatra Nayanam. The main piece was PuNNiyam Oru Kodi in Keeravani raagam. Rithvik concluded the concert with Tirupati Venkataramana in Sindhubhairavi.

Saketharaman on 30/12/2006 at R.A.Puram Bhakta Jana Sabha
I had gone to Saketharaman’s concert at Music Academy last year and it was pretty good. This concert was also equally good. Starting with Saveri varnam, after a couple of songs, he sang a Tyagaraja kriti in Subhapantuvarali after a raaga alapana. Saraguna Palimpa in Kedaragowlai was the one chosen for elaboration. But for the slip at one point when putting the swarams at the line Varaguna Seshadri, he sang it quite well. After Om Namo Narayana in Karnaranjani, the concert concluded with a beautiful Tillana in Madhuvanti. Akkarai Subbalakshmi on the violin was very good.

Carnatica Brothers on 31/12/2006 at Raga Sudha Hall (Naada Inbam)
This is the first time I am listening to the Carnatica Brothers sing. I liked Ganesh’s voice more than Sashikiran’s. I had to again listen to Saveri varnam in this concert too. Ne Jesina Neramu in Poornachandrika, Sooryamoorthy in Sowrashtram, Ini Enna Pechirukkudu in Sahana and a song in Begada were the ones I liked very much in this concert. Devi Brova in Chintamani raaga was the main piece of the concert. Though the concert was good, their singing didn’t impress me enough to make me go to another concert of theirs in the near future.

Concerts – Part 3

Guitar Prasanna on 28/12/2006 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Prasanna started the concert with Nattakurunji varnam. He was accompanied by J.Vaidyanathan on the Mridangam and E.M.Subramanian on the Ghatam. After playing compositions in Abhogi, Devaranji, Kapi, Jayantasena, Kedaragowlai and Sindhubhairavi, he played an alapana of Harikambhoji raagam and did a raaga bedham at madhyamam and played Mohanam. After this he played Raghuvamsasudha after someone in the audience asked him to play it. While playing Kalyani alapana he did a graha bedham and played raagas Harikambhoji, Karaharapriya and Sankarabharanam. Talli Ninnu Nera, a composition of Syama Sastry was the one he played in Kalyani. After playing Vanchatonuna in Karnaranjani, again an audience request, he concluded the concert with ‘Bowling for Peace’, that he termed as neither a varnam nor a kriti but just a piece of music that he had composed for his album, Electric Ganesha Land’.

Guitar Prasanna on 30/12/2006 at Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium (Brahma Gana Sabha)
In this concert, Prasanna was accompanied by Mannargudi Easwaran on the Mridangam and Purushotthaman on the Khanjira. The highlight of this concert was the Raagam Taanam Pallavi in 4 raagams that he said he had composed only on the previous evening. The pallavi was Anandam Sachchidaanandam Paripoorna Brahmosmi where Anandam was in raaga Revathy, Sachchidaanandam in Hamsadhwani, Paripoorna in Hindolam and Brahmosmi in Mohanam! The composition was superb! The tani avartanam was one of the best that I have heard in the season. After the Tani, Prasanna said in all his concerts people left only after the Tani Avartanam! Some of the other songs that he played are Nannuvidachi in Reetigowlai, Endaro Mahanubhavulu, Alaipayuthey. He ended this concert also with ‘Bowling for Peace’.

I enjoyed both the concerts very much. Does the fact that not many people turned up for both his concerts inspite of Prasanna playing so beautifully show that still not many like to hear Carnatic music played on guitar?

Concerts – Part 2

Sangeetha Sivakumar on 24/12/2006 at Rani Seethai Hall (Kalarasana)
Though my initial plan was to go only to Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s concert at Rani Seethai Hall at 6.15 pm after attending Sowmya’s concert for an hour at Music Academy, my plan changed thanks to Sowmya deciding to postpone her concert that day due to a bad throat. I reached the place when Sangeetha was finishing a kriti in Kalyani. After singing Vinaraadana in Devagandhari, she started the Keeravani alapana, the raaga chosen for the main piece of the evening. She sang Tyagaraja’s composition, Kaligiyunte with neraval and swarams at the line, Baguga Sri Raghunathuni Padamula. After one more song, she wound up the concert with Khamas Tillana. I liked this concert of hers more than the one at Academy.

Nithyasree Mahadevan on 25/12/2006 at Music Academy
I missed the first one-hour of the concert. Nithyasree was singing Kaya Roshanesham in Abheri when I entered the auditorium. Here’s the partial list of songs:
1. Anandutanu – Jingala
2. Maamava Satatam – Jaganmohini (Main piece of the concert)
3. Maalon Maruganai (Viruttam) & Koovi Azhaikka Koodaathaa – Sindhu Bhairavi
4. Begada – Raagam Taanam Pallavi
She sang the pallavi in raagas Vasantha, Atana, Hameer Kalyani, Varnaroopini
5. Tum Bi Kaun Khabar – ?
This happens to be the third concert of Nithyasree’s that I went to in this Season. I don’t know why but I didn’t enjoy any of her concerts as much as I used to earlier. Initially I thought since it has been more than a year since I last went to her concert, I should go to one more Nithyasree’s concert and see. But I got a bit bored too during her concerts! But the fact that the auditorium was jam-packed shows that not everyone felt the same way as I did.

P.S.: I am not writing about any of Sanjay’s or TMK’s concerts now since I have reserved the best concerts for the last!

Concerts – Part 1

As I didn’t write about the concerts I went to for quite sometime now, here you go. I am planning to write in parts about all the concerts I went to till now. Those who are not interested in Classical music, please skip these posts!

Concerts at Music Academy:

Lalgudi G.J.R.Krishnan & Vijayalakshmi ā€“ Violin Duet on 22/12/2006
This happens to be the first concert of theirs that I am going to. Each and every song/alapana they played were so good. The raaga chosen for elaboration was Todi and RTP was in Vachaspati. I now want to go to more concerts of theirs.
Continue reading

T. M. Krishna’s Concert

I went to TMK’s concert on Sunday at Vani Mahal. Here’s the complete list of songs he sang:

1. Varnam – Navaragamalika
2. Gnanamo Sagaraada – Poorvikalyani
3. Sri Kumaara Nagaraalaye – Atana
4. Seethapathe – Kamas
5. Ehi Annapoorne – Punnagavarali
6. Kripajoochutaku – Chaya Tarangini
7. Kathikeya Gangeya – Todi (Main piece of the concert)
8. Smarasundaraajuni – Paras
9. Sarvam Brahmamayam – Madhuvanti
10. Vasudevasutam Devam – Ragamalika (Sahana, Bhairavi, Kambhoji, Kalyani, Mukhari)
Balakrishnam – Mukhari
11. Anri Ulagam Alandaai – Sindhu Bhairavi
12. Mangalam – Sowrashtram

Accompaniments:
R. K. Shriramkumar – Violin
V. Kamalakar Rao – Mridangam
Anirudh Athreya – Khanjira

It was yet another wonderful concert by TMK. A special mention has to be made about Anirudh Athreya who was very good on the Khanjira.