T.M.Krishna’s Concerts in Trichy!

Yes! I had been to Trichy last weekend for attending TMK’s concerts! 😀 A leisurely visit to Srirangam temple that was pending for a long time now and the two concerts of TMK made the weekend an unforgettable one! 🙂

TMK’s Concert at Sadguru Sri Tyagabrahma Aradhanai Mahotsavam, Srirangam on 13th Feb, 2010

The concert was at 7 pm. My train (Vaigai Express) reached Trichy at 5:50 pm. So I just had enough time to dash off to the concert venue straight from the station! The concert was at gOrada mUlai (hope I have got it right!) in vaDakku chittirai vIdI (North Chittirai Street).

A very wide road through which only very few vehicles passed by, people sitting on tinnais outside their houses, a stage in a corner of the road and mats and chairs laid out in front of the stage – I loved the peaceful atmosphere that prevailed there. Many people were listening to the concert sitting on a tinnai outside their house. Wouldn’t that be a nice experience? 🙂

As with most of TMK’s concerts, this one too started late.

Accompanists:
V.V.S.Murari – Violin
Umayalpuram Mali – Mridangam
Alathur Rajaganesh – Khanjira

List of songs:
1. tanavAri – bEgaDA – Adi – swarams at tanavAri
2. sanAtana parama – phalamanjari – Adi – AlApana; swarams at sanAtana
3. mOkSamu galadA – sAramati – Adi – AlApana
4. nannu brOvumani – kalyANi – misra cApu – short AlApana; neraval at adrija vinutuDu bhadragirIsuDu
5. mAru balka – Sri ranjani – Adi – AlApana; neraval & swarams at dAri nerigi
tani Avartanam

The opening bEgaDA song was good. I was listening to the rAgam phalamanjari for the first time and I liked it so much that I felt the phalamanjari alone had made my trip really worth it! Following the phalamanjari piece was a moving sAramati AlApana and an equally moving mOkSamu galadA. It reminded me of the very moving elaborate mOkSamu galadA that TMK had sung in a concert in 2006.

After mOkSamu galadA, TMK wanted to know if he should sing only Tyagaraja’s songs and the reply he got was that he can sing songs of only those composers who were before Tyagaraja! So the next song was a composition of Bhadrachala Ramadas. The kalyANi AlApanA, though short, was full of awesome brigas. I liked the kalyANi neraval, except for some upper octave parts. There was a noticeable slip in some sangati in the kalyANi song after the neraval. The main piece, mAru balkA, was brilliant! I had to leave midway through the tani Avartanam. 🙁

I liked Mali’s & Rajaganesh’s playing. But I didn’t like Murari’s playing.

TMK’s Concert at BHEL (Tyagraja Utsavam) on 14th Feb, 2010

This concert was in a temple in BHEL Township. I liked the place where this concert was held too.

This concert too started late. In fact, the concert was to start at 7 pm and TMK came to the venue only at 7:10 pm.

Accompanists:
V.V.S.Murari – Violin
Salem Srinivasan – Mridangam
Krishna? – Ghatam

List of songs:
1. valaci (navarAgamAlikA varnam) – Adi – swarams at padasa in all the 9 ragams!
2. nenaruncarA – simhavAhini – Adi – neraval at tyAgarAja pAla suguNa SIla
3. tillai cidambaram – pUrvi kalyANi – misra cApu – AlApanai
4. bAlakriSNam bhAvayAmi – gOpikAvasantam – Adi
5. dinamaNi vamsa – harikAmbhOji – Adi – AlApana; neraval & swarams at nirvikAra guNa
tani Avartanam
6. enna tavam – kApi – Adi – 1min AlApanai
7. pullagi (viruttam) – nATTai,…

This was yet another great concert! I didn’t like Murari’s playing in this concert too.

The concert started with one of my favourite varnams, valaci. The kalpanA swarams in the end, especially the final continuous round of swarams in all the 9 rAgams with seamless transition from one rAgam to another, were awesome! I hadn’t heard nenaruncarA and bAlakriSNam bhAvayAmi before and loved both the songs. The simhavAhini neraval was awesome! enna tavam was sung in classic TMK style – slow-paced and bhava-soaked. I had to unfortunately leave when the viruttam was in progress since I had to catch my bus to Madras. But, yeah, what a weekend it was! 🙂

21 thoughts on “T.M.Krishna’s Concerts in Trichy!

  1. Dandilsa

    Oh wow! You went to Trichy to attend the concerts? That’s so cool and so groupie! I would totally do it too if I could 🙂
    TMK does sing Marubalka very well..Nenaruncara is a favorite of mine too..And Valaci too..
    You know what, the one time I was late to a concert in Cleveland, TMK started early!!!

    Reply
  2. Sathej

    Guess my earlier comment got spammed 🙁

    Anyway, wow ! You went to Trichy for the concerts!? Thats quite something 🙂

    Btw, there’s a fairly detailed Phalamanjari rendition by Lalgudi with Alapanai et al. Its there in a commercial release. I guess there would be an online version somewhere too..

    Sathej

    Reply
  3. Aparna

    Dandilsa,
    🙂 That’s really surprising!

    Mahesh,
    Nope

    Blogeswari,
    🙂 Yes am going for TMK’s concert tomorrow. Hamsadhwani’s concerts happen at Youth Hostel, Indra Nagar.

    Sathej,
    🙂 I’ll try to find it and listen to it.

    Reply
  4. uma

    Hi Aparna,

    Came across your site today, very impressive and neat work. Keep it going!!

    Since carnatic music seems to be our common thread, I would like you to visit our website, http://www.ragasurabhi.com, a carnatic music website that aims towards developing raga identification skills of rasikas. Please do not forget to leave your comments/feedback/suggestions in the blog/mail.

    Thanks and Regards,
    Uma.

    Reply
  5. sreekrishnan

    i had to comment off track here … There is a strong rumor that Silambarasan may be the next hero of Maniratnam’s movie. And i just cannot stop myself from not commenting about it here !

    Reply
  6. Aparna

    Sowmya,
    Yes it was! 🙂

    Uma,
    Welcome to my blog! Thank you. I saw your website. Appreciate the initiative that you have taken up!

    Sreekrishnan,
    I recently heard that it’s just a rumour. Anyway, it doesn’t matter who the actor is in a Mani Ratnam’s movie.

    Sathej,
    Everything is fine 🙂

    Reply

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