Ideas & Views

Vocal: Sikkil Gurucharan Violin: Nagai Sriram Mridangam: Skanda Subramaniam April 12, 2008, SSVT , Maryland Enthralling, exhilarating, etcetera, etcetera, .........well, exaggerating !! Sonorous voice, humble rendition (borrowing this word from a friend), scholarly choice of krithis, especially Kosalam and Natabairavi, too good a violinist, captivating everyone. What a Padaantharam! On the other hand, it took a few krithis for GC to rev up his confidence level. Could say this from one instance. Though he drove his Mohanam alapana towards Tara sthayi Ga, Ri , he could not push his attempts to strike those chords. So, he ended up in circumlocution for a while. The violinist deserves a special mention. Usually the violinist does not play the entire sequence the vocalist sings. But, Sriram is too smart to let the opportunity slip. He definitely stole the thunder. The concert was simply superb. Needn't and couldn't say more. Here's the list of krithis: 1. Kanada - Ada thala

A link for learning few krithis taught to the Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana performers: http://www.aradhana.org/sampradaya/2008/Prahlada%20Bhakti%20Vijayam/index.htm This is very resourceful of the organizing committee to host online and make them available to all learners for free. The lessons are precious especially because they are being taught by accomplished gurus like Smt. Suguna and Sri. P.S.Narayanaswamy.

Vocal concert of Sri. Sreevalsan Menon Violin - Sri. S.K.Narasimhamoorthy Mridangam - Kumari. Rajna Swaminathan March 29, 2008, SSVT , Maryland First, here's the list of songs: 1. Todi Varnam - Eranapai, Adi Talam 2. Atana - Sri maha ganapathim bhaje hum, Adi 3. Jaganmohini - Dayapayo nidhae mampahi, composition of Sadasiva Brahmendrar 4. Kannadagowlai - Sogasujuda tharama, Roopakam 5. Mandari - Ninnujeppa karanamemi manasa 6. Hamirkalyani - Kangeyavasanadhara Padmanabha 7. Varali - Ka Va Va 8. Sankarabaranam - Akshaya linga vibho, Misrachapu Neraval at "nayika sahitha...badari vanamoola" 9. Bairavi - RTP (45 minutes) Pallavi - "Govindanadi Mukundanadi Enak(kku) Avar Sondhamadi" Ragamalika - Behag, Hindolam, Sahana, Patiyar 10. Sankarabaranam - Karuna seivan endhu thamasam krishna, -a composition on Guruvayoorappan 11. Desh Bhajan - Harinarayana Govinda -a composition of his Guru Smt.Rajalakshmi Krishnan 12. Senjurutti - Sri Guruvayoopurae

The concert was scheduled at 5pm but began only at 6pm. And it was 10:30 pm when I drove back home and had dinner. It would be very kind on the organizers if they could schedule the concert at 3pm. The organizers definitely have to work at the timings. The mike system totally failed after the mike tests had been done and the artistes were about to begin. So, the concert was further delayed till the mikes were fixed. Though the screeching initially troubled the artistes and the audience, the mikes were set-to-go after few songs. Such incidences could not be predicted and the organizers have to be commended for their trouble-shooting skills and coordination. If not for them, many people from the front rows would have honestly got up and went to the back rows. It could be because of the poor mikes and lack of feedback for the artiste that the first few songs didn't impress me. Todi varnam especially, flagged the Todi spirit. My mind, the monkey, wouldn't stop from going back to M