Music season dec 2006

Music season dec 2006

I was quite definite that I wanted to listen to some concerts and some lec dems during the festival season. But I was not able to make up my mind;so I chose the season pass for the entire duration of concerts in Narada gana sabha; the choice of venue due to logistical convenience.

This time in Narada Gana sabha, the kutchery timings were slightly skewed. Regular music concerts were at 4.30 in the evening!Obviouly only pre school and primary school kids and their teachers could attend these concerts!Of course it obviously is targetted at full time kutchery rasikas, who take these concerts quite seriously and make it to their annual calender.You definitely cannot combine a full time job and a kutchery visit for these late afternoon slots!

So I improvised. I would manage to reach the kutchery hall by 6 pm and invariably that will be the cue for tani avartanam and there will be a general relaxation and mild commotions among the rasikas. I will slide into my seat and relax and be ready for the ‘tukkada’s. Was able to do this for a few kutcheris; jesudoss; priya sisters;sudha raghunathan, ramachandran and family and sanjay subramaniam.
Jesudoss’s kutchery was a pale image of his earlier rendition that I had heard more than a decade back in Krishna gana sabha. While his music has faded, he had a gleaming laptop sitting pretty in front of him to aid him in organizing his songs and lyrics, I guess.
Priya sisters gave an adequate recital, but sincerity and bhava were very apparent.
Ramanathan and family affair was a washout, as the daughter and parents combination was mismatched and all of them wanted to sing together, which did not gel.Carnatic music is best sung solo, as it gives lots of room for manodharma; if you want to sing together, then like in a choir music, needs painstaking practice. Here it was apparent, that they came to the concert casually(had to step in for sowmya ), and thought anything will do.It lmade me feel cheated and kept me away from the kutcherys circuit for a few days!
Sanjay subramaniam was a real treat!There were a few occasions even in the 45 minutes tail end kutchery that I could listen into , I felt like saying ‘wah!’The ragamalika in the pallavi was very melodious and enjoyable. It was obvious that the musician has the talent and also enjoys singing both for the pleasure that it gives him and the happiness that it gives to its rasikas.
Bombay jayashree was the first vocalist whose kutchery I could listen in for the entire stretch of two and a half hours.And they were very memorable two and half hours that I have spent.It is the first time I am listening to her live performance and it made a deep impression. Her demeanour is humble and almost like a supplicant asking god (or the lord of music) to grant her the pleasure of singing those ragas.She obviously derives great pleasure in that ‘tapas’ and her talent and ‘sadhana’ come through effortlessly.Her voice is melodious in a very soothing way and her singing touches your soul.During raga alapana and chitta swarams, I never had occasion to feel nauseated with the semantics and mumbo jumbo in top speed that is practised by musicians these days.Her swaras were beautifully rolling out like marbles, each time a different pattern.There were quite a number of occasions during her recital that I felt my heart literally brims with happiness and eyes fill up and a few teardrops roll down.
Embar Kannan was very good on the violin and there were several occasions when jayashree’s singing used to mimic his violin and the violin notes used to resemble her voice.A perfect matching of ‘dhwanis’.
I had very involved senior citizens sitting behind me and were enjoying the music.They were all of them quite knowledgeable too and with a note book in hand, were writing down the various compositions and the ragas.When jayashree used to sing just a few swaras of a new raga, immediately they will identify the raga with great enthusiasm.I remember my father used to say that of Ariyakudi, that he would insisit that musicians should sing in such a way that the first phrase of raga alapana, helps the rasika identify the song.Which means the most notable swara combination and the differentiating notes have to be sung first.
Sahana, dhanyasi and reeti gowla were beautifully rendered and i felt satiated. If carnatic music can elevate you and feel light and happy,it was jayashree's music that day in narada gana sabha.
God bless her and musicians like her.



And a full length kutchery of Bombay jayashree(wonder why she was not pressurized to go for image makeover as mumbai jayashree)