Concert at Venkateswara Temple, Bangalore

Song list:

1. tera tiyaga rada - gowlipantu - adi - thyagaraja (S)
2. ada modi galade - charukeshi - adi - thyagaraja
3. ksheera sagara shayana - devagandhari - adi - thyagaraja (R)
4. ille vaikunta - varali - khanda chapu - purandara dasa (preceded by shloka - kaveri viraja seyam vaikuntam ranga mandiram....)
5. marugelara - jayanthasri - adi - thyagaraja
6. mohana rama - mohana - adi - thyagaraja
7. innoo daya barade - kalyana vasanta - khanda chapu - purandara dasa (preceded by an ugabhoga/viruttam - aaneyu karedare adi moola bandanthey.....)
8. jagadodharana - kapi - adi - purandara dasa
9. tirupati venkataramana - sindhu bhairavi - adi - purandara dasa
10. sri rama jaya rama - yadukula kambhoji - khanda chapu - thyagaraja (followed by mangala shloka in the same raga)

On the violin was Sri B Raghuram, Sri V Krishna played the mridangam while Sri Bharadwaj played the mohrsing.
In every concert, I usually make it a point to sing atleast one kriti which I have never sung in a concert before. In this concert it was the charukeshi kriti and I was happy with the way it turned out. Must sing it more often in concerts....I simply adore the way Semmangudi and MSS have handled this kriti.

Concert at Kottayam (Malliyoor)

The concert at Malliyoor Ganapathi Temple went off pretty well. Malliyoor is around 20 km away from Kottayam after the famous Ettamanoor temple.
The interesting thing about this temple is that here, the Lord Ganapathi is picturised as having Lord Krishna on his lap. Quite a fascinating conception - you could check out the picture by clicking here.
The concert was slated for just an hour or so.
The list:

1. pranamamyaham sri gowri sutham - gowla - adi - mysore vasudevacharya (S)
   
2. ksheera sagara shayana - devagandhari - adi - thyagaraja
3. sidhi vinayakam anisham - shanmugapriya - rupaka - dikshitar (R,N,S) at 'prasidha yaksha kinnaraadi sevitham'
4. manasa sanchara re - sama - adi - sadasiva brahmendra

AIR Live Concert

This morning I sang a live concert of 1 hour for All India Radio (AIR), Bangalore.

The concert was relayed on their immensely popular FM 100.1 (Amrithavarshini) station from 8:30 am to 9:30 am.

Over the years, I have finally managed to time my AIR concerts!!!

In the past, I would invariably run out of time for the obligatory Purandaradasa keerthana - but today, I just managed to sneak it in!!! Photo finish!!!

The main piece was Nadopasana in Begada - trying to sing this kriti more often to get a hang of Begada which incidentally can be quite a tough nut to crack!!!

The concert went off pretty smoothly - the mridangist Adamya played very supportively. Feels good to see someone working on their art - have seen him play for quite sometime now and have seen the steady improvement - all thanks to his good work and ofcourse his guru (Sri Umayalapuram Sivaraman).

On the violin was the ever reliable CNC (Sri CN Chandrashekhar) who brings in a wealth of experience which helps in lifting the concert.

Weekend Concerts Song Lists

Just back from two concerts back to back.
With every concert comes a fresh set of experiences - you discover something new about music, you introspect on things which worked, things which did not, things which could get better....
Anyway, here are the song lists:

Kaladi (Near Ernakulam)

1. Shloka on Adi Shankara ('Shruthi Smruthi Puranam...')
   
2. Saraseeruhasana Priye - Nata - Adi - Doreswamy Ayya (S)
3. Balakrishnam Bhavayami - Gopika Vasantham - Adi - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
4. Appa Rama Bhakthi - Pantuvarali - Rupaka - Thyagaraja (R,N,S)
5. Janani Ninu Vina - Reetigowla - Misra Chapu - Subbaraya Shastry
   
6. Bhogindra Shayinam - Kuntala Varali - Khanda Chapu - Swati Tirunal (S)
7. Nadopasana - Begada - Adi - Thyagaraja (R,N,S)
8. Shloka 'Sayankale Vananthey' - Ragamalika
9. Manasa Sanchararey - Sama - Adi - Sadasiva Brahmendra
10. Bhaja Govindam - Ragamalika - Adi - Adi Shankara
11. Mangalam

Ujire (Near Dharmasthala, Mangalore)

1. Anupama Gunambudhi - Athana - Khanda Chapu - Thyagaraja (S)
2. Varamulosagi - Keeravani - Rupaka - Patnam Subramanya Ayyar (R,N,S) at 'Madana janaka venkatesha..'
3. Ksheera Sagara Shayana - Devagandhari - Adi - Thyagaraja
4. Bhogindra Shayinam - Kuntala Varali - Khanda Chapu - Swati Tirunal (S)
5. Ragam Tanam Pallavi (RTP) - Varali - Chaturasra Jathi Rupaka - 'Brahmai Vaham Kila Sadguru Kripaya'
6. Shloka - Ragamalika
7. Manasa Sanchararey - Sama - Adi - Sadasiva Brahmendra
8. Innoo Daya Baradey - Kalyana Vasanta - Khanda Chapu - Purandaradasa
9. Jagadodharana - Kapi - Adi - Purandaradasa
10. Muddugare Yashoda - Kuranji - Adi - Annamacharya
11. Sri Rama Jaya Rama - Yadukula Kambhoji - Khanda Chapu - Thyagaraja
12. Mangala Shloka in Yadukula Kambhoji
    
    

My Upcoming Concerts in Jan 2008

This month I would be performing at the following venues:

• 17th Jan     - Kaladi, Kerala (The birthplace of Adi Shankara)
• 18th Jan     - Ujire, a small town near Dharmasthala (Karnataka)
• 21st Jan     - All India Radio (AIR) Live 8:30 am to 9:30 am (100.1 FM, Bangalore)
• 22nd Jan    - Malliyur Ganapathi Temple, Kottayam, Kerala
• 24th Jan     - Kukke Subramanya Temple, Karnataka
• 25th Jan     - MS Ramayya Temple, Bangalore

 

 

Indian Fine Arts and my guru....

A jovial moment on stage with my guru Sri TM Krishna at Indian Fine Arts (IFAS), Chennai this last December Season.
A great photo...courtesy Sri Hariharan Sankaran (Mumbai).
My guru's concert at IFAS is usually something special. In the past, I have heard him render ragas like Athana, Anandabhairavi, Darbar, etc. as the main pieces in his concerts here.
In fact, one of the most poignant memories here were when he sang a 'O Jagadamba' - the charanam lines 'kanna thalli...' simply moved us all to tears.
In his recent concert (28th Dec) he sang a thaanam in todi without singing a raagam and followed it up with Thyagaraja's Enduku Dayaradura. Thanam singing leaves you drained because you need to give it all the energy you have to maintain the tempo.
My guru always says that the hallmark of a great musician lies in the way he/she handles neraval and thaanam. For a student of music, these two represent the biggest hurdles; if you gain a comfort level in these two departments, you are all set!!!

Academy Concert Review - Hindu

This is a scan of the review of my Music Academy Concert.

You could  click on it to see an enlarged view.