Music conference
The Bangalore Gayana Samaja conducted its annual music conference last week successfully with music concerts by seasoned musicians, talent promotional programmes by young artistes and academic sessions by scholars and musicologists. Senior musician S Shankar, who presided over the conference received the coveted title "Sangeetha Kalarathna", in the valedictory function.
The opening concert by the popular duo Ranjani and Gayathri, attracted a large gathering, which was proof of their popularity and the artistes also rose to the occasion and satisfied the connoisseurs. Though they presented many ragas, few of them received special attention, for instance, Mukhari, which was embellished with lively sangathies. In the composition "Kshinamai Tiruga" Saint Tyagaraja says - "O Mind! Do not aspire for super natural yogic powers as they will boost your ego and distract you from the path of salvation. The royal highway to salvation based on approbation of the Lord is the dedicated worship through devotional songs!"
Their lively presentation with nerval (Edi Jesina Jagannathudu) lent flavour to the keerthana. Desh stood out for its aesthetic charm and swaraprasthara, the emphasis shifting from one swara to another was particularly impressive. In the Pallavi, their imagination was in full swing and melody flowed like a stream. Tamil composition of Koteswara Iyer (Chalanaata), Jagadambikaaye (Vasantha - Dikshithar), devaranamas (Ea Pariya Sobagu and Yake Kadeganna Noduve) and Abhang - were noted for their melodic contents. B K Raghu on violin, H S Sudhindra on mridanga and G S Ramanujam on ghata - gave lively support.
Shortfalls
Kalavathi Avadhoot is known for her good voice, repertoire and hard work. In her concert last week for the Gayana Samaja, she sprang a surprise by singing a Pallavi which was composed on S Shankar, the conference president. It was in Natabhairavi, a 'rakti raga'. Though the Pallavi (Anandam Anandam Shankaram) was pleasing, it was not without shortfalls.
Earlier she tried to bring out the raga bhava in 'Paramdhamavati' with nerval (Paranjotirvikasini Paramatma Prakasini) while 'Bhogeendra Shayinam' - a popular devotional, the "Easabeku iddu Jayisabeku" another popular devaranama were pleasing. Well known instrumentalists - Charulatha Ramanujam, K U Jayachandra Rao and Arun Kumar B S - supported with good understanding on violin, mridanga and morching, respectively.
Sammilana
Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran are one of our leading dancer couples and they are also popular teachers in Bangalore. They have taught hundreds of students in their institute Rasika. They are celebrating their school's silver jubilee by organising programmes throughout the year. First the series 'Sammilana' was held on Saturday, with three different programmes. After Pushpanjali, the customary Ganapathi krithi by Parswanath Upadhye and Shruti, was quiet attractive. 'Sadachaleswara' of Dikshithar had good jathies. Kartik Datar, Somashekar Chudanath and Srinivasan Rajendran caught the attention of the audience by their lively performance.
"Madhurashtakam" was the choice of Rasika ensemble (Rasika Kiran, Shivaranjini Harish, Matangi Prasan, Sushmitha Suresh, Preethi Prasad, Divya Vinod) who performed with impactful abhinaya. The thillana in Rasikapriya had crisp jathies, performed in a befitting manner. All of them were choreographed by Kiran Subramanyam, neatly. Srivatsa's vocal was an added attraction and Kiran's natuvanga was inspiring. Srihari on mridanga, Mahesh Swamy on flute, Dr Nataraj Murthy on violin, Shubha Santosh on veena and Manjunath on rhythm pad - supported the dancers.
The Bangalore Gayana Samaja conducted its annual music conference last week successfully with music concerts by seasoned musicians, talent promotional programmes by young artistes and academic sessions by scholars and musicologists. Senior musician S Shankar, who presided over the conference received the coveted title "Sangeetha Kalarathna", in the valedictory function.
The opening concert by the popular duo Ranjani and Gayathri, attracted a large gathering, which was proof of their popularity and the artistes also rose to the occasion and satisfied the connoisseurs. Though they presented many ragas, few of them received special attention, for instance, Mukhari, which was embellished with lively sangathies. In the composition "Kshinamai Tiruga" Saint Tyagaraja says - "O Mind! Do not aspire for super natural yogic powers as they will boost your ego and distract you from the path of salvation. The royal highway to salvation based on approbation of the Lord is the dedicated worship through devotional songs!"
Their lively presentation with nerval (Edi Jesina Jagannathudu) lent flavour to the keerthana. Desh stood out for its aesthetic charm and swaraprasthara, the emphasis shifting from one swara to another was particularly impressive. In the Pallavi, their imagination was in full swing and melody flowed like a stream. Tamil composition of Koteswara Iyer (Chalanaata), Jagadambikaaye (Vasantha - Dikshithar), devaranamas (Ea Pariya Sobagu and Yake Kadeganna Noduve) and Abhang - were noted for their melodic contents. B K Raghu on violin, H S Sudhindra on mridanga and G S Ramanujam on ghata - gave lively support.
Shortfalls
Kalavathi Avadhoot is known for her good voice, repertoire and hard work. In her concert last week for the Gayana Samaja, she sprang a surprise by singing a Pallavi which was composed on S Shankar, the conference president. It was in Natabhairavi, a 'rakti raga'. Though the Pallavi (Anandam Anandam Shankaram) was pleasing, it was not without shortfalls.
Earlier she tried to bring out the raga bhava in 'Paramdhamavati' with nerval (Paranjotirvikasini Paramatma Prakasini) while 'Bhogeendra Shayinam' - a popular devotional, the "Easabeku iddu Jayisabeku" another popular devaranama were pleasing. Well known instrumentalists - Charulatha Ramanujam, K U Jayachandra Rao and Arun Kumar B S - supported with good understanding on violin, mridanga and morching, respectively.
Sammilana
Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran are one of our leading dancer couples and they are also popular teachers in Bangalore. They have taught hundreds of students in their institute Rasika. They are celebrating their school's silver jubilee by organising programmes throughout the year. First the series 'Sammilana' was held on Saturday, with three different programmes. After Pushpanjali, the customary Ganapathi krithi by Parswanath Upadhye and Shruti, was quiet attractive. 'Sadachaleswara' of Dikshithar had good jathies. Kartik Datar, Somashekar Chudanath and Srinivasan Rajendran caught the attention of the audience by their lively performance.
"Madhurashtakam" was the choice of Rasika ensemble (Rasika Kiran, Shivaranjini Harish, Matangi Prasan, Sushmitha Suresh, Preethi Prasad, Divya Vinod) who performed with impactful abhinaya. The thillana in Rasikapriya had crisp jathies, performed in a befitting manner. All of them were choreographed by Kiran Subramanyam, neatly. Srivatsa's vocal was an added attraction and Kiran's natuvanga was inspiring. Srihari on mridanga, Mahesh Swamy on flute, Dr Nataraj Murthy on violin, Shubha Santosh on veena and Manjunath on rhythm pad - supported the dancers.