ManoGaanam

Our students after a temple singing program, July 2019.
We are proud to have created our own little family here @ Bollineni :-D

Sri Thyaga Bharma Gana Sabha, Vani Mahal, 22 December, 4 PM

What is the hallmark of a satisfying concert? I think it’s the fact that your eyes don't wander to the clock, except right at the end, and then you are quite surprised that its already over! This is what happened at Swetha Sriram’s 2-hour concert last evening. That’s the review in a nutshell; now here comes the story in detail…

I heard the notes of the Nattai varnam with which the concert started only peripherally – I was still tense at having arrived a little late for the concert. (Its annoying when we miss those first few notes after the curtain opens, isn’t it..?!) By the time I had settled down, Swetha was singing a short Reethigowla alapanai. The gliding M-N-Ns and the etched GRGs characteristic of Reethigowla sounded elegant. The song that followed was Thyagaraja’s raga ratna maalika che ranjillu. The concert came into its own with the next song, Andal’s ongi ulagalandu. Swetha rendition did evoke the sense of benediction that the words speak of. In the Saveri alapanai that followed, the phrases with the oscillated low RI, both by Swetha and the violinist S.V. Sudarsan, were delectable. The neraval in ‘shyama krishna sodari..’ was pleasant. The next song was Diksh*tar’s anandaamrutha varshini. It was well sung, ending with an interesting dialogue between the young mridangist Sumesh Narayanan and the ghatam artist Nanganallur S. Swaminathan.
The main piece was the Kamboji krithi Sri Raghuvara Aprameya. The raagam preceding this was creative and concise. This, and the kalpana swaras, as well as the neravel at sri bhaskara kulaadri deepa showcased Swetha’s dexterity with sanchaaras, especially in the higher octave. The tani by Sumesh and Sri Swaminathan was an attractive one - no one walked out, and there was spontaneous applause even before the finale was reached. Was fun to hear!

The next item is where I need inputs from my Tamil scholar friends. It was a verse set to beautiful music in Abheri, in the form of a viruttam. As far as I could catch, the words were kurikindra uchchithindram … manikindra maanikkam maadulam pol…. This was followed by the song maasaru ponne valampuri mathhte by poet Ilango Adigal. Please excuse skipped and/or misspelt words and do tell me the meaning if you can recognize the verse. I could catch the part about the rubies (or maybe I’m wrong), so I assumed it was about Kannagi, but do share the rest of the meaning…
This, as well as the next song kumara gurupara in Dwijavanti from the Thirupugazh were well-received by the audience, and I could see heads nodding and smiles being exchanged. At the end of the concert, a fellow rasika, Sri Sekhar Babu remarked that he had casually walked in, but the music sounded so good that he had stayed on. Outside the auditorium, I overheard violinist Sudarsan’s tonal control being praised heartily. The concert ended on a lively note with Lalgudi Sir’s thillana in Brindavani to which all four artists did full justice. It was evident that they were all lovingly familiar with the rhythm patterns of the piece. There were a few blemishes, but it was certainly a satisfying concert overall. Swetha Sriram’s clear diction, soothing voice, and sincere rendition are sure to take her a long way.

Young at hearts singing

Shyamala Meenakshi...

3

Vara Veena - Geetham in Mohanam :)

Vijaidasami at Manogaanam School of Music….

The last part of this song was composed by the student themselves.

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