concerts of TNSeshagopalan
Concert at The Mylapore Fine Arts on 18-12-2006
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The concert, which proved to be rich and creamy, started with the Thyagaraja krthi 'aparadhamula,' in raga rasali followed by "merusamana' in Mayamalavagoula with neraval at 'galamuna sobillu kanakabhooshanamula' in charanam and the svara that followed was racy with poise.
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The next was 'YarukkutthAn theriyum' in Devamanohari a composition of Gopalakrishna bharathiyar, a remnisence of the lec/dem in the morning on the author by Chinglepet Ranganathan for those who attended it, which TNS as the president of the conference nicely rounded up with his excellent speech and sample of his music as he does every day.The svara that followed the krthi was *fabulous that made the rasikas exclaim , "yarukkum thAne theriyum ivar mahamai!"
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Then TNS expounded the raga poorvikalyani in his usual fantastic skill of portrayal of the svarupa of the raga and the krthi that followed was 'ninnuvinaga,' of Shyamasasthri. The svara prasthara whcih was at 'pannagabhooshanudaina,' was shared by TNS krishna, who gave vocal support and stole an applause to his own credit, and it was something wonderful experience to listen to the lion and his cub, whcih will be ever green in the memory of the rasikas.
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The creamy layers continued to be relished in the Hindolam that followed ,the raga alapana of which was again shared by the two of them and was exquisitely beautiful and here too Krishna was acclaimed for his singing by the rasikas. The krthi was Neerajakshi kamakshi and was juicy with bhava and gamaka. No svara followed but even without it the piece was rich.
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The next and central layer of the dessert pudding was Kalyani, the raga was developed with masterly strokes and grahabhedha to suddha dhanyasi and the krthi was 'Ethavunara of Thyagaraja. The neraval at 'sitagouri ,' and the svara that followed was full of gamaka- oriented phrases with the usual laya display. This was followed by Thani by Guruvayur Dorai on Mridangam and N.Govindarajan on Ghatam. It was an elaborate thani and well appreciated by the audience.
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It was 9pm and normally one would expect that there will not be a separate RTP after this. But the rasikas of TNS know better! Yes, there was a RTP , that too in three ragas, Kapi, Narayani and Kapinarayani, though it was short. The pallavi was worded 'kapi narayani sapi mokshapradhayini.' meaning, "who is the unparalleled(Kapi) *Narayani , she is also mokshaprahdayini" which was explained by TNS himself. Though short it was wonderful and the rasikas became expectant of a more eloborate exposition of it in the near future.The concert ended with the bajan 'thum aza' followed by thiruppugaz and mangalam.
M.Chandrasekharan who accompaied TNS on the violin did an admirable job of it.
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*concert at SAFE-SSHall-14-12-2006
The concert started with a krthi 'abhimanamu' in Begada which served as an appetizer for a wholesome feast that followed. with its racy svaras. Next was he dharu varnam 'mAdhe malayadhvaja ' of Mutthiah bhagavathar in kamas, which asks at every step 'sukamasukama the way it is rendered always by TNS.
Next was the raga alapana in Vachaspathi and the krthi was 'ennALu nee,' by Patnam subramania iyer again and the niraval svara was sung at the first line 'kannathanrinApai ' of the charaNam. The svara that followed was the usual delightful fare by both TNS and TNS Krishna who gave him vocal support and drew applause by himself on his svaraprasthara.
*The slow moving 'abhayamba navavarana' of Muthuswami Dikshithar in sahana was the next one which was followed by 'Nadhupai' in Madhyamavathi of Thyagaraja, which had all its usual beauty including the svara combination at 'veda sannutha' as 'sa,' 'ma.' (samavedasannutha)
The soul of the music was delineated in the rendering of "mayamma ' of Shyamasasthri in Ahiri, which was rendered in an exquisite manner , being steeped in bhava as only TNS could do. It was really moving and reflected the exact sentiment the composer has infused into it. Guruvayur Dorai who played the Mridhangam contributed ably to the mood of the song by his soft touch.
The main piece was 'sakkani raja' in Karaharapriya. The ebullient waves of the raga flowed like a high tide on a full moon day and the alapana was spiced with closed mouth singing which was awe inspiring to the rasikas. TNS constructed a rajamarga, a royal highway absolutely clear with no traffic for the royal krthi to follow. When TNS sang 'chikkani paAlu,' the milk (pAlu) was brought to boil and cooled and served with sugar. The svaraprasthara was full of pyrotechniques that never failed to delight his rasikas. The main piece lasted for one hour before the thani was given to Guruvayur Dorai and Sundar kumar, who played on the Ganjira. Sriram kumar on the violin also re ndered able assistance to TNS.
That was not all! The viruttham 'puLLinvai piLandhittai,' and the song KaNNallavo , a Oothukkadu compositon , sung on request from a rasika were like the payasam of the feast. The viruttham was in ragamalia, comprising of sankarabharanam, sarasangi, subapanthuvarali and suruti followed by the song ' kannallavo' in suruti and it was just beautiful. TNS Krishna took over from his father during the subapanthuvarali and did a fantastic job of it. His singing was fully laden with bhava and he has proved his worth, not only in raga, svara and laya but also in bhava, as the offspring of such illustrious father. The song kanallavo one could see Krishna in the act of gobbling butter and the censure of gopi which was brought picturesquely by the singing which amused and delighted the rasikas.
The concert ended with a thillana in Mohanam by Mutthiah bhagavathar and thiruppugaz.
The rasikas left as thrpthas with such a wonderful banquet!
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concert at Meenakshi college -8-12-2006
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The concert started with natakurinji varnam followed by 'Mahaganpathim' in Nata.Next was an elaborate alapana in sriragam with the krthi Srivaralakshmim which was good as usual. the panthuvarali that followed was exotic and the krithi kenjinene is new and I have not heard it so far. The neraval svaram in 'sundharam niraindha 'was really a sundharamniraindha svaraprastharam and kept the audience thrilled.
The next was something which proved that the concerts of TNS are audiovisual. It was "Ramanukku mannan mudi tharitthale"and it should be heard to enjoy the bhava. There was a review in recent Kumudam that TNS will sing ten sangathis in this line of the song.And he did!Such an eloquence that portrayed the actual coronation of Rama was fantastic.
Later in the anupallavi in "paamaramE unakkennadi pEcchEpazam nazuvippAlil vizundhArpol" the elegance with which the pazam slipped and fell into the milk was something remarkable!Pazam nazuvippaalilvizundha azage azagu!We could actually feel it.
Later in the charanam singing the line "parasuraman garvam theerthavandi" TNS portrayed the garva of parasurama through his music that is not only audible but perceivable .Similarly "nAAlu pEril moothhavan" was shown to be such!
This krthi which made everybody jubilant with its visual effect was significantly followed by Kalyanarama which is always delights his rasikas.
Next was 'etijanam'in varaliand the main raga was sankarabharanam the portrayal of the raga was picturesque and the work of the master artiste who painted it with his masterstrokes like a brilliant atrtist. the grahabhedha with thodi was areal master stroke and was applauded heavily.The krthi was svararaga sudha and it was really a 'svararagasudha ' nectarine in its delineation of raga and display of svara and laya and it was a svararagalaya sudharasa.
The end part consisted of ashtapadi 'sancharadhadhara*' in raga shyama kalyan and in the word 'mama' TNS brought into play both madhyamas ,Ma.ma, which was wonderful.This was followed by ' nirupamana,' *a javali in Behag and sindhubairavi thillana.
The audience apprciated the concert in every part and never got up even during thani, which was acclaimed by TNS himself and there was standing ovation in the end.
concert in Karthika fine arts at Naradagana sabha
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The concert being organised by Karthik Fine Arts TNs chose all songs on Karthikeya today after starting with 'Vathapi Ganapathim' in Hamsadvani, precede by a sloka. the krthi itself being fast moving the svara was also in fast tempo and lively for the start.
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Then TNS sang the last verse of Kandaranupudhi 'Uruvai aruvai uladhai iladhai,' in anandhaba hairavi and the alapana that preceded was exemplary and moving. The krthi was 'Manasa guruguha as expected and the neraval and svara at the unusual place 'nathva srigurucharanam' and rendered in a way in which only TNS is capable of. Anandhamana svara in Anandhabhairavi!
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Next was a detailed alapana in shadvidha margani followed by the krthi of Koteesvara ayyar 'antharanga bhakthi.'This was followed by 'paradesi petrapillai' in Bilahari a compostion of his mother.
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The main raga was thodi that gave the anticipation of the krthi 'Karthikeya gangeya' of Papanasam sivan and it was the same. The closed mouth singing which a speciality of TNS resembling the sound of nadhasvaram was amazing and one rasika remarked that what he sings with his mouth closed many cannot do even with open mouth! The thodi was of course marvellous and the svara had all the embellishments that could be expected from the great maestro.
*The next was a song by his mother which he sang in *two ragas shanmukhariya and behag, beautiful words rendered in beautiful ragas and presented full of bhava.The concert ended with the thillana in Niroshta, his own composition and thiruppugaz followed by sampradayamangalam
concerts of TNS in November 2006.
1-11-2006-Naradaganasabha-oothukkadu compositions.
TNS was awarded the title of Bharath sngeetha samrat by the carnatica.com
The concert was different from the later one at RKSwami hall as there were many new compositions while the other one consisted of all the popular ones.
The first was svaghatham Krishna as in the other concert, in which he has welcomed the Lord Kriishna in Mohanam ,who must have come and sitting in the front row, surely!
Next one in Natakurinji 'kodutthuvaittha punniavan' made all feel that we were kodutthuvaitha punniavangal to hear it.
Sloka in sahana 'krshnaya vasudevaya' was followed by 'vasudevaya namo namasthe,' which was also repeated in the second concert and HOW! I will relate the same when I come to it.
The next was a new one in kalyani'sarasijabhavajaye' ab nd the kalyani was anantha kalyanagunavisushta kalyani, in the delineation of raga and in the svaraprasthara. Next TNS sang 'pullinvai pilandhittai in kamas, a pasuram, favourite of his rasikas, followed by Nan ennat havam in Kamas which was 'sukamas', sugamanakamas,.
The next one was again a new one 'kallame ariyadha,' in amrthavarshini, which was a delightful piece. We were thanking our stars that the rains inChennai stopped for the day and had some trepidation as he sang Amrthavarshini. But we were saved!
Next was the rasika's favourite 'thaye yasodha.' The main piece of the day was 'etthanaikettalum in bhairavi,' which was elaborate unlike that in the later concert which was shorter for want of time.
Next was a new one 'anname' in Sama.
The rest of the concert consisted in muddukrishna,in senchurutti, neelavanam inpunnagavarali and kannallavo insuruti ending with thillana in sindhubhairavi, all of them were dripping with melody and charm and one could feel the presence of Krishna as he did for Oothukkadukavi.
12-11-2006-Mudra- One raga one krthi concert-Naradaganasabha
The raga taken was Kapi and TNS sang the krthi 'inthasoukyamanine' of Thyagaraja.
THose who heard the concert that day was really fortunate because the kapi raga was 'KA API'raga, meaning something that could not be described in words."kapi" or "kopi" in sanskrit besides meaning something or someone also used to denote something wonderful that cannot be described in words. The kapi that day was so exquisite that to describe it in usual terms as a kumbakonam degree kapi etc will be a gross understatement!
'Inthasoukyamanine' was rendered with such skill and imagination that made the audience exclaim with Thyagaraja ;inthasukyamanine , entho emo evariki thelusuno.'
15-11-2006-Muthiah bhagavathar compositions -Naradaganasabha
.Muthiah Bhagavathar's compositions always attain a special perfection in the hands of TNS he giving full sway to his masterly perfection in svararagalaya.This concert was no exception.
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16-112006-oothukkadu compositions atRKSwami hall
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The concert started with 'sollinile varum sukhame' in sankarbharanam as a guruvandana and irt was forllowed by svaghatham Krishna when Lord Krishna came and sat in front! The concert that followed was superb, magnificent and fantastic!
*The atana was adadana! The krthi was 'Madhuramadhura' which was madhura indeed! The beauty of the compositon was fully brought out. There is a dificulty in presenting oothukkadu compositions. Unless the musician is skilled there is the danger of the sahithya swallowing the sangeetha because of the abundance of words in the krthis. But TNS enhances the sangeetha aspect without sacrificing the sahitya also. Both sahithya and sangeeth were wellbalanced and presented a bhava which otherwise would have been absent.
Padmavathi ramanam was beautiful and the sloka that came next 'krishnaya vasudevaya was something unimaginable. In singing the word Govindaya TNS performed Gvindapattabhisheka as was done to the Lord after the govardhanoddharana by Indra. TNS was transformed into another Indra in crowning Govinda .
Next in asaindhadum mayil we could see the cvisualisation that is alwatys present on his concerts and we felt, 'nijamansukham enru onru irundhal' adhu idhudhan.
Next piece 'sonnal oziya manam kelaadhe,' exacctly depicts my view in writing this review. Though Ram has given an elaborate review my mind will not be satisfiled unlessI out in a few words cbecause the joy of listening to the concert is overflowing and will have to be spilt out or spelled out!
All the songs were beautifully rendered that is, Kalyanarama which was always the favourite of rasikas and the kambhodhi 'konju mazalai,' was a delightful portrait of Krishna and his leela, Bharavi 'etthanaikettalum reflected the feeling of his rasikas, wh o were never satiated in hearing his music.
TNS singing 'vanduketpar illaiyo,'a ragamalika , described aptly the performance as it describes the stelaing of the hearts by Krishna, that is exactly what TNS did that day, stealing thehearts of the audience!
