A student’s experience from a Carnatic Concert

--------------------------    Abirami Srivatsan

 It was Monday, December 16th of 2024, the first day of Margazhi. The concert was at Krishna Gana Sabha at 4 pm by vidushis Nisha Rajagopalan and Amritha Murali. It was a brilliant concert, to say the least!

Every concert has a set synopsis namely the concert begins with a varnam and ends with a thukkada. Here too, Nisha and Amritha started with a varnam, a navaragamalika (a set of 9 ragas that begins with Kedaram and has Shankarabaranam, Kalyani, Begada, Kambhoji, Yadukula Kambhoji, Bilahari, Mohanam, and Sri) composed by Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer, known for his brilliant composition of many varnams. 

Moving further, a composition of  Shyama Shastri "Shankari Shankuru Chandramukhi" in the ragam Saveri and in Thishra Nadai was brought out very well and the neraval in the line "Shyama Krishna Sodari Shyamale Satodari" was amazing

The sub-main of the concert was Begada and a composition of Ramaswamy Sivan in Mishra chapu. The neraval was sung in the line "Kadaikaan Vaithennai Alamma," the Pallavi of the composition. Begada is a rakthi raga which needs many more hours of practice to present well in a concert and the singers did that well.

Before moving to the main, a short composition of Muthuswami Dikshithar in the raga Hamirkalyani ,"Parimala Ranganatham Bhajeham" following a viruttham was presented beautifully. 

The main of the day was Bhairavi and the composition is the magnum opus composition of Saint Thyagarajaswami - "Raksha pettare". The Neraval was brought beautifully in the line “Sangitapriya Thyagaraja” which is the charanam. 

A short RTP in the ragam Vakulabharanam was sung next. The Pallavi lines were “Kamala Vakula Maaladi Dharanam Yaadava Kulaabharanam Krishnam Kalaye.” This Pallavi was rendered in Thriputa jamba thalam. The ragamalika swarams were from the ragas like Umabharanam, Natabharanam, and Shankarabaranam. The notable fact is that the Pallavi is composed by another brilliant vidwan R K Shriramkumar. 

The concert ended with a composition of Purandaradasa in the raga Jaunpuri, “Hari Chitta Satya” and “Nirguna Niramaya” in the raga Yamankalyani followed by a viruttham from Thirumurai “Ulagelam Unarndu Odar Kariyavan.” The Mangalam was a composition of Bhadrachala Ramadas - “Ramachandraya Janaka Rajaja Manoharaya.” Vidwans Arjun Ganesh and Anirudh Athreya played very well throughout the concert. R K Shriramkumar’s magic in the RTP and Begada were the highlight of the concert.

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Natya Kala Conference at Krishna Gana Sabha

 The 42nd Natya Kala Conference, titled "Abhijāta: The Eternal Tradition," will take place from December 26 to December 29, 2024, at Krishna Gana Sabha. 

Curated by Kathak and Bharatanrithyam exponents Nirupama & Rajendra, this year's event promises a celebration of classical dance. 

Attendees can look forward to engaging workshops, insightful panel discussions, and captivating performances by leading Bharatanatyam artists. 

The Schedule: 

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Maarga Annual Music Festival - Dec. 25 to 31, 2024

Maarga, an organisation founded by musician Delhi P Sunder Rajan celebrates its annual music festival on Dec 24, 25 and Dec, 27 - 31, 2024 and two venues.

Admission to concerts is free;

The Schedule: (Click here or on the image for the full schedule)

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Margazhi Music & Marvellous Photo display at Narada Gana Sabha

'Madras, Margazhi & Music' by Amar Ramesh is a nostalgic series that captures the essence of Chennai’s Margazhi season. As part of Chennai Photo Biennale (CPB) Edition 4,  Amar Ramesh celebrates the city’s rich cultural heritage, offering viewers a unique lens into the traditional and modern facets of the Margazhi festivities.

Now, the Narada Gana Sabha facade has a stunning display of photographs of musicians put up by Amar Ramesh and his team. 

Photo by Vidhya Mahadevan

If you are at the venue, you may also buy a copy of a Coffee Table book with these amazing photos.

The exhibition is on from December 20, 2024 to February 3, 2025

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A pull at the heart strings Scintillating concert by Jayanthi Kumaresh

------------------------------   By Vidhya Mahadevan

When there is unison of creativity and technicality and the music is soul-filling, that is an ultimate concert experience and Jayanthi Kumaresh’s performance for Narada Gana Sabha’s Margazhi Festival exemplified this. 

Invoking Lord Ganesha, she began the concert with Gajananayutham in Chakravakam (Vegavahini in Dikshitar school) and added a rich garnish of swarams to enhance the composition. Pallavi Seshaiyer’s Entani vinnavintura in Urmika, a janya ragam of Simhendramadhyamam, followed. Her clarity in sangathis and the pace of the krithi brought out the beauty of the ragam very well. Jayanthi’s alapana of ragam Sama was a picture of serenity and calmness and led into Annapurne Visalakshi by Muthuswami Dikshitar in Adhi thalam. 

She next presented the 45th Melakartha ragam - Shubapanthuvarali. An artist shines when they lead the listener to look beyond just the notes and absorb the essence of the ragam in its entirety. Jayanthi’s incredible raga essay, the silence between the bhava-laden phrases and the poignant glides took us on a beautiful journey into the soul of the raga. Ennalu Urake, a nindha-stuti by Thiagaraja was the chosen kriti and her rendition conveyed the frustration expressed by the composer where he questions Rama for being so unconcerned. The detailed kalpana swarams and kuraippu was elevating. Her rendition of Papanasam Sivan’s Kapali in Mohanam provided a complete shift in the musicscape that she created. 

There are so many lessons to be learnt while listening to established artists and one of them is creating a song list which catered to various rasas and this concert’s repertoire addressed the key ones - bhakti, shanti and karuna rasa. 

She then presented a ragam, thanam and pallavi in ragam Bahudari. The garland of raga phrases woven together with soulful glides made for an impactful alapana. Her mastery over the instrument music was highlighted in her ragamalika thanam where she shifted the Gandharam from Bahudari (S G3 M1) by one note to Suddha Dhanyasi (S G2 M1) to Arabi (S R2 M1) and then to Saveri ( S R1 M1). The raga shifts were seamless and the kaleidoscopic rendition of thanam in varying speeds was spellbinding. A lilting pallavi and a melody-percussion dialog came next. Kalpana swarams came with the same Gandharam shift but with new ragams - from Bahudari (S G3 M1) to Varamu(S G2 M1), Brindavana Saranga (S R2 M1) and then to Revathi ( S R1 M1). 

Perform in an instrumental concert is much more challenging than a vocal concert, and both K.U. Jayachandra Rao on Mridangam and Trichy Krishnaswamy on Ghatam demonstrated their percussion expertise with this in mind, providing an exciting and sparkling thani avarthanam and allowing the tones of the veena to bloom during the krithis. 

Kanda Naal Mudhalai in Madhuvanti, Lalgudi Jayaraman’s Thillana in Khamas and Kamakshi Lokasakshini in Madhyamavati by Shyama Sastri brought the serene evening to a close. 

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Sanjay Subrahmanyan Announces Free Access to All Episodes of Sanjay Sabha on YouTube

Renowned vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyan announced in a recent Social Media post that he will discontinue YouTube channel memberships. This significant change means that all episodes of the four seasons of "Sanjay Sabha" will now be freely accessible to everyone.

The initiative, originally launched during the pandemic when performance opportunities were scarce, has garnered immense support from his dedicated audience over the past four years. Expressing his gratitude, Sanjay acknowledged the invaluable patronage of his members which inspired him to build a direct connection through "Thamizhum Naanum" and "Sanjay Sabha Live" shows.

Moving forward, Sanjay Subrahmanyan will continue to offer more concerts and videos on his channel at regular intervals, ensuring his fans have free access to his performances.