Our concert on 29th October in Rutgers University will be in a format different from the usual carnatic concert format. We will be presenting an eclectic selection of songs of various saints and composers from the kirtanas of Tyagaraja and Purandaradasa, Tamil Viruthams to the bhajans of Meera, Tulsidas and Kabir and Marathi abhangs.
In a typical carnatic music concert spanning three hours, starting with a varnam, two to three major compositions with detailed alapana, nerval and swaram are presented. To rasikas who are relatively new to the Kutcheri experience, sitting through the entire concert may be a little difficult. We have had people frequently come up to us and ask us to come up with a concert format that would be a kind of bridge that would help people get familiar with our music, while retaining the sanctity and values of this great system.
This concert is an effort to reach out to people from a wider spectrum, and to give them a taste of classical music. The so-called “thukkadas” which generally appear at the end of a carnatic concert will be woven into the concert from the beginning itself. For the classical music lovers, there is going to be a jugalbandi piece - a Hindustani/Carnatic exploration of a raga which is common to both systems- with all the manodharma aspects like Alapana, Neraval and kalpana swaram.
This concert is also going to be a relatively new experience for us, as we have not sung classical Hindustani music much on stage. Much of our knowledge of Hindustani music is through listening- we grew up in Bombay listening to greats such as Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Smt Kishori Amonkar, Pandit Mallikarjun Mansoor, Gangubai Hangal….An unforgettable experience is a concert that happened in the early hours of the morning and the artiste was the great Mallikarjun Mansoor. Our father actually made us stand and listen so that we wouldn’t fall asleep during the concert! We also learnt briefly from the veteran Hindustani vocalist Pandit K.G.Ginde.
We will be accompanied for this concert on the violin by Sri.H.N.Bhaskar, Delhi Sri Sairam on mridangam and Sri Sai Shyam on tabla.
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9 comments:
Great! :) Wish you all the best :)
Thanks for the information. What time is the concert and where in Rutgers?
I just wanted to tell you that I have just listened to practically every CD of yours that was ever released. Your alapanam singing TRULY is masterful. Many thanks for all the music!
Excellent. At the Rang Concert in Bangalore I enjoyed the Jugalbandi on the Independence Day eve in Bangalore. But the new format of kutcheri sounds exciting indeed and this Bangalore lay rasika looks forward such kutcheris in this city.
Padmanabhan.
I was at your SSVT concert in Greenbelt this evening. Your raga thana pallavi in Sahana was just superb, and so were Kalyani, Bairavi, Aarabhi, and the rest. I also like how you mix the akara in Hindustani style in your exposition. The birakas (?) you generate are simply exquisite.
Serious listeners like me look forward to alapana, nerval, Swaras and of course Raga/Thana/Pallavi. Simplifying that format would be disappointing, especially from richly talented artists like you. I devoured every note tonight. Thank you so much!
My daughter and I are eagerly looking forward to the concert!!
I hope you had a great time performing at Rutgers, NJ yesterday.
With this, I guess, your long tour of the N.America will come to an end and you will all be heading back to India. I wish you all a happy journey back home.
The warmth of Chennai Airport would be welcoming you. Please jot your experiences in performing this year in the USA.
Also, please release more CDs (I've got all the CDs that have been released since 2002) and am anxiously waiting for the new releases.
-Padmanabhan, Bangalore
I listened to your concert in Rutgers, NJ. I have practically listened to all of your recording and I love your style. The way you went from the virutham to Narayana was simply awesome. Hope NJ will be lucky to have you every year.
Just a small comment, I felt the intention of concert in Rutgers was not fully served. The Jugalbandhi piece was nice in the sense that both the songs (Sivasiva and Payaliyam) were individually great but there was no point where the blend could be really felt. But it was a great attempt.
Hi your is so pure and so much from the heart. Gog bless. Hope you will come back to North America specially Seattle soon.
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