Carnatic Music ‘s Tendulkar in the make

Artist: Saketharaman S
Venue: Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha
Date: Dec 17, 2010

Is there a better way to start a match than with a boundary? Sakethraman started the concert with a sketch of Saveri and moved on Sarasuda varnam to warm up the audience and his throat. His next krithi Kannathandri Naapai in Devamanohari reminded me of Barathratna MSS impeccable rendition. This krithis also reminds me of Adi Shankara’s Bhaja Gonvindam where he regrets his slow spiritual progress and wandering senses.

1. Varnam – Sarasuda – Patnam Subramanya Iyer
2. Kannathandri naapai – Devamanohari – Thyagaraja (A,S)
3. Thodi – Rajuvedala Joothamurari - Thyagaraja
4. Brindavana Saranga – Soundararajam Aashraye – Muthuswami Dikshithar (A, S)
5. Paramapurusham – Lalithapanchamam – Swati Thirunaal
6. Kambodhi – O Rangasayee – Thyagaraja (A, N,S,T)
7. Virutham – Ragamalika –
8. Yenna solli azhaithal – Kanada – Ambujam Krishna
9. Yeppovaruvaro – Jonpuri – Gopalakrishna Barathi
10. Thillana – Madhuvanthi – Lalgudi Jayaraman
11. Mangalam

Being Vaikunta Ekadesi most of the songs were on trip to some beautiful temples – Sri Rangam, Nagapattinam and Chidambaram.

Saketharaman presented another gem of Thyagaraja – Raju Vedala in Thodi. After a flash of Thodi he started the kriti “Ranga Raju veda” in praise of Sri Ranganathan. Thyagaraja describes the beauty of Kasturirangan’s procession on a horseback adorned with gems. When singing the charanam “kaaveri teeramunanu paavanamagu ranga purini” Saketh does it slow, soft, and with a jive and dive adding more beauty to the lines. Artists need lot homework to understand the context of the krithi, internalize the lyrics and delivered with artistically, Saketh presentation was as fragrant as “Kasturi”.

Can there be Markazhi without Brindavana Saranaga? The Vedam parayanam group always goes before the Perumal procession, similarly a chaste, fresh and bakthi loaded raga alapana of Brindavana Saranga was followed by Dikshithar’s Soundararajam Aashraye, a krithi in praise of perumal at Nagapattinam. While Saketh’s vocal chords was gradually ascending and descending the notes with melody, swaras were sung beautifully without altering the kalapramanam of the krithi. His diehard fans were shaking their hands and heads in appreciation his delivery and discipline. Tirvarur Bakthavatsalam on the Mridhangam and Ghatam also played soft and slow to make the entire recital pramadham. Nagai Sriram on the violin was so so!

To keep tempo of the concert Saketh picked up Swati Thirunaal’s Paramapurusham, a beautiful madhyamakala krithi. Raga Lalitha used by Dikshithar and others don’t use panchamam, but however Swati Thirunaal used “Pa” and hence it is called Lalitha Panchamam. The other Lalitha Panchamam moment in the concert was when Senior artist Bombay Jayashree walked in with her students. It is rare to see artist attend kutcherys of other artist and it even a rare occurrence to see them attend junior artists along with their students. BJ, thanks for bringing a new breeze in the politically smelling Carnatic music field. Hope this brings a change in attitude in the minds of the next generation.

The next alapana put the question out, is it Manam kavar or Manam kamazh Kambodhi? To see BJ’s head shake and approve Saketh’s rendition was heartwarming. Saketh proved it was both.

The O moment of the concert happened when Saketh started O Rangasayee and TM Krishan walked in. It was Oh Rangasayee than just O Rangasayee. While Saketh was rendering the kriti, Tirvarur Bakthavatsalam stopped playing the mridhangam to welcome TMK and offered him the front row seat. To stop in the middle of the song to welcome a rasika is not stage discipline. He could have welcomed him post the kriti. It disturbs the concentration of the main artist. Well may be that is the price one pays to have a super senior pakkavadhyam. It got worse when mridhangam and TMK started to engage in a mini concert with besh, bale, sabash! I was wondering who is singing now, it is the person on the stage or the person in the front row!

As a result the usually 15min thani turns out to be a 25 mins session. TMK is a distraction on both sides of the stage! Nereval at Bhoolaka Vaikuntam was done very softly and subtly embellished the rendition more. Kalapanaswaram were delectable. But still Brindavana Saranga was the highlight of the day!

While Carnatic perumal (TMK) made his pravesham here, within half hour Thayar (Sangeetha Krishna) also makes her visit, making it a star studded evening.

A Mama Special: I get a sms from the friend attending a performance in Music Academy this evening. The text read , “Nayagan Nayakikul pravaesithan”, I was shocked and re-read the sms twice. My mama friend in the meantime came to my rescue and clarified that he meant TNS was singing Nayaki. Nayaki can be dangerous even without Darbar!

A beautiful thamizh virutham in Ragamalika took us again to Sri Rangam.
Ooriley kaani illai, uravu matroruvar illai
Paariley nin paadha moolam patrinen parama murthy
Kaaroli vannaney kannaney kadharukindren
Arangama nagar ullaney
The virutham was followed by Ambujam Krishna Yenna Solli Azhaithal in Kanada. The last few songs were quick and popular numbers. Madhuvanthi Thillana and the ever green melody Yeppo varuvaro was a delight to hear.

Sore points:
1. Sri Parthasarathy Swami is the oldest sabha and has the crappiest of music system. It is time they find a better hall with decent acoustics, otherwise there is no point in brining the best of musicians.
2. If musicians feel offended when Rasikas walk out during Thaniavarthan, rasikas feel offended when musicians who come to attend the concert distract the artist on stage and try to steal their limelight.
3. Having a senior musician as accompanists can be a pain.
4. Markazhi is the only time we sing and hear Tirupaavi and Saketh should have presented a Thirupaavi.

High points:
1. The best Brindavana Saranga I have heard in the season so far and Kambodhi definitely had strokes of brilliance.
2. When I walked out of the hall I had a happy feeling that Carnatic Music’s Tendulkar is in the make. Saketharaman, is calm and composed and displays brilliance at many time with his strokes. He sings with an attitude that I am here for long and I am willing to work hard with discipline.
3. I heard Saketharaman 3 months back and when I hear him today I can see that a lot of preparation and hard work gone into his music. He has raised the bar and exceed again. I need to give him two hundred points for not taking even a centimeter of paper with him to the stage. Definitely today’s youngsters are putting senior vidwans to shame with their dedication and discipline. Senior may have vidwat and knowledge, but they lack basic discipline and stage manners.