Date: 6th Dec 2019 / 18:00 Hrs
Venue: Meenakshi College
Team: Sikkil Gurucharan, Shruti Sarathy (Violin),
Neyveli Venkatesh (Mridangam), Krishnan (Ghatam)
I had a choice of concerts on 6th Dec. What tilted the favour
is the presence of Neyveli Venkatesh, part of the famed trio of “Men in White”
of Sanjay’s. If there is Venkatesh, one can be sure of fireworks. He didn’t
disappoint! It was a full-house!
The college has instituted a good habit in the form of announcing the
names of the artists and reading a brief introduction of them. I wish either
the vocalist or the sabha does it before the start. The only problem is that
the college seems to select the student announcer by lottery. No doubt, it is a
coveted position. The danger is that the student comes to the stage without
giving so much as a glance at the paper she is about to read. The announcer, to
top it, is a student from English language department. She started; uttered a
few words; took a pause; started at the words again; looked at Gurucharan for
inspiration perhaps and continued to mispronounce the achievements of artists.
Gurucharan was suddenly woken up to find his Guru’s name (Gnanaskandan) dismembered
and sounding foreign. Perhaps, he was wondering if his Guru had changed his
name without his knowledge! The presenter didn’t stop only with Gurucharan. She
was equally fair to other artists too. By this time, everyone was awake
including the lady, next to me. The sabha was beaming with activity. Realizing
something was amiss, the student proceeded to read the end of the page that said,
“Let the music begin.”
The audience clapped and clapped. Everyone was exchanging pleasantry
with others. There was a general bonhomie unheard of in Meenakshi College.
Suddenly, one of the teachers must have pointed out to the student announcer
that she had left the name of the Kanjira artist. The logic was plain and
simple. What didn’t work for Gurucharan, Shruti, Venkatesh and Sharma should
not work for Sivasubramanian too. The student ran to the mike and delivered a
few words about him too only to be corrected by the artist himself. Thus, the
stage was set for a rocking concert.
I am not going to cover this sequentially. Let’s start with the Shankarabharanam
Varnam “Sami nine kori” that rocked from the word go. If I don’t mention the Subha Pantuvaraali
“Sri Satyanarayanam”, I will not do justice to Gurucharan. Some
might call this a funeral raga. That is not so. The pathos, it evokes, are just
out of the world. The vocalist was ably supported by Shruti and Venkatesh. Shruti
Sarathy of violin took some time to come to terms; but once she was, she
proclaimed she was second to none.
The concert had majestic Atana, amazing Abhogi
and a mellifluous Mohanam. Mohanam was elaborated in detail
by Gurucharan. An elegant alapanaa was an aural treat to the rasikas. Brigas
and Kalpanaswarams flowed from him. The 10-minute Tani by Venkatesh brought the
rasikas on their feet. Venkatesh has his unique style of blending with the
vocalist, remaining the background when required only to come on tops later.
Dasar’s “Sakala Graha bala neene” was mind-blowing. So was
Papanasam Sivan’s Abhogi “Nekkurigi.”
Tow important things happened by the time the concert ended. The sound
engineer was not noticed throughout but for a brief spike. The more you didn’t notice, the
better it was the concert. When I enquired with him as to the reason for the
sudden spike, he said that the instruments were heating up beyond 40 degree and
ideally there should be air conditioning in the hall. The second was the middle-aged
lady, who brought her daughter thinking it was a large tuition class, completed
feeding him with Chapathi and his homework. The artists, the rasikas and the
aforesaid mami all came out of the hall saying “Bale.”
Ambience: *
Vocalist: ***
Accompanying artists: ***
Raga of the Concert: Subhapantuvaraali
Overall: ***
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