Recent Carnatic Music Recommendations

Here are some observations on three Carnatic musicians I listened recently. You will perhaps be tempted to skip the post but I assure I at least don't pass off these opinions as erudite promulgations from a holier than thou. On the other hand, if you haven't yet attempted to enjoy this South Indian Classical Music form, you are missing something good in life. Same holds true for any classical music form and music in general.

Sanjay Subramanian is one of my contemporary favorites. Reasons abound on why it is so the important ones being sincerity, confidence, creativity and the willingness to experiment and stretch himself and the music. Of course my qualifying remarks are superfluous if you already have listened to him at least once.

In a recent concert I attended at the TTD Devasthanam in T. Nagar, Chennai, he gave expositions on manIrangU and sAmA, two relatively uncommon ragas in the present day concert repertoire. Manirangu if not handled deftly, would sound like a madhyamAvathi or srI. sAmA is another raga that could get daunting. In Shankar's film Anniyan, there was a song (listen here) tuned by Harris Jayaraj that had shades of sAmA (another one was in nAtai). Even a well tread Mohanam reveals its folkish melodies when Sanjay sings it.There was also a cute Annamacharya krithi that starts Palukute, set in AbhEri. In a recent album of Sanjay this song was preceded with a raga exposition in AbhEri that reminded of rare melodious phrases one gets to hear only when this rAga is delivered in a nAgaswaram. In fact that recent album by Sanjay titled Chaturshram contains four apt rare gems in bEgadA, AbhEri, nAtaikurinji, sindhubhairavi ragas, delivered in good steam.

Every time I listen to, accompanist Nagai Murali amazes me with his sweetest violin tone, even while he follows/shadows/repeats the briga rich creative solos of Sanjay. And whenever a rare raga is exposited by the main artist - as done in the above concert the other day - I always get the feeling Murali does the exposition even better, when he gets his turn. Arun Prakash on the mridangam is a musician's favorite. Teams like this usually deliver irrespective of the kirtanas (songs) and concert location.

Another Sanjay concert I listened to is the unedited CD version of one of his Dec 2007 concert. After a standard set of srI, varAli, mOhanam etc., there was an exposition of a rare mElakarthA raga shUlini. I wouldn't rate the effort because I am hearing the raga for the first time. There is no reference point in the (recorded) hoary past of Carnatic Music to which I can compare this effort (a good thing). Sanjay is one contemporary musician who has a penchant for trying out rare mElakarthAs in concerts as a sub main or main piece. Over the years I have listened to him elaborate some rarities like nAtakapriya, gAyakapriya, natabhairavi, jyOthiswarUpini, chalanAta, kOsalam, sucharithra, rIshabapriya, kOmalangi (a janya raga) and now, shUlini.

There is a dogmatic "purist" group of seasoned listeners for whom a Carnatic concert must be from a selection out of about thirty ragas - a drop in the ocean of Carnatic music with a million possibilities. Familiarity to these ragas and some of their songs over the years and how well it is regurgitated in a concert breeds their approval and credit for an artist. Nothing fundamentally wrong with this expectation. Such familiarity also breeds their form of punditry and eventually, art stagnation. Artists, like any other creator, are very insecure. They need constant encouragement for practicing the art form their way. Only then the boundaries of art could be stretched and art itself flourish. In this context, as a listener, one should be ready to go to the next concert, even when such experiment flop. Fortunately, there is enough support and recognition for artists like Sanjay and their experiments, amongst a slice of concert goers.

Now for two more non-run-of-the-mill singers.

Prassala Ponnammal is an aged gem whose recent concert I listened to had a remarkably soothing swarajathi (rAvE HimagirikumAri in tOdi) in the right ambulating and lilting tempo. I couldn't come out of the reverie for a long time. Such songs identified as swarajathis are set to slow and very slow tempos with long sententious and intricate melodies (swara korvais) accompanied with suitable lyrics. Syama Sastri, one of the Carnatic musical trinities, has excelled in composing some remarkable swarajathis. It would take about 10 to 15 minutes to sing just the song. It takes a certain confidence and composure to sing a swarajathi as a sub main piece of a concert, as Prassala Ponnammal did that day. In the past Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer used to perform swarajathis (ambA kAmAkshi in particular) with elan, a tradition T. M. Krishna attempts to imbibe nowadays in his concerts. In Prassala Ponnammal's concert there was also an AlApanai (exposition) of Arabhi that was good. There were two nEravals at this concert, a rarity nowadays and both were intelligently done.

Vasundhra Rajagopal, notwithstanding her Srirangam nativity, is another lady I respect for the music. I discovered her late in her career and the first time I listened to her two years back at the Music Academy morning concert she gave good AlApanais (expositions) of relatively uncommon ragas like mandAri, husEni and dEvagAndhAri. It is since ages I hear an AlApanai for husEni - the only recorded versions I have are by Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar delivered in the 1960s. There was an RTP (ragam thanam pallavi) for dEvagAndhAri too. Since then I listened to her thematic concert on Arunachala Kavi's compositions set to tune by herself in reasonably eclectic ragas. I missed attending (and regret till this day) her thematic concert on Dec 31, 2007, on Paasurappadi Ramayanam of Peria Vachan Pillai. The concert also had accompanying commentaries by Velukkudi Krishnan (any recordings of this concert available?).

Rummaging through Landmark store's dirty bottom boxes, last week I was able to relieve them of her 2001 dated CD on dEvagAndhAri for a paltry price. This CD also contained initial discourses on the raga by Carnatic music theorists in which there was a specific mention that dEvagAndhAri is not taken for full expositions as in a RTP.

After such punditries came an excellent forty five minute long RTP in dEvagAndhAri by Vasundhra.

Related posts:

1. Identify from its title, the music review of SVK
2. I Bow to Thee SVK
3. When promulgating ones platitudinous ponderosities
4. Snake Ears and Magudi Music
5. What a waste of intellect and ink