Do Re Mi Fa Pa Da Ni Sa ! - Jayanthi Kumaresh & Anil Srinivasan
Do Re Mi Fa Pa Da Ni Sa !
Not for me, are these New Year Eve parties held in clubs, where there are unfamiliar people trying to usher in another year along with badly cooked food from last year and loud music /noise. Not for me, are these private parties where people are getting drunk on the pretext of celebrating the passing of an unproductive year. I have never understood this forced gaiety just because the calendar had flipped a page !!
It would have been any other normal day for me on January1st this year, except that not every day does one get to listen to two amazing musicians live at 9 am in the morning. It was the annual program at Kalakshetra on January1st which featured a musical genius namely Jayanti Kumaresh on the Veena and an extraordinary pianist Anil Srinivasan.
Kalakshetra is one place in the middle of our concrete Chennai, which is reasonably unspoilt with open spaces, and no artificial Korean grass but old shady trees in very natural and rustic surroundings. The night before had rained leaving dew drops on the leaves and making the weather extremely pleasant and inviting. Imagine this canvas as we sat on the floor, while there were birds chirping outside the hall, Jayanti & Anil started with a Dikshitar’s krithi in Ragam Chakravakam ‘Gajananayutham Ganeshwaram’. It was absolutely serene and I can’t think of a better way to start this year !
The next song they chose to play was in Ragam Reetigowla, a composition of Saint Thyagaraja’s ‘Nannu Vidachi.’ It’s very interesting to listen to purely instrumental music because your ears and mind are not on the song or lyrics and you are able to identify songs with same tune or similar sounding Ragams. For example as they started the Reetigowla, my mind replayed the film song ‘Chinna Kannan Azhakiraan Radhayai’ sung by the one and only Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna for the film ‘Kavikuyil.’ I am not sure if this Rajinikanth starrer film was a hit but the song was & is hugely popular.
The two artistes definitely have a great work understanding and what they delivered was pure magic. At no point of the concert they tried to overshadow each other and it was evident that they had good camaraderie between them.
It’s understandable that the Veena, a traditional instrument of Indian origin when played by a genius like Jayanti could give a marvellous rendering of Saint Thyagaraja’s krithi ‘Manavyalakincharadate’ in Ragam Nalinikanti, which exposed the similarity to the song from the film Kalaignan ‘Yendhan Nenjil’ sung by Yesudas and Janaki. Here was Anil on his piano showing us that music has no boundaries or limitations.
When I say ‘boundaries’ it is not cricket or geographical boundaries but mental boundaries where one thinks only certain instruments can be used to play Carnatic music. Anil is a path breaker who deserves to be applauded for venturing into an area which is always under scrutiny. As far as I can remember, (atleast in my generation) he is the first to play a pure Carnatic krithi like ‘Manavyalakincharadate’ on the piano. And, if this is not being creative ... what is ? I bring forth this question because I have heard people making judgements about the authenticity or legitimacy of playing Carnatic music on instruments of non Indian origin. When we accept a saxophone, a mandolin or even the violin which definitely had its roots elsewhere but has become synonymous with Carnatic music, then why not the piano and especially from a very talented & committed pianist? The piano is probably the quintessential western instrument and great masters across the world have composed grand symphonies for this majestic instrument. The piano is an instrument where the keys play distinct notes hence not the easiest to play the gliding Carnatic style. And to even try playing classical ragams, Raga Alapanai and full krithis is no mean feat. We should stop judging and just enjoy the magic of music !
Both Jayanti & Anil periodically gave some inputs which helped us connect with the song. They moved on to play RTP or was it RTK (Ragam,Thanam, Krithi). While they mentioned Amritavarshini, a lot more Ragams like Revati,Shivaranjani, Hindolam, Suddhadhanyasi and Gambhira Natai were played. All the Ragams were played the pentatonic scale which means they denoted 5 notes or swaras. The lyrics for the Krithi was ‘Ananda Amrithakarshini’ and the whole thing was just beautiful !
They ended the concert with Bharatidasan’s ‘Thumbam Nergayil’ in Ragam Desh which was absolutely delightful.
I am not sure what this year holds for me, or where it is going to take me but one thing I know for sure is that if I am in Chennai on 1st January 2021 .... you can find me at Kalakshetra on that morning !
It would have been any other normal day for me on January1st this year, except that not every day does one get to listen to two amazing musicians live at 9 am in the morning. It was the annual program at Kalakshetra on January1st which featured a musical genius namely Jayanti Kumaresh on the Veena and an extraordinary pianist Anil Srinivasan.
Kalakshetra is one place in the middle of our concrete Chennai, which is reasonably unspoilt with open spaces, and no artificial Korean grass but old shady trees in very natural and rustic surroundings. The night before had rained leaving dew drops on the leaves and making the weather extremely pleasant and inviting. Imagine this canvas as we sat on the floor, while there were birds chirping outside the hall, Jayanti & Anil started with a Dikshitar’s krithi in Ragam Chakravakam ‘Gajananayutham Ganeshwaram’. It was absolutely serene and I can’t think of a better way to start this year !
The next song they chose to play was in Ragam Reetigowla, a composition of Saint Thyagaraja’s ‘Nannu Vidachi.’ It’s very interesting to listen to purely instrumental music because your ears and mind are not on the song or lyrics and you are able to identify songs with same tune or similar sounding Ragams. For example as they started the Reetigowla, my mind replayed the film song ‘Chinna Kannan Azhakiraan Radhayai’ sung by the one and only Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna for the film ‘Kavikuyil.’ I am not sure if this Rajinikanth starrer film was a hit but the song was & is hugely popular.
The two artistes definitely have a great work understanding and what they delivered was pure magic. At no point of the concert they tried to overshadow each other and it was evident that they had good camaraderie between them.
It’s understandable that the Veena, a traditional instrument of Indian origin when played by a genius like Jayanti could give a marvellous rendering of Saint Thyagaraja’s krithi ‘Manavyalakincharadate’ in Ragam Nalinikanti, which exposed the similarity to the song from the film Kalaignan ‘Yendhan Nenjil’ sung by Yesudas and Janaki. Here was Anil on his piano showing us that music has no boundaries or limitations.
When I say ‘boundaries’ it is not cricket or geographical boundaries but mental boundaries where one thinks only certain instruments can be used to play Carnatic music. Anil is a path breaker who deserves to be applauded for venturing into an area which is always under scrutiny. As far as I can remember, (atleast in my generation) he is the first to play a pure Carnatic krithi like ‘Manavyalakincharadate’ on the piano. And, if this is not being creative ... what is ? I bring forth this question because I have heard people making judgements about the authenticity or legitimacy of playing Carnatic music on instruments of non Indian origin. When we accept a saxophone, a mandolin or even the violin which definitely had its roots elsewhere but has become synonymous with Carnatic music, then why not the piano and especially from a very talented & committed pianist? The piano is probably the quintessential western instrument and great masters across the world have composed grand symphonies for this majestic instrument. The piano is an instrument where the keys play distinct notes hence not the easiest to play the gliding Carnatic style. And to even try playing classical ragams, Raga Alapanai and full krithis is no mean feat. We should stop judging and just enjoy the magic of music !
Both Jayanti & Anil periodically gave some inputs which helped us connect with the song. They moved on to play RTP or was it RTK (Ragam,Thanam, Krithi). While they mentioned Amritavarshini, a lot more Ragams like Revati,Shivaranjani, Hindolam, Suddhadhanyasi and Gambhira Natai were played. All the Ragams were played the pentatonic scale which means they denoted 5 notes or swaras. The lyrics for the Krithi was ‘Ananda Amrithakarshini’ and the whole thing was just beautiful !
They ended the concert with Bharatidasan’s ‘Thumbam Nergayil’ in Ragam Desh which was absolutely delightful.
I am not sure what this year holds for me, or where it is going to take me but one thing I know for sure is that if I am in Chennai on 1st January 2021 .... you can find me at Kalakshetra on that morning !
About the Author:
Sandhya Shankar belongs to a well respected business family in Chennai. She is a Life Skills & Corporate Trainer by profession. She is an avid reader and a natural writer, who has written several poems and articles. She even presented her poems as a reading at the British council. She has keen interest in all art forms and has explored many different forms of painting like stained glass and Tanjore being among them.
Music being her first passion, she had her formal training under Terakotti Chandrasekharaiah at Bangalore and later briefly under Mrs Champa Kumar. She is a regular visitor of concerts, theatre and other live performances. Her witty reviews have gained a loyal and interactive readership for their sound technical commentary and relevance for every kind of melophile, from the casual-goer to the ragam expert, frequenting Chennai’s rich music scene.
(*The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of Music of Madras.)
Sandhya Shankar belongs to a well respected business family in Chennai. She is a Life Skills & Corporate Trainer by profession. She is an avid reader and a natural writer, who has written several poems and articles. She even presented her poems as a reading at the British council. She has keen interest in all art forms and has explored many different forms of painting like stained glass and Tanjore being among them.
Music being her first passion, she had her formal training under Terakotti Chandrasekharaiah at Bangalore and later briefly under Mrs Champa Kumar. She is a regular visitor of concerts, theatre and other live performances. Her witty reviews have gained a loyal and interactive readership for their sound technical commentary and relevance for every kind of melophile, from the casual-goer to the ragam expert, frequenting Chennai’s rich music scene.
(*The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of Music of Madras.)
Lovely review.
ReplyDeleteI missed it this year as i was down with fever.
Thanks for sharing your musical experience in a serene atmosphere.
You took us through the concert by you review.wonderful review
ReplyDelete