"Sandhya Ragam" - Concert Reviews by Sandhya Shankar

  Today everything is marketed or projected in a powerful way, for example Power Yoga…yoga is supposed to give a person, balance of mind and flexibility but with power yoga, hot yoga ( Bikram’s Hot Yoga) weight loss became the priority. So, how can another person better this marketing jargon…they can brand it as Ultra Power Yoga? HotterYoga ? What has to give you peace causes excitement. Fast is another buzz word, faster the better, fast food, fast deliveries, intermittent fast and all that is meant to be Satvik has become Rajasik. Carnatic Music is also not spared, in this Race for Pace. Almost every concert I had gone to, the recital was soooooo fast and so much of neravals, ghamkas, brigas and what not ! Infact, more popular the artiste, more the pace, making me gasp for breath watching them sing. I admire them, enjoy their singing, but wonder if they enjoy what they are singing or just playing to the gallery ! Gone are the days of GNB, Ariyakudi, Semmangudi, DKP when they sang ...

Some years ago, there was young lad who had arrived from The United States of America, choosing a future in Carnatic Music over a life there. These kind of stories are always charming for a Carnatic music lover or anyone who is proud to be an Indian, more proud to live in India. Now that being impressive, the proof of his talent in singing was in listening to him. This was year 2016, where I heard him at The Music Academy and was adequately impressed, but the sceptic in me, wrote ‘that people were praising him too early and he has to keep delivering to an ever critical audience, and there has to be a continuous improvement, if he needs to last in the field of Carnatic Music. The following year 2017, I attended his concert in Marghazhi Maha Utsavam, and had to acknowledge that he had grown as a musician and I could predict that he is there to stay…not just stay but to rule someday! As he was growing, so was my admiration for his music and he ranked top among my favourites. This year 202...

As I walked into the Music Academy on 19th afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot people, who had come to listen to Aishwarya Shankar sing. That increased my expectation and trust me, I was not disappointed at all. Aishwarya is a very committed vocalist who has a bright future. She began her concert with Dikshitar’s ‘Sri Gananatham Bhajare in Ragam Isamanohari. Clear diction with very good voice quality, good training and sincere rendition…..isn’t this a prescription for a good performer. All this was clearly in her to reach better heights, as she moved to her next song, by Patnam Subramania Iyer in Ragam Lathangi ‘Aparaadhamulanniyu’. Very beautiful Ragam ( but all Ragams are beautiful ) which has been incidentally used for a good number of film songs. Aishwarya was very impressive & confident with the Swaras and her voice is very clear and melodious. Her next song was Shyama Sastri’s popular ‘Brovavamma Taamasamele’ in Ragam Manji. Here Shyama Sastri expresses his lon...

  Whenever I have seen a group of men wearing pure white half sleeved shirts and pure white veshti, I immediately think (most often I am correct) that they are a group of politicians. And here we have on the stage, Sanjay and his loyal team all-white, ready to take us through music devoid of not just politics but everything that is not music. Now if this seems little confusing and difficult to understand……it is the impact of his kutcheri which was much more confusing & difficult to understand-why he chose what he did. The concert I am referring to, was at RR Sabha, on 9th December when it was raining crazy. If anyone thinks why a take so long to write after every concert, my reply would be, if I am all the time attending concerts, where do I have the time to write…all this between some very difficult medical emergencies running for days at a stretch. With torrential rains and impending cyclone,other Sabhas postponed the concerts scheduled for the same day, but BGS made a statem...