"Sandhya Ragam" - Concert Reviews by Sandhya Shankar

Abhangamala During the 2019 - 2020 Margazhi month, there was one particular video which was going viral on WhatsApp. It was not anything remotely like the ‘Kolaveri’ or ‘Jhimki Kammal’ songs. It was of a young girl called Sivasri, among a group of people going around Mada Veedhi of Kapaleeshwar Temple in Mylapore, singing Namasankeertanam!  Instantly, she became a rage among the Kutchery going crowd. It was evident that the girl had immense talent and was trained in Carnatic Music. Obviously, the sensation was limited to a certain segment of people, for it's meant for those who are interested in this genre. Well, I being one of them, when I heard that she is performing at a private residence, on Feb 8th, I rushed straight from Bangalore into the host’s house, looking tired with disheveled hair and crumpled clothes. My entry, of course got the unintended attention, momentarily distracting everyone from Sivasri.  She started with a Namavalli ‘Narayana Naraya...

Trinity by Madras Players Remember Aamir Khan's film 'Lagaan' which was a big hit ? While we can attribute it to good film making, one of the reasons was that it had all the right ingredients like 'Cricket' and the 'Freedom Movement' ! Now these two as a combo with the right treatment is bound to be appealing. Likewise, the English play 'Trinity' by Madras Players had the right mixture in right proportion of Carnatic music & good storytelling. I had first seen it in 2018 at Museum Theatre and recently I saw their ‘extended’ version of the play, during the rehearsals before their US tour. I was particularly curious about the fact that the original 90 minute play had been extended by another 30 minutes at the behest of the US organisers. In an era where everything is becoming smaller and having a shorter life span, this is surprising. Like 5 day Test Cricket became ODI and then came T20 and there is some talk about 100 ball cricke...

  ' YUVA' Namasankeertanam This program was one of its kind, where the students of the music school ‘Ganapriya’ presented an evening of Namasankeertanam, on January 12th 2020 at Sringeri Mutt Hall, R.A.Puram.  One would wonder what a group of teenagers or even younger Children would have to do with Namasankeertanam... infact I can’t think of my kids at that age (or even now) sitting among the audience let alone perform in such an event.  Hey, just incase anyone has a doubt that they are atheists or agnostic, I need to clarify that it is not so, it’s just a matter of interest or choice! And here I see a bunch of kids all appropriately dressed sitting and delivering 2 hours of melodious and Bhakti filled Namasankeertanam.  I think the credit must go to their teacher Bhagyalakshmi Suresh, whose own experience with Bhakti has brought her to train her students not just in Carnatic music but also launch them in a field rarely chosen by children. T...

Pra’natana’ ti In between vocal concerts happening all over the city in the month of December, I did get to attend a few chosen Bharatanatyam dance performances. One of them happened to be Pranati Ram’s at Narada Gana Sabha on 21st December at 1.45 pm.  I was impressed when she started her performance with a ‘Melaprapthi’.   In common terms  ’Melam’ means percussion and ‘Praapthi’ means prelude or opening. In the olden days, a Melaprapthi heralded the start of a temple ritual or performance.  A Melaprapthi comprises entirely of seams of sollukattu. The Melaprapthi she chose to perform, was a traditional piece from the Vazhuvoor repertoire which was composed by Gangai Muthu Nattuvanar, and choreographed by Pranati’s Guru Rhadha. Her second presentation was the popular Ragamalika Varnam Sami Ninne Kori Va set to Rupaka talam. This is a composition by the Tanjore Quartet. The meaning of this Varnam is  ‘O lord Brihadishwara of Tanjav...

Yesuvarasanam Anyone who grew up in the 1960’s would remember things like playing street cricket, when we had to behave very, very well and also study very,very well to get an ice cream or a chocolate (we had to earn anything which was not basic), like when we collected leaves & twigs for our scrap book, like our mothers wore kum kum powder on their foreheads (sticker bindis had not be devised), like we didn’t have to call people before we visited them, like listening to the Beatles, like Ameen Sayani’s voice on Binaca Geetmala on every Wednesday and Yesudas singing ‘Enna Parvai Unthan Parvai’ for the film ‘Kadhalika Neramillai’.   Anyone who grew up during 1970’s will remember things like their black telephone instrument covered with an embroidered cloth (sometimes locked so that people didn’t misuse it), like black & white tv with Doordarshan being the only channel and programmes starting only after 6pm and ending by 9pm, like playing book cricket, buying boo...

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 sur...