Rama Varma's concert departed from the regular format to present a variety of compositions.
9 years, 1 month ago

Rama Varma's concert departed from the regular format to present a variety of compositions.

The Hindu  

VISAKHAPATNAM: Some concerts are just to hear and some other to be cherished; the concert of renowned prince Rama Varma belongs to the latter and his recent concert at Boat View in Vysakhi Jala Vudyanavam Visakhapatnam is no exception. It was originally tuned in raga Sree by the author but redoubtable Chambai Vydyanath Bhagavatar did it in raga Yadukula Kombhoji and Rama Varma chose the latter version and presented it with aplomb. Though he presented two compositions in same raga in span of hardly an hour, nowhere they did they seem similar standing refreshingly pleasant in different shades. Rama Varma also encouraged budding artistes to sit behind him on the stage to sing a few compositions along with himCompositions of Purandardasa, Prayaga Rangadas and a Tamil one formed the fare.

Concert Rama Present Raga Composition Compositions Rama Varma Regular Format Varma Chose  departed  rama  concert  raga  variety  varmas  visakhapatnam  yadukula  way  regular  format  composition  compositions  varma  chose  presented  present

History of this topic

Chandan Kumar and Vishwas Hari presented ragas with artistic finesse at the Suswaraa Trust’s annual music festival 2025
2 weeks, 2 days ago

Chandan Kumar and Vishwas Hari presented ragas with artistic finesse at the Suswaraa Trust’s annual music festival 2025

The Hindu  

Lyrical appreciation is as integral to enjoying Carnatic music as its musical aesthetics. As a result, back-to-back concerts by Vishwas Hari and Mysore A. Chandan Kumar on the opening day of Suswaraa Trust’s 36th Sangeetha Utsavam at Bharaitya Vidya Bhavan Mini Hall proved to be a double delight. The Sahana varnam ‘Karunimpa’ by Tiruvotriyur Tyagayyar provided a lively start before …

Exploring Ramayana through four traditional artforms
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Exploring Ramayana through four traditional artforms

New Indian Express  

The Ramayana has inspired countless artistic expressions. In the dance-drama Bhavayami, the story unfolds through meticulously choreographed Bharatanatyam, based on the Swati kriti, performed by eight dancers, covering the journey from the birth of Rama to his coronation. Kalamandalam Vaisakh, the director of the show, explores four traditional art forms to highlight the characters. “I conducted extensive research for around …

Bharatanatyam dancer K.P. Rakesh unravels the beauty of Jayadeva’s ashtapadi
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Bharatanatyam dancer K.P. Rakesh unravels the beauty of Jayadeva’s ashtapadi

The Hindu  

The ashtapadis of Jayadeva are preferred compositions for dancers across styles. From the delicacy and grace that marked his entry as Krishna in the bower to the melodic strains of the flute by Sujith Naik, Rakesh immersed himself into the character. The gentle manner in which Krishna beseeches Radha to place her feet on his body, caressing it and her …

Young Bharatanatyam artiste Manasa Sriram impresses with her sincere approach
1 month, 4 weeks ago

Young Bharatanatyam artiste Manasa Sriram impresses with her sincere approach

The Hindu  

Manasa Sriram, a disciple of Mahalakshmi Ashwin, began her recital at the Pongal Dance Festival 2025 with the invocatory hymn from the Thirumanthiram, ‘Ainthu karathanai’, in praise of Ganesha. She then moved to a Ganesha Alarippu set to Tisra Nadai Adi tala, showcasing the essence of Bharatanatyam’s rhythmic foundation. For the varnam, Manasa chose ‘Swamiyai azhaithu vadi’ by the Thanjavur …

Shruthi Vidhyashankar’s varnam ‘Samiyai Vara Cholladi’ was impressive
1 month, 4 weeks ago

Shruthi Vidhyashankar’s varnam ‘Samiyai Vara Cholladi’ was impressive

The Hindu  

Right moves Shruthi Vidhyashankar’s recital peaked during the varnam Srividya Shruthi Vidhyashankar’s Bharatanatyam recital proved her mettle from the start. This was followed by the evening’s highlight — the varnam ‘Samiyai vara cholladi’, a composition by K.N. By way of elaborating lines such as ‘Bhumi pugazhum sivakami magizhum balan’, Shruthi made fleeting references to the story of the birth of …

Mahathi’s ode to Tamil language and culture
2 months, 1 week ago

Mahathi’s ode to Tamil language and culture

The Hindu  

S. Mahathi’s performance at the Tamil Isai Sangam was rooted in reverence for Tamil musical traditions. Mahathi had curated a songlist of compositions by Tamil composers and saints — she began with an elegant rendition of ‘Vallabhai nayaka’, a varnam in Mohana Kalyani, composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman. The concert’s progression brought a distinct shift with Ramalinga Adigalar’s Tiruvarutpa, with the …

How Rama Vaidyanathan made an abhang the soul of her performance
2 months, 1 week ago

How Rama Vaidyanathan made an abhang the soul of her performance

The Hindu  

The Music Academy’s dance festival began with a performance by Rama Vaidyanathan, who chose compositions that gave a feel of the Bharatanatyam margam. A rare Ata tala varnam composed by Syama Sastri in Anandabhairavi was the central piece of the evening, for which the jathis were composed by mridangist Sumod Sreedharan. I am a courtesan and you are my paramour.” …

With a soul-stirring concert by Kunnakudi Balamurali Krishna, it is curtains for music festival in Madurai
2 months, 2 weeks ago

With a soul-stirring concert by Kunnakudi Balamurali Krishna, it is curtains for music festival in Madurai

The Hindu  

The final day of the 73rd Music and Arts Festival at Sri Sathguru Sangeetha Samajam in Madurai witnessed a soul-stirring concert of Kunnakudi Balamurali Krishna with Bhakthi and Bava, which left audience spellbound. Balamurali commenced with Swati Tirunal’s Varnam ‘Sarasijanabha in Kambhoji,’ offering obeisance to ‘Saraji janabhan.’ He then worshipped Vedaraneswarar through Sri ParvathI Paramesvarau vande in bauli by Dikshidar. …

Abishek Raghuram’s vocal concert full of energy
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Abishek Raghuram’s vocal concert full of energy

The Hindu  

Abhishek Raghuram rendered an astounding and unique concert on the ninth day of the 73rd annual music and arts festival at Sri Sathguru Sangeetha Samajam, with the percussion support from Akkarai Sornalata on the violin, V Harikumar on the mrudangam and Tiruchi Krishnaswamy on the ghatam. Worshipping Ganesha, the resident of the Muladhara lotus, through “Sri Gananatham Bhajare” by Muthuswamy …

How Carnatic music is moving towards inclusive sahitya
2 months, 2 weeks ago

How Carnatic music is moving towards inclusive sahitya

The Hindu  

The first lec-dem on Day 14 of The Music Academy’s academic sessions was by Sister Margaret Bastin ‘Sarva samarasa kirtanaigalum sanmargak kirtanaigalum’. Significance of padams and javalis The second lec-dem was by Sangita Kala Acharya awardee Geetha Raja along with a few of her disciples on the topic ‘Ragas as expressed in padams and javalis’. Sangita Kala Acharya Suguna Varadachari …

With a focus on Shiva
Trending News
2 months, 2 weeks ago

With a focus on Shiva

The Hindu  

Anwesha Das, a disciple of Urmila Satyanarayanan, presented a traditional margam for her performance for Kartik Fine Arts. The alarippu in Sankirna Chaapu featured elements representative of his iconic image — the Damaru, the Ganga flowing from his locks, the tiger skin and snake — through interesting poses and simple movements. Anwesha explored the ideas convincingly with familiar sancharis such …

KS Vishnudev exuded confidence in his raga treatises
2 months, 3 weeks ago

KS Vishnudev exuded confidence in his raga treatises

The Hindu  

You could describe it as dynamic or overzealous, but KS Vishnudev’s vocal recital tilted more in favour of the former. If the raga treatises are testimony to his vision of the chosen melody, the swara segments impress the listener with his creative abilities in weaving and perfectly fitting them into the rhythm. Starting his programme with ‘Palimpa ravedelara’, by Pallavi …

Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi’s showcased the purity of sound at MadRasana’s unamplified concert
2 months, 4 weeks ago

Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi’s showcased the purity of sound at MadRasana’s unamplified concert

The Hindu  

The inaugural concert of MadRasana’s Margazhi series unfolded with a performance by Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi at the M.S. Patnam Subramania Iyer’s Apoorva raga kriti, ‘Srivenkatesha’ in Phalamanjari added vibrancy to the concert by emitting a burst of energy — with brisk melkala tala. In a composition where nadam is described as mooladhara, the inaugural concert fittingly featured …

Abhishek Raghuram handled a weighty repertoire with elan
3 months ago

Abhishek Raghuram handled a weighty repertoire with elan

The Hindu  

The word passion doesn’t seem enough to describe Abhishek Raghuram’s relentless pursuit of musical excellence. Abhishek began with a virutham ‘Naanadhedhu neeyadhedhu’ extolling Rama nama in Sahana as a prelude to the varnam ‘Karunimpa’ by Tiruvotriyur Tyagayyar. Tyagaraja’s ‘Endundi vedalithivo’ in Misra Chapu and the swara passages at the pallavi opening provided the full spectrum of the raga. Abhishek’s Varali …

Ashwath Narayanan presents a classy Kamboji at The Music Academy’s December music festival
3 months, 1 week ago

Ashwath Narayanan presents a classy Kamboji at The Music Academy’s December music festival

The Hindu  

Ashwath Narayanan is a musician with impeccable tutelage, good voice range and dynamics and respect for tradition. The kriti is a masterpiece in Khanda Chapu and Ashwath’s patantara allegiance took the concert to a good high. ‘Jambupathe’ was a good idea to stoke in some serenity, but the execution skipped the emotive weight and the vilamba kala mastery Dikshitar presents …

The appeal of a tune and its ability to cross genres
3 months, 1 week ago

The appeal of a tune and its ability to cross genres

The Hindu  

The first lec-dem of Day 2, titled ‘Encapsulating a Raga: Varnamettu’, was presented by Sangita Kala Acharya Ritha Rajan. She illustrated how traditional folk tunes naturally evolved into art music, citing examples like ‘Villnai otta’ and ‘Valli Kannavan’, with recorded clips of renditions by V.V. She demonstrated its adaptability with examples from other genres, such as ‘Vatapi Ganapathim’ in Hamsadhwani, …

A. Kanyakumari and Vittal Rangan presented a delightful string theory
3 months, 1 week ago

A. Kanyakumari and Vittal Rangan presented a delightful string theory

The Hindu  

On a rainy evening, there was a downpour of melody as violin vidushi A. Kanyakumari and her disciple B. Vittal Rangan, drenched rasikas in their nuanced and aesthetic music. In perfect sync, the guru-sishya duo commenced the concert, for Kartik Fine Arts, evoking bhakti rasa with ‘Karimukha varadha’, a GNB composition in raga Nattai. This was followed by an alapana …

Prithvi Harish painted an impressive potrait of Saveri
3 months, 1 week ago

Prithvi Harish painted an impressive potrait of Saveri

The Hindu  

With a voice that easily travelled across ranges, Prithvi Harish’s 90-minute recital at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for Kartik Fine Arts showcased his talent in designing and presenting a solid concert. From his opening Hindolam varnam ‘Mal maruga’ by Thanjavur Sankara Iyer to the closing Vallalar Ramalinga Adigalar’s ‘Vaarum vaarum’ in Ragamalika, Prithvi took care to ensure every piece he presented …

Saketharaman serves delightful surprises in his Margazhi concert
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Saketharaman serves delightful surprises in his Margazhi concert

The Hindu  

Svanubhava took centre stage as S. Saketharaman performed for Kartik Fine Arts at Narada Gana Sabha. Good teamwork The Hamsanandi raga delineation ahead of Lalitha Dasar’s ‘Pavana guru’ on Krishna, set to Rupakam, featured an aesthetic grahabedham, yielding Madhyamavati. The poignance of Sama was well brought out by Saketharaman as a prelude to Dikshitar’s ‘Annapurne visalakshi’, with Bhaskar replicating the …

Aishwarya enthrals music lovers
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Aishwarya enthrals music lovers

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad:Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath enthralled music lovers with her mellifluous rendition at the 57th annual festival of music, dance and drama of Kalasagaram. She started with Swathi Thirnal’s ‘Sumasayaka’ in Karnataka Kapi with ragamalika swaras followed by the Thyagaraja krithi ‘Tulasi Dalamulache’ in Mayamalavagowla raga with crisp kalpana swaras. Before a beautiful Varali raga alapana, she sang the ‘Sanatana Parama Pavana’ …

Classical music enthralls audience
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Classical music enthralls audience

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad:The third day of Kalasagaram’s 57th annual festival of music, dance and drama featured an electrifying concert by Vidhushis Ranjani and Gayatri. After a wonderful rendition of Ranjani raaga, they presented Thyagaraja’s famous krithi Durmargachara to a jam-packed audience where they chose dharm Atmakadhana dhanya daivamuni. The next came a beautiful Saveri raga alapana with a melodious Muruga Muruga of …

A musical ode to Oothukadu Venkatakavi
4 months, 3 weeks ago

A musical ode to Oothukadu Venkatakavi

The Hindu  

An exclusive Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi concert could well be a dare for the artistes as much as it is a divine treat for the rasikas, thanks to the lyrical profundity, melodic richness and rhythmic wizardry that his compositions are steeped in. The brothers explored that and much more in their vocal concert as Narada Gana Sabha and the International Foundation …

Rishabh Kaushik’s vocal concert was a showcase of talent
8 months ago

Rishabh Kaushik’s vocal concert was a showcase of talent

The Hindu  

What stood out in Rishabh Kaushik’s Nadhasangam concert for Narada Gana Sabha held at its Mini Hall recently was his diligence. After a crisp raga alapana of Vachaspathi, Rishabh presented Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Paraathpara Parameswara’. Oothukadu Venkata Kavi’s poignant Ritigowla song ‘Enna punniyam seidaeno’ in Misra Chapu was followed by the main kriti ‘Kaligiyuntegada’ by Tyagaraja. While the concert underlined Rishabh’s …

Bengaluru News: Sivasri Skandaprasad’s Ramanavami concert was a blend of melody and maths
10 months, 3 weeks ago

Bengaluru News: Sivasri Skandaprasad’s Ramanavami concert was a blend of melody and maths

The Hindu  

With a young team comprising expert and experienced accompanists in Pradeshachar, Adamya Ramanand and Karthik Ravikumar embellishing her vocal recital, Sivasri Skandaprasad served a sumptuous treat of melody and mathematics. A leisurely Manirangu raga for the Dikshitar kriti ‘Mamava pattabhirama’ befitted the occasion. The time-tested sancharas in a mix of madhyama kala phrases and brigas mirrored the raga’s enchanting facets. …

Uma Ramesh put together compositions on Shiva for her thematic performance
1 year ago

Uma Ramesh put together compositions on Shiva for her thematic performance

The Hindu  

It was a thematic margam and the chosen deity for the evening was the lord of dance Shiva. Uma Ramesh, in her performance for Brahma Gana Sabha, chose to make this thematic presentation more meaningful by conceptualising a recital that moved from the physical to a philosophical state. Uma’s choreography of the physical structure of the temple in the Mallari …

Top Performers Pay Homage to Tyagaraja
1 year, 1 month ago

Top Performers Pay Homage to Tyagaraja

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad: A musical tribute in keeping with the tradition of paying homage to the saint-composer Thyagaraja was conducted by two premier classical music organisations of the city. They render the five Pancharatna Kritis —‘Jagadanandakaraka’ in the raga Nattai, ‘Dudukugala Nanne’ in the raga Goula, ‘Sadinchane’ in the raga Arabhi, ‘Kanakana Ruchira’ in the raga Varali and ‘Endaro Mahanubhavulu’ in the …

Rama Vaidyanathan’s ‘Sringara Rasamanjari’ was a wholesome experience
1 year, 1 month ago

Rama Vaidyanathan’s ‘Sringara Rasamanjari’ was a wholesome experience

The Hindu  

It was one of those days when the twin streams — music and dance — intertwined beautifully. It happened at Rama Vaidyanathan’s performance at the Music Academy dance festival. ‘Sringara rasamanjari’ was the opening composition of the evening, and Rama’s interpretation symbolised the many hues of love. Depicting Rajagopala as Krishna the cowherd, the dancer portrayed the cows being herded …

Modi soaks in the spirit of Kamba Ramayanam
1 year, 2 months ago

Modi soaks in the spirit of Kamba Ramayanam

The Hindu  

For Carnatic vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan, rendering verses from the 12th century Tamil epic Ramavataram, also known as Kamba Ramayanam after its poet Kambar, exclusively for Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam on Saturday, turned out to be a momentous occasion in many ways. “After the programme, Mr. Modi said that though he did …

N.J. Nandini showed why song selection matters too
1 year, 2 months ago

N.J. Nandini showed why song selection matters too

The Hindu  

Trivandrum N.J. Nandini presented a well-planned two-hour recital at The Music Academy. Beginning with Ambujam Krishna’s ‘Iniyaagilum ninai’ in Purvikalyani, Nandini consistently demonstrated clarity in sangatis in all the pieces she performed. Even her selection of phrase for swarakalpana in Tyagaraja’s ‘Samajavaragamana’ proved to be engaging – she centred her swaras on the phrase ‘Murali vaadana’ in the charanam landing …

Ashwath Narayanan, Krishna Excel with Virtuoso Renditions
1 year, 7 months ago

Ashwath Narayanan, Krishna Excel with Virtuoso Renditions

Deccan Chronicle  

A stellar performance by Ashwath Narayanan drew wholesome applause from followers of Carnatic music and brought the curtains down on the mid-season festival of Kalasagaram. Ashwath Narayanan’s rendition exemplified how being under the tutelage of a good guru and patanthara can pay dividends. A special mention has to be made about K. V. Krishna’s mesmerising raga alapana, which were in …

Tamil compositions took centre stage at Sriranjani’s New Year concert
1 year, 11 months ago

Tamil compositions took centre stage at Sriranjani’s New Year concert

The Hindu  

Sriranjani Santhanagopalan’s vocal concert, as part of Hamsadhwani founder R. Ramachandran’s birth centenary celebrations, brimmed with energy. Held on Tamil New Year’s day, the performance included a variety of Tamil works — from Avvaiyar’s ‘Vakkundam’ in Ritigowla as a prelude to ‘Tatvamariaya tarama’ by Papanasam Sivan to the concluding Thiruppugazh. Sriranjani took up the rare raga Jyothiswaroopini for detailing and …

Jayant impressed with his sprightly Amritavarshini
2 years, 2 months ago

Jayant impressed with his sprightly Amritavarshini

The Hindu  

Jayant brings a meditative feel to his music by using the longer bass and double bass flutes besides playing the main regular-sized bamboo flute prominently during his concerts. Since the sahitya couched in the compositions has a special appeal, his playing style appealed to the rasikas of Carnatic music at the TAG Centrefor Brahma Gana Sabha. And, when Jayant rendered …

Rithvik Raja’s concert: An experiment that worked in parts
2 years, 2 months ago

Rithvik Raja’s concert: An experiment that worked in parts

The Hindu  

Rithvik Raja concluded his two-hour vocal concert with Gopalakrishna Bharati’s ‘Eppo varuvaro’ in Jhonpuri. I was reminded of the elaborate raga exposition of Bhairavi followed by tanam for the Ata tala varnam, ‘Viriboni’, presented by Rithvik’s mentor at a December Season concert a few years ago. Before this, there were smartly-framed swara sallies centred on dhaivatam that added lustre to …

Aditya Prakash: A voice with enough promise
2 years, 2 months ago

Aditya Prakash: A voice with enough promise

The Hindu  

In his concert, Aditya Prakash brought his grounding in Carnatic music to the fore despite being a part of international musical projects. Sowkhya bhava that reigned supreme during his rendition of ‘Swara raga sudha’, continued during the swarakalpana too. ‘Sogasu juda tarama’ set the mood for Aditya’s Varali raga exploration, followed by the violinist’s equally impressive interpretation. The niraval/swaras at …

A well-thought-out concert by Abhishek Raghuram
2 years, 2 months ago

A well-thought-out concert by Abhishek Raghuram

The Hindu  

Abhishek Raghuram approaches every raga and kriti he presents in his own unique way. The Bhairavi Ata tala varnam ‘Viriboni’ in two speeds was a nice warm-up piece, while the Harikamboji kriti ‘Rama nannu brovara’ by Tyagaraja came with a brief alapana, niraval and kalpanaswaras. Playing on the word ‘Velava’, he sang ‘Vaa velava, ka va velava’ before arriving at …

Adithyanarayanan’s bhava-laden rendition
2 years, 3 months ago

Adithyanarayanan’s bhava-laden rendition

The Hindu  

No art form stirs the human emotions as deeply as music does. He commenced with the very first composition of Dikshitar, ‘Sri nathadi guruguho’, in Mayamalavagowla, which is usually the first raga a music student is taught. Adithya did not disappoint his rasikas, in offering one of Diskhitar’s magnum opus ‘Soundararaajam aashraye’, traversing from the lower to the higher octave …

A colourful portrait of ragas by Sikkil Gurucharan
2 years, 3 months ago

A colourful portrait of ragas by Sikkil Gurucharan

The Hindu  

Smart choice of ragas and kritis, careful distribution of time, keeping the raga treatises and swarakalpana under control and avoiding over indulgence — all these contribute to the success of a concert. With his vocal cords in fine form, Gurucharan opened the performance with the ghana raga Adi tala varnam, ‘Chalamela jesevura’ by Vinjamoori Varadaraja Iyengar. The raga’s splendour could …

Vaani Lakshmi Varma’s impressive debut performance in Chennai
2 years, 8 months ago

Vaani Lakshmi Varma’s impressive debut performance in Chennai

The Hindu  

Ganapathy, the remover of all hurdles, is worshipped at the start of an event. Vaani Lakshmi Varma too began her performance at the Kalakshetra auditorium with a shloka in praise of Ganapathy, before moving on to Alarippu in Tisra Eka talam. The basic elements of the dance form — perfect araimandi posture and symmetry in hand movements and footwork, which …

Music lovers relish soulful tunes in Hyderabad
2 years, 11 months ago

Music lovers relish soulful tunes in Hyderabad

Deccan Chronicle  

HYDERABAD: Neither the summer heat nor the holiday could stop classical music lovers to get into the cool environs of the Ravindra Bharathi on a Sunday morning to witness the melodious musical concert organised by the Sangeetanjali Foundation’s musical jugalbandi by a team of renowned musicians. The first composition performed by Miya Todi on Alaap Jodh and Jaala which was …

‘Nayika, The Eternal Love’, a music video, fuses a Swathi padam into a Kathakali recital
2 years, 11 months ago

‘Nayika, The Eternal Love’, a music video, fuses a Swathi padam into a Kathakali recital

The Hindu  

Carnatic vocalist Sangeetha N Rao says she visualises a song in her mind as she renders it to make it an evocative experience for her listeners. She says: “I believe that music and dance complement each other beautifully and that’s when a recital feels complete.” Many of the Swathi padams have already been choreographed by renowned Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam dancers. …

Aishwarya opted for a traditional margam
3 years, 2 months ago

Aishwarya opted for a traditional margam

The Hindu  

In the midst of watching thematic presentations, a simple Bharatanatyam margam came as a breath of fresh air. Aishwarya Ananth Kartikh chose classic compositions from the repertoire for her performance at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Natya festival. She began with ‘Eeshana sandhi’ kavuthuvam in Malahari raga, composed by the Thanjavur Quartet, and choreographed by her guru Sudharani Raghupathy. The timeless …

Girijashankar Sundaresan’s inspiring Kamboji
3 years, 3 months ago

Girijashankar Sundaresan’s inspiring Kamboji

The Hindu  

Kamboji is known to offer immense scope for elaborate elucidation, a reason why musicians often include this rakti raga in concerts. Girijashankar Sundaresan opted for it while performing recently at Kedaram’s three-day festival at Ragasudha hall, effortlessly bringing out its emotional shades through voice modulation. Girijashankar chose Tyagaraja’s ‘O Rangasayee’ where the composer beckons the god. A rare Dikshitar kriti …

Vasudha Ravi’s unusual choices made her concert impressive
3 years, 3 months ago

Vasudha Ravi’s unusual choices made her concert impressive

The Hindu  

A pleasing tonal quality, a neat presentation capturing the mood of the lyrics, and imaginative phrases in niraval and kalpanaswara segments made Vasudha Ravi’s concert enjoyable. She presented a rarely heard Papanasam Sivan composition ‘Gomathi thaaye’ in Yadukula Kamboji, on the goddess of Sankaranarayana temple, with elegant and crisp madhyamakala swaras in the charanam lines ‘shruti purana’. This style with …

Immaculate raga exposition by Amrutha Venkatesh
3 years, 4 months ago

Immaculate raga exposition by Amrutha Venkatesh

The Hindu  

A rare enthusiasm and freshness marked the online vocal concert of Amrutha Venkatesh for the 63rd Annual Art Festival of the South Indian Cultural Association, Hyderabad. Melodic swaraprastara Amrutha followed this up with Swati Tirunal’s popular Mayamalavagowla composition, ‘Deva deva kalayami’ in Rupakam, with a lengthy, melodic swaraprastara at the pallavi. Then came the breezy Kadanakuthuhalam composition by Mysore Vasudevachar, …

A fête in Irinjalakuda celebrated the versatility and genius of Swathi Thirunal
3 years, 11 months ago

A fête in Irinjalakuda celebrated the versatility and genius of Swathi Thirunal

The Hindu  

A four-day music and dance festival dedicated to Maharaja Swathi Thirunal was held at Irinjalakuda recently. A neat alapana of Sreeranjini panning its contours preceded the main piece — ‘Bhavaye Sree Janaki Kantham’, which was decked with niraval and swara passages. She took off with a rarely-heard ‘Sree Ramachandra’ enriched with swara passages followed by ‘Jaya Jaya Padmanabhanujesa’. ‘Bhavayami’ was …

Hyderabad’s Sangeetha Ksheera Sagaram live streamed its concerts days before the lockdown, following the outbreak of COVID-19
5 years ago

Hyderabad’s Sangeetha Ksheera Sagaram live streamed its concerts days before the lockdown, following the outbreak of COVID-19

The Hindu  

In what was the last leg of classical concerts held in Hyderabad prior to the Coronavirus scare, Sangeetha Ksheera Sagaram’s expansive line-up of artists for their annual music series held at Saptaparni didn’t go unnoticed by connoisseurs. Anantha Krishna had later moved onto Ramaswamy Shivan’s Neekela Dayaradu and tapped the enquiring-nature of its lyric through the Sarasangi ragam, during which …

Kanyakumari goes by rasikas’ choice
5 years ago

Kanyakumari goes by rasikas’ choice

The Hindu  

The violin concert of A. Kanyakumari for Nayaki at Abhirami Hall, Kotturpuram, had all the necessary features to make a concert engaging, entertaining and also exciting. Kanyakumari came up with an exquisite sketch of the raga before taking up ‘Sri Ganesha Charanam’ by Papanasam Sivan, appending it with a lively swara exchange with her disciple L. Ramakrishna. Obliging the audience, …

A vocal touch to the veena
5 years ago

A vocal touch to the veena

The Hindu  

Bengaluru-based Ramana Balachandran, 17, who had learnt to identify ragas as a toddler and had claimed in an interview that the veena chose him, came down to Hyderabad for an instrumental concert organised by Sri Karthikeya Gana Sabha recently. Currently training under his musician father Balachandran, Ramana lends distinctness to his veena concerts with an appealing vocal touch. In times …

Vasudha Ravi enlivened the audience with her rendition at a recital in Kerala
5 years, 1 month ago

Vasudha Ravi enlivened the audience with her rendition at a recital in Kerala

The Hindu  

Endowed with a mellifluous voice, Vasudha Ravi captured the attention of the audience with her impressive vocal recital at Palghat Fine Arts Society at Tharekkad, Palakkad. Vasudha’s judicious selections and rendition enhanced the impact of the concert, which commenced on a bright note with a brisk ‘Chalamela Jesavayya’ in Nattakurinji, a varnam of Srirangam Rangaswamy Pillai. Swathi Thirunal’s popular kriti …

Adherence to tradition marked Tyagaraja Aradhana in Coimbatore
5 years, 1 month ago

Adherence to tradition marked Tyagaraja Aradhana in Coimbatore

The Hindu  

Music buffs were in for a rich aural treat at the 66th year celebration of Tyagabrahma Gananjali that took place at Kikani Vidya Mandir, Coimbatore. The raga alapana of Sankarabharanam for the kriti, ‘Etudanilachite’ was marked by picturesque prayogas and karvais softened by melodic graces. The opening ‘Maakelera’ with swaras setting the tone of the session was followed by a …

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