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Articles for Niraval

V. Sankaranaryanan’s two-hour concert never lost momentum
3 days, 10 hours ago

V. Sankaranaryanan’s two-hour concert never lost momentum

The Hindu  

The pieces of a chessboard have unique roles, much like a two-hour concert. ‘Bhavayami raghuramam’ is rarely an opener, but Sankaranarayanan gave it a brisk treatment, including a brief niraval in the Madhyamavati lines at the end. For example, he kept the Manji song, ‘Brova vamma’ just long enough for a good relish and essayed a 12-minute raga alapana of …

Concert Raga V Sankaranarayanan
How a good concert structure is half the battle won
5 days, 2 hours ago

How a good concert structure is half the battle won

The Hindu  

A concert structure has no written rules. Rithvik Raja’s concert for Mylapore Fine Arts Club swayed between excellent alapana and niraval moments and placid meander. The swarakalpana speed was reset midway at the 52nd minute of the concert, as Rithvik’s boat accelerated to its due speed. Vaidyanathan is adept at playing for a range of speeds, and is particularly impressive …

Concert Bhaskar Raga Rithvik
Spoorthi Rao impresses with her voice, but needs to adopt a balanced approach
5 days, 15 hours ago

Spoorthi Rao impresses with her voice, but needs to adopt a balanced approach

The Hindu  

Spoorthi Rao easily won the hearts of the audience with her rich and melodious voice that covered all the octaves up to the tara panchmam. The lower Madhya sthayi sancharas, which form the core of a raga alapana for Ranjani, were wound up within a couple of minutes and the foray to the Tara Shadjam made way for briga sangatis …

Concert Tara Raga Composition Niraval Ranjani Swaras
G. Ravikiran’s RTP in pitch-perfect Pantuvarali stood out
1 week, 6 days ago

G. Ravikiran’s RTP in pitch-perfect Pantuvarali stood out

The Hindu  

A musician derives greater joy if he or she can also enjoy the music while performing. ‘Neerajakshi’ rendered in Ati-Vilamba kala was bright but one is not sure the tactic serves well in a two-and-half-hour concert. ‘Sadasivam upasmahe’ by Dikshitar was also a tad slower but sparkling sangathis and an impressive niraval at the madhyamakala lines of ‘purana purusham’ added …

Raga Dikshitar Ravikiran Sankarabharanam Hindolam Pantuvarali
Sandeep Narayan’s concert focussed on musical aesthetics
2 weeks, 2 days ago

Sandeep Narayan’s concert focussed on musical aesthetics

The Hindu  

Sandeep Narayan demonstrated that the allure of frills and thrills need not necessarily come at the expense of aesthetics. The recital began with Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Sri vathapi ganapathiye’ in Sahana, and the kalpanaswaras at the pallavi opening were interspersed with delightful jantai and dhattu patterns. Emotion reigned in the rendition of Swati Tirunal’s eighth-day Navaratri kriti ‘Pahi janani santatam’ in …

Sandeep Venkatesh Gopalakrishnan
Abhishek Raghuram handled a weighty repertoire with elan
2 weeks, 2 days 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 …

Bhaskar Abhishek Sankaran Weighty Repertoire
How Sid Sriram loves to hit the high note
2 weeks, 2 days ago

How Sid Sriram loves to hit the high note

The Hindu  

Every few years, a musician with distinctive style and signature arrives in the Carnatic scene. ‘Viribhoni’ would have been a jolt to new listeners of Sid – it was high voltage stuff at the start of what seemed like a bullet-train from there. ‘Entha muddho’ and ‘Mokshamu galada’ were kritis rendered as interludes, much like Semmangudi or Alathur brothers, as …

Sid Sid Sriram Alapana
Ashwath Narayanan presents a classy Kamboji at The Music Academy’s December music festival
3 weeks, 1 day 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 …

Ashwath Kamboji Bhaktavatsalam Good Concerts
Niranjan Dindodi wove a rich tapestry of ragas
3 weeks, 5 days ago

Niranjan Dindodi wove a rich tapestry of ragas

The Hindu  

Niranjan Dindodi ushered in both halves of his concert with interesting preludes that had a similar pattern. The meditative ‘O Jagadamba’ by Syama Sastri earned special enrichment through a detailed niraval around ‘Anni bhuvanambulu’ of the first charanam. Taking cue was a bold Kalyani alapana that warmed up to reciting ‘Pankaja lochana’. After Gopalakrishna Bharati’s ‘Enneramum’ in Devagandhari and ‘Srimahabala’ …

Niranjan Bhairavi
Kartik Fine Arts Expands Cultural Reach to Chennai Suburbs
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Kartik Fine Arts Expands Cultural Reach to Chennai Suburbs

The Hindu  

Kartik Fine Arts expands its cultural activities to Chennai's suburbs. The sabha has launched an outreach effort to reach out to rasikas in the suburbs, featuring a Carnatic vocal recital by K. Gayatri. The inaugural event was held in collaboration with Babaji Vidhyashram, Sholinganallur, and featured a diverse lineup of performances. The concert showcased the talents of renowned artists from …

Entertainment Music Performance Cultural Chennai
Spirit of Youth: A music series dedicated to promoting young Carnatic musicians
4 months, 3 weeks ago

Spirit of Youth: A music series dedicated to promoting young Carnatic musicians

The Hindu  

For aspiring young musicians, every concert opportunity is an acid test. In a pleasant irony, the charm of the old school music came as a whiff of fresh air in Dhanush Anantharaman’s vocal recital, which began with Tyagaraja’s ‘Tulasee dalamulache’ in Mayamalavagowla. After a tidy raga essay of Kalyani, Supriya flowed seamlessly into Patnam Subramania Iyer’s ‘Nijadasa varada’, where the …

Music Spirit Kalyani Concert Swara Raga Supriya
Rishabh Kaushik’s vocal concert was a showcase of talent
5 months, 2 weeks 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 …

Rishabh
On a musical trip to Madurai, Rameswaram and Thanjavur
7 months, 2 weeks ago

On a musical trip to Madurai, Rameswaram and Thanjavur

The Hindu  

Naada Inbam’s Kshetra Sankirthana Vaibhavam series was an exciting musical journey through the temple towns of Tamil Nadu. Another Lalgudi Jayaraman composition that Vikram sang was ‘Thenmadurai vaazh annaiye’ in Hamsarupini, with a lilting chittaswara. Another song that Vikram offered on Meenakshi was ‘Madhura madhura Meenakshi’ by Swami Dayananda Saraswathi in raga Bageshri. On Rameswaram, Vikram offered, after an elaborate …

Madurai Vikram Temple Rama Raga Thanjavur Meenakshi
Tamil compositions took centre stage at Sriranjani’s New Year concert
1 year, 8 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 …

Tamil Raga Sriranjani Kala Swaras
Vijay Siva offered a mixed musical bag
1 year, 11 months ago

Vijay Siva offered a mixed musical bag

The Hindu  

A purposeful career, shaped by good musical values and a sharply defined style, steered Vijay Siva’s concert to a satisfactory finale at the Indian Fine Arts Society. The opening pieces lacked conviction as Vijay Siva attempted kritis such as ‘Thera theeyaga rada’ and ‘Ikanaina’. ‘Jayathu gokula vasa’ in Adi 2 kalai, though not commonly heard, has an engaging structure and …

Vijay Siva Vijay Siva Chapu
H.V. Srivatsan: Keeping alive the KVN bani
1 year, 11 months ago

H.V. Srivatsan: Keeping alive the KVN bani

The Hindu  

The guru-sishya relationship is the pivot around which music is carried forward to the next generation. The vocalist chose to render Swati Tirunal’s Navarathri kriti, ‘Devi jagad janani.’ The extensive niraval and swaraprastara were at the anupallavi, ‘Devamakuta mani.’ Mridangam exponent Trichur Narendran offered a powerful, yet aesthetic thani. Srivatsan commenced the concert with the Chaya Tarangini composition by Tyagaraja, …

Kvn Chapu Srivatsan Viloma Chapu
Nisha Rajagopalan makes an impact with her Varali raga alapana
2 years ago

Nisha Rajagopalan makes an impact with her Varali raga alapana

The Hindu  

With a voice that negotiates curves with ease, Nisha Rajagopalan lit her concert up with ragas that shone further with her involuntary loops. Syama Sastri’s ‘Parvati ninnune’ in the lesser-heard Kalgada came second, with sangatis proceeding nicely on predictable lines. The singer’s nasal notes steered a vocal-violin rally in Semmangudi spirit.. Varali, as sub-main, opened with a bold alapana journeying …

Hemalatha Nisha Varali Raga
K. Gayatri brought out the best shades of Kamboji
2 years ago

K. Gayatri brought out the best shades of Kamboji

The Hindu  

The vocal recital by K. Gayatri was full of energy. Gayatri’s niraval and swaras at ‘Nee padambujame sada’ carried well the sahitya and raga bhava. Gayatri’s sonorous voice, which is capable of traversing the different sthayis with ease, brought out the best shades of this raga. She sang Papanasam Sivan’s magnificent ‘Aadum deivam arulvai’ and the extended niraval and swarakalpana …

Raga Gayatri Kamboji
Aditya Madhavan’s raga essays were steeped in manodharma
2 years, 6 months ago

Aditya Madhavan’s raga essays were steeped in manodharma

The Hindu  

Aditya Madhavan’s recent concert for Madhuradhwani and Aanmajothi was aesthetic from the word go. Connoisseur’s delight Aditya Madhavan’s extensive Begada alapana for Muthuswami Dikhitar’s ‘Tyagarajaya namaste’ was a connoisseur’s delight. Another gem of a composition in this concert was Tiruvarur Ramaswamy Pillai’s ‘Sree Kamakshi Katakshi’ on the Goddess of Vedapuri in Tamil Nadu. This composition is attributed to Subbaraya Sastri …

Aditya
Aishwarya Shankar and Keerthana bring alive their Patantharam
2 years, 11 months ago

Aishwarya Shankar and Keerthana bring alive their Patantharam

The Hindu  

A stimulating ‘Undedi ramudu’ was Aishwarya Shankar’s opening kriti in Harikamboji, a sampoorna raga, which J.B. Keerthana took up as the centrepiece for her concert at the same venue six days later. As her main piece, Keerthana took up ‘Muruga thirumal’, penned by Thanjavur Shankara Iyer, another of Sunder’s gurus. The Harikamboji alapana made clear Keerthana’s penchant for unfurling the …

Aishwarya Raga Keerthana Musiri Harikamboji
Vishnudev K.S.: At his creative best
3 years ago

Vishnudev K.S.: At his creative best

The Hindu  

Listening to Vishnudev K.S. In his concert at Bhavan, he began with a refreshing ‘Saketha nikethana’ by Tyagaraja in Kannada with madhyamakala swaras at the pallavi lines set to Rupaka tala. Tyagaraja's ‘Makelara vicharamu’ in Ravichandrika was quick and precise, and an expansive Saveri kriti ‘Devi pavane’, one of Swati Tirunal’s Navaratri compositions, followed. Vishnudev did not disappoint with his …

Kriti Vishnu Raga Vishnudev
A well-balanced concert by Shertalai Ranganatha Sharma
3 years ago

A well-balanced concert by Shertalai Ranganatha Sharma

The Hindu  

Shertalai Ranganatha Sharma’s concert was pleasing not just for his selection of ragas and compositions but also in how he balanced the concert between the various songs. Ranganatha Sharma provided a poignant niraval at ‘Samayamu juchi delpu vaarevaro’, embellishing it with a few rounds of kalpanaswaras. Ranganatha Sharma offered a powerful alapana of Kalyani, with Tyagaraja’s ‘Endugo nee manasu’ as …

Ranganatha Sharma
An elaborate Kamboji by Shruthi S. Bhat
3 years ago

An elaborate Kamboji by Shruthi S. Bhat

The Hindu  

Shruthi S. Bhat’s concert for Naada Inbam stood out for its poise and finesse. The Kamboji raga had dignity and emotive character, in line with the kriti, Tyagaraja’s ‘Marimari ninne’, one that’s rarely heard these days. Shruthi took up the charanam line, ‘Karunato Dhruvanikedhu’ for niraval and swaraprastara. Shruthi then took up the prolific Mysore Vasudevachar’s popular Sunadavinodini piece, ‘Devadi …

Shruthi
Girijashankar Sundaresan’s inspiring Kamboji
3 years, 1 month 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 …

Girijashankar