audience choices goes swaras vijay hindustani performed festival best experiment baby style draws murthy festive displays sikkil sharma rasikas thavil singing veena worked abhishek sowmyas finale mixed muthuswami aadum stuns

Articles for Swaras

Kalyanapuram Aravind’s singing is an ode to his guru T.N. Seshagopalan’s bani
4 days, 6 hours ago

Kalyanapuram Aravind’s singing is an ode to his guru T.N. Seshagopalan’s bani

The Hindu  

A book needs a good publisher to sell. V. Kalyanapuram Aravind’s tutelage under the legend T. N. Seshagopalan gives him a solid baseline. Aravind’s concert for The Music Academy packed in a lot — several contrasting kritis, raga and tala spectrum and an interesting pallavi in Dwijavanthi and even trikalam and ragamalika swaras. Niraval and swara at ‘purane srividya’ by …

Raga Laya Aravind Tns
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
Srikanth and Aswathy’s well-crafted ‘Paraaparame’
1 week, 2 days ago

Srikanth and Aswathy’s well-crafted ‘Paraaparame’

The Hindu  

Srikanth has matured as a dancer and seems to have found his niche. The Chatusra Alarippu was notable for its musical accompaniment — the violin playing the emphasis beats and the mridangam enhancing the dancers’ usi beats and Ganesha symbolisms. The instrumental ensemble also included the veena that provided the subsequent ‘Kaithala’ Thirupugazh with a dramatic high-pitched end. While ‘Tat …

Verse Srikanth
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
Sowmya displays her musical acumen through her intelligent choices
2 weeks, 3 days ago

Sowmya displays her musical acumen through her intelligent choices

The Hindu  

The nuances of nishadam in Surutti make it a rather tricky note to navigate. Senior vocalist S.Sowmya’s Surutti alapana interwove choice phrases of almost every kriti in the raga, as she explored the rishabam to nishadam portion in the madhya sthayi before focussing her creativity around the upper nishadam. If one closely observed Sowmya’s Natabhairavi alapana, certain phrases from ‘Sri …

Kannan Raga Gopalakrishnan Phrases Narayanan Sowmya Vocalist
Grand finale draws curtains to Kalasagaram
4 weeks, 1 day ago

Grand finale draws curtains to Kalasagaram

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad: The 10-day-long Kalasagaram’s annual festival of music, dance and drama came to a grand finale at Keyes High School on Monday with a voco-flute jugalbandi by Abhishek Raghuram and Pravin Godkhindi. Before introducing his Hindustani counterparts, Abhishek elaborated Bairavi raga for the evergreen Swarajathi of Shyama Sastry with only Sahitya. Praveen Godkhindi and Roopak Kallurkar joined him and both …

Praveen Abhishek Hindustani
Aishwarya enthrals music lovers
1 month 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’ …

Why one cannot ignore T.M. Krishna’s musical explorations
5 months, 2 weeks ago

Why one cannot ignore T.M. Krishna’s musical explorations

The Hindu  

The unpredictability is what makes a T.M. Just when one thought this was not enough of a deviation, Krishna next chose to explore the mandra sthayi with a round of swaras at ‘Enna’ in the pallavi. One of the pieces that Krishna chose to present was ‘Shubh sukh chain’, a Hindustani translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem ‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata’ whose …

Krishna
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
N.J. Nandini showed why song selection matters too
1 year 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 …

Nandini Raga
Jayanthi Kumaresh’s veena never fails to delight the audience
1 year, 2 months ago

Jayanthi Kumaresh’s veena never fails to delight the audience

The Hindu  

Clarity and technical prowess are the two words that come to mind when one witnesses a performance by senior veena vidushi Jayanthi Kumaresh. This was preceded by a brief yet clear outline of Mukhari for the timeless kriti ‘Enraikku shivakripai’, which was poignantly sung by KVN in several of his kutcheris. While her approach has transcended cultural boundaries and enhanced …

Raga Ragas Jayanthi
Swara Bhasker and Fahad Ahmad welcome baby girl, name her Raabiyaa. See first pics
1 year, 3 months ago

Swara Bhasker and Fahad Ahmad welcome baby girl, name her Raabiyaa. See first pics

Hindustan Times  

Actor Swara Bhasker and her husband, Samajwadi Party worker Fahad Ahmad are blessed with a baby girl who was born on September 23. Swara Bhasker and Fahad Ahmed welcome daughter Swara and Fahad wrote in a joint post, “A prayer heard, a blessing granted, a song whispered, a mystic truth… Our baby girl Raabiyaa was born on 23rd September 2023. …

Hospital Baby Swara Swara Bhasker Fahad Ahmad Raabiyaa Bhasker
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
T.V.S. Mahadevan: In tune with his legacy
1 year, 9 months ago

T.V.S. Mahadevan: In tune with his legacy

The Hindu  

Mahadevan exuded energy as his repertoire included two ghana ragas. Mahadevan, who performed recently for Suswaraa Trust’s music festival, began with Tulasivanam’s ‘Pranatosmi devam vinayakam’ in Nattai with a few strands of swaras. The next raga taken up by the vocalist was Kalyani and the kriti was Subbaraya Sastri’s ‘Ninnu vina gati gana jagana’. The signing off session also featured …

Swara Raga Mahadevan
Swara Bhasker Stuns In Golden Lehenga By A Pakistani Designer At Her, Fahad Ahmad's Walima Ceremony
1 year, 9 months ago

Swara Bhasker Stuns In Golden Lehenga By A Pakistani Designer At Her, Fahad Ahmad's Walima Ceremony

News 18  

Swara Bhasker and Fahad Ahmad’s wedding festivities concluded with a traditional style Walima in Bareilly. Fahad complemented his next bride by twinning his sartorial pick for his reception in the matching hues of Swara’s lehenga. pic.twitter.com/apHXfXts0f — Suhaib Ansari March 19, 2023 On the other hand, Swara’s video capturing her Bidaai moment went crazy viral on the internet. Thanking Swara’s …

Swara Bhasker Fahad
Rithvik Raja’s concert: An experiment that worked in parts
1 year, 11 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 …

Rithvik Rithvik Raja Tanam
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
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
A colourful portrait of ragas by Sikkil Gurucharan
2 years 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 …

Swara Raga Gurucharan Ragas Lalitha Shanmukhapriya
The evening belonged to Priya
2 years, 1 month ago

The evening belonged to Priya

The Hindu  

Veteran vocalists, Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya, are known for their rich manodharma. At Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s December music festival 2022, Shanmukhapriya began the alapana and let Haripriya continue it and together the Priya Sisters produced a thoroughly enjoyable Rishabhapriya. Pattammal’s composition, ‘Panniru Kaiyane’, would have guessed, the vocalists took up that composition and sang it beautifully, with a long tail of …

Priya Haripriya Rishabhapriya Evening Belonged Priya Sisters
Charulatha Chandrasekar began her Naadhabrahmam concert on a promising note
2 years, 1 month ago

Charulatha Chandrasekar began her Naadhabrahmam concert on a promising note

The Hindu  

Charulatha Chandrasekar’s veena recital in Naadhabrahmam’s 21st year concert series established that musical expertise is independent of age. Gopalakrishna Bharati’s fast moving ‘Sababathikku veru deivam’ in Abhogi, with brisk swarakalpana, was followed by a precise and sober raga essay of Sahana for Tyagaraja’s ‘E vasudha nivanti daivamu’. Here too, Charulatha embellished the kriti with swaras at ‘Dasa varada tyagaraja hrudaya.’ …

Charulatha Naadhabrahmam Concert
Bharat Sundar and team wow the audience
2 years, 1 month ago

Bharat Sundar and team wow the audience

The Hindu  

K. Bharat Sundar’s concert in the company of L. Ramakrishnan, Sumesh Narayanan and Anirudh Athreya, for Kartik Fine Arts, was a dynamic and excellent presentation by the young brigade. Bharat, this year’s ‘Isai Peroli’ awardee of Kartik Fine Arts, has had a steady and remarkable rise, because of his diligence and robust vocal prowess. There was a fairly lengthy niraval …

Bharat Swara Raga Bharat Sundar Team Wow
K. Gayatri’s bhava-rich Varali
2 years, 11 months ago

K. Gayatri’s bhava-rich Varali

The Hindu  

The new generation of vocalists has been groomed to deliver a high standard in many aspects — voice management, repertoire, manodharma, subtle embellishments, and strong self-belief. Gayatri began her line-up with Tyagaraja’s Kovur Pancharatna kriti, ‘Eevasudha ni vanti’, in Sahana. The Varali raga alapana that followed took a more bhava course with its characteristic karvais presented in good measure by …

Gayatri Varali Vittal Rangan
A carefully navigated concert by Sudha Ragunathan
2 years, 11 months ago

A carefully navigated concert by Sudha Ragunathan

The Hindu  

Sudha Ragunathan’s concert for the Music Academy relied on her famed presentation mantra and delivery style. ‘Enraikku siva kripai varumo’ in misra chapu and a dominant upper octave structure served as the booster to recoup her voice fluency. Mysore Sadasiva Rao’s ‘Saketha nagaranatha’ in rupakam is a unique kriti with a vibrant madhyama kala course and even a durita sprint …

Sudha Patri