Concert Review - Thrchur Sri. V. Ramachandran

by Dr. SurySekar (ks.sekar@mgt.gatech.edu)

Sri Trichur Ramachandran gave what I thought was a scintillating 3-1/2 hour concert at the Hindu Temple of Atlanta on the afternoon of Saturday, April 18. He was accompanied on the violin by Sri Chandramouli (disciple of Sri V.V. Subramanian), and on the mridangam by Sri Umayalpuram Mali (disciple of Sri Umayalpuram Sivaraman). This concert was organized by the Carnatic Music Association of Georgia (CAMAGA) and the Hindu Temple of Atlanta.

The items presented were:

1. Evari Bodha -- Abhogi varnam -- Adi -- Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer
2. Pranamamyaham -- Gowlai -- Adi -- Mysore Vasudevachar
3. Dinamani - Harikambodi -- Adi - - Thyagaraja
4. Ninne nera namminaanu -- Pantuvarali -- Rupakam -- Thyagaraja
5. Sakala Graha balavu -- Atana -- Khanda Chapu - Purandaradasaru
6. Parimala Ranganatham -- Hameer Kalyani -- Dikshithar
7. Saravanabhava Guhane -- Madhyamavati -- Adi -- Papanasam Sivan (Tani Avarthanam)
8. Telisi rama Chanitana -- Poornachandrika -- Adi -- Thyagaraja
9. Ragam Tanam Pallavi -- Dharmavati -- Adi (Kanda nadai) -- Madhava Sodhari Sundari "Dharmavati" Sankari , with swaras in Kalavati, Revati, Madhyamavati, Gavati.
10. Dikku Theriyatha Kaattil -- Ragamalika -- Bharathiyaar
11. Muralidhara Gopala -- Maand -- Periyasami Thooran
12. Narayaneeyam -- Ragamalika in Hamsanandhi, Bhaghesri, Darbari Kaanada and Sindhu Bhairavi
13. Karuniso Ranga -- Jogiya -- Purandaradasaru
14. Chittamayura - Desh
15. Mangalam

Sri Ramachandran opened briskly with the varnam, Pranamamyaham, and Dinamani in quick succession, with short and very enjoyable stretches of kalpana swaras. I immensely enjoyed his alapana of Pantuvarali and Hameer Kalyani. I thought he did a very nice job by singing a rarely heard Dikshithar composition in a slow and deliberate pace. The Ragam--Tanam--Pallavi was a delight to the intellectual. A "technically" sophisticated rasika like Dr. Ram Sriram felt that Dharmavati was very well done, and that there was immense challenge in the talam (Kanda Nadai Adi). In the ragamalika swaras, Sri Ramachandran chose ragas ending with the term "vati" and introduced the name of the raga into the pallavi on completion of the respective swara sequence. However, I felt that he was at his best in the Narayaneeyam piece. I was particularly moved by his rendition of Hamsanandhi. It was nice to observe the way Sri Ramachandran seemed to enjoy his music, and his strong encouragement of his accompanying artists. He diligently announced the raga, tala, composition and composer after every item. I also thought that Sri Chandrmouli and Sri Mali met very well the challenge of accompanying a senior accomplished musician. Sri Mali contributed a neat and precise tani. Overall, I had an immensely satisfying afternoon listening to chaste carnatic music.