by Dr. SurySekar (ks.sekar@mgt.gatech.edu)
Smt. Ranganayaki Rajagopalan (Smt. RR), a solid exponent of the Karaikudi style of
veena playing, gave a very satisfying concert in The Hindu Temple
of Atlanta, for the Carnatic Music Association of Georgia (CAMAGA). She was accompanied on
the mridangam by Sri Umayalpuram Mali. The concert was
sponsored by The Hindu Temple of Atlanta, and was held on April 24, 1999. I am giving
below the list of songs she played.
1. Varnam - Sunaadavinodhini Adi
2. Raghunayaka - Hamsadwani - Adi - Thyagaraja
3. Sobhillu - Jaganmohini - Rupakam - Thyagaraja
4. Janani Ninnuvina - Ritigowla - Adi - Thyagaraja
5. Ninnu Cheppa Karanamemi - Mandari - Adi - Thyagaraja
6. Sogasuga - Sriranjani - Adi - Thyagaraja
7. Brochevarevarura - Khamas - Adi - Mysore Vasudevachar
8. Nadaloludai - Kalyanavasantham - Rupaka - Thyagaraja
9. Nannu Palimpa - Mohanam - Adi - Thyagaraja (with tanam in the 5 ghana
ragas of the Pancharatna kritis)
10. Annamacharya kriti - Sindhubhairavi
11. Payum Oli Nee Enakku - Ragamalika - Bharathiar
12. Enna Thavam - Hindustani Kapi - Papanasam Sivan
13. Meera Bhajan
14. Surdas Bhajan
15. Mangalam
I went to this concert with very high expectations, having read reviews of some of Smt.
RR's earlier concerts, and I was not disappointed. She presented the time-tested swaroopas
of the ragas faithfully. Despite a most unusual failure (for Atlanta carnatic music
audiences) of the amplifying equipment right in the middle of her Sriranjani alapana, she
carried right on, and, with the audience's undivided attention to her playing, Sriranjani
came through beautifully. Her renditions of Janani and Ninnu Cheppa took me back to the
golden years of Semmangudi in the 50's and 60's. True to the veena tradition, she followed
the Mohanam alapana with
ghana raga panchagam - tanam in the five ghana ragas. I particularly enjoyed the tanam
sequences in Arabhi and Varali. Another feature of the concert that I greatly appreciated
was her crisp rendering of swaras. Nowhere in the concert was the kriti treated as simply
a necessary prelude to excessive swaraprasthas. Shri Mali was a very good match for Smt.
RR. He played with a soft touch and did not demand high amplification. His tani avarthanam
was very efficient - short and sweet. All in all, I felt this was a high quality concert
from a classy veena vidushi.
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Krishnamurthy (Sekar) Surysekar, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Accounting
The DuPree College of Management
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332
Tel: (404) 894 4928
Fax: (404) 894 6030
Email:ks.sekar@mgt.gatech.edu