Abhishek Raghuram on 18th March 2012

Young Sri.Abhishek Raghuram today occupies a place among the leading carnatic vocalists. He is a child prodigy who showed signs of genius right from a very early age. Being the grandson of mridangam legend, Sri Palghat Raghu and a disciple of Vidwan Sri.P.S.Narayanaswamy, Abhishek has shaped up into a well formed musician both by nature and nurture. Participating and winning award has become a habit to him right from the age of 7. He has been presenting concerts right from the age of 9. Performing widely in India and foreign countries, his concerts are loved by the amateur rasika and the connoisseur of carnatic music  alike.

His awards include:

* Best concert in the SPIRIT OF YOUTH concert series conducted by Music Academy in 1997.
* MOST INSPIRING YOUTH ARTISTE Best Junior vocalist – The Music Academy, Madras in Dec 1999
* “YUVA KALA BHARATHI” from Bharat Kalachar in Dec 2002
* “ASTHANA VIDWAN” title from the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam in October 2006
* “Yagnaraman Youth Excellence Award” by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai in July 2009
* “Shanmukha Sangeetha Shironmani Award” by Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai in Decmber 2009
* “Senior Outstanding Vocalist”  - The Music Academy, Madras during the December Season 2010-11

Full report on the concert

Audience - The True Hero of Nadasurabhi Concert

The experience during Sri.Abhishek Raghuram's concert on 18th March 2012 was quite unique.  The hall was full and overflowing even before the concert began. Then people kept pouring in. They filled up the open quadrangle in front of the hall and the passages and the nooks and the corners! The turnover was more than double the capacity of the hall. The organisers must have been pleased at the good attendance although it nearly became a burden on them. But from some hidden reservoir, more and more chairs kept appearing accommodating (almost) everyone. The rain gods luckily stayed away. The most remarkable feature of the event is the dignified and mature way in which the large audience conducted themselves, patiently waiting and quietly taking the seat offered to them without a fuss and all the time enjoying the beautiful music that was flowing from the speakers. This elite behaviour  is what the whole nation should learn from the carnatic music rasika.

Coming to the concert itself, there was full justification for the public enthusiasm. Abhishek started with a Kanada varnam in which he alternated between different speeds. This kick started the concert to a sparkling beginning. The Mayamalavagowla kriti Tulasi dala mulache was rounded up with some rounds of swarams. The beauty personified composition of Thyagaraja, Evarani was then well presented. The sub- main was in a relatively less popular melakartha raga, Ramapriya in which the song was Korinavara. It was a well balanced presentation where all aspects like ragam, neraval and swaram were adequately covered.

Brovavamma Bangaaru is a lovely Neelambari item of Shyama Sastry, suitably rendered by the artist at the right speed and emotion. A brisk Sarasa saama daana in Kaapinaarayani was a filler before going into a leisurely and most elaborate Saveri alapana. This introduced peace and relaxation among the audience which is a charecteristic of a high quality Carnatic presentation. The song was Muthuswami dikshitar's Kari Kalabha Mukham. Surprisingly there was no neraval. An impressive swara prasthara which was not too elaborate completed this main number. After the thani avarthanam a few bhava soaked thukkadas - ULLavaru Shivaalaya Maaduvaru, a Basavnna's composition in raga Durga,  Sarvam Brama Mayam, a Sadashiva Brahmendra composition in Madhuvanthi and Aadideva paramaatma in Sindubhairavi- brought the extremely satisfactory concert to the end.

Sri. Ganesh Prasad on violin, Sri.B.C.Manjunath on Mridangam and Sri. Pramath Kiran on Morsing played their parts well thus making the concert an extremely successful performance.