TNS Krishna

Review based on K.P.Jayan's blog

01 Mandasmitha Mukhamboruham -Slokam- Mohanam

Composed by Sri.T.N.Seshagopalan for his first harikatha on Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar

followed by Mana Mohana -Mohana Varnam

Composed by HMB for the first concert of his student Sri.Sankara Sivan

02 sri maha ganapathim- Malahari

03 vaLLI nAyakanE – SaNmukhapriya – Adi – HMB ( A,N,S )

neraval & Swaras @ ‘talli tanri guru deivamu nIvani ‘

04 mAnamu kAvalenu talli – sahAna – rUpakam – HMB ( A )

05 krpAnidhE krpAjaladhE – hamsanAdam – mishrachAp – HMB ( A )

06 sharaNam vijayasarasvati mAyE – vijayasa saravavati – Adi – HMB ( O )

07 manadirkkisainda maNALan – shankarAbharaNam – Adi x 2 – HMB ( A,N,S,T )

neraval & Swaras @ samarasa sharavaNan sadguNa bOdhan’

rAgamalika swaras in ‘nATa, gauLa, Arabhi, varALi, karNaranjani, ………., malayamArutam, shivaranjani, pashupatipriya, …….., hamsAnandi, shrI

08 sArasa daLa nayane – sAramati – Adi – HMB

09 thillAna ( dhIm tare nare nare dhiraNA) – hamsAnandi – Adi – HMB

10 mAvUr valam – sindhu bhairavi – Adi tishra gati – HMB ( O )

11 mangaLAm bhavatu tE mAtanga vadanA – pantuvarALi – khaND chAp – HMB

Many things were notable in this concert. One, fabulous selection of compositions, with a method and reason for each of them. Two , not repeating the often chewed cud ( As we see in many such thematic concerts) , and often bringing out the niceties of the compositions , by means of highlighting them and explaining.

A cracker of a shankarabharanam. Very good alapana, super selection of a kriti , not heard this before in a concert. Years ago, his father and guru ( one and only TNS) gave a special thematic on Muthaiah Bhagavatar, shankarabharanam as main with ‘sahaja guna rAmachandra’. Son, picked another not often heard gem. I loved it.

He did a lot more to the main. Neraval was grand. Nice wordplay around bOdhan, guNabOdhan, sadguNa bOdhan. In fact he closed the kriti ( before starting the neraval) with ” maNALan, isainda maNALan, manadirkkisainda maNALan ” , to some good effect.

The kalpana swaram had some good ‘swarakshara’ landing at ‘sA,mA -rasa’, which he deployed in quite a few rounds. I thought that was very intelligently and imaginatively done. There was also a flurry of ragamalika swaras.

This wasn’t done as a lec-dem concert, but he added a bit of snippets for few of the compositions. The sahAna kriti ( a master piece of shri TNS) , had a unique start at mA, unlike most of teh popular sahana compositions, and this also has mA as one of the pivotal note. I think, most of his alapana were around this, and hence refreshing. He said, the hamsanadam kriti of Muthiah Bhagavatar, was composed in the older tradition of the raga. I remember Shri TNS singing a detailed alapana of vijayasaraswati, years ago during Nadasurabhi Annual Festival ( around 2007/08) and some one from audience asked for the name of the raga as all of us were scratching our heads. He responded by asking us to wait until the kriti starts, which will answer our queries.

Even the post main section was cleverly conceived. A beautiful sAramati , thillAna , the sindhubhairavi kriti on kALi were all impressive. As is his wont ( or one can expect from him) , the mangalam was also was a nice pick.

The supporting artists gave a real fillip to the concert by their excellent performance. Notable occasions were Sri. Raghuram's Shanmukhapriya and sahana returns. Sri. Sudhindra's slow melodious tempo in the initial stages of the thani made the entire audience sway to the beat. It was an amazing experience. Smt. Sukanya Ramgopal rose to the occasion and gave exemplary support to the other three artists.r and hence is in the best position to present this thematic concert on one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century.