T. M. Krishna - Review - Part 4

Ghana Raagam - Mix of all the 5 Raagams - Naata, Gowla, Aarabhi, Varaali & Sri :

Jagadaanandakaaraka - Naata :

Krishna then chose  "జగదానందకారక"  [Jagadanandakaaraka], the 1st pancha ratna krithi of Tyagaraja. He sang ghana ragam (a mix of the 5) for few minutes and then rose to the Pancha Ratnam.

The swaram of the pancha ratnam was presented only on the violin and the saahityam by both. This type of presentation is striking and was felt very apt. It suits the pancha ratnas in a unique manner. The beauty of the swaras was felt to the core during Sriram's play of the swaram. The literary genius in Tyagaraja was worshipped when both Krishna and Sriram Kumar presented the saahityam. 

I strongly feel that, this method should be adopted by all musicians who feel that, the effect of over all concert matters and not just the vocal artist (I do not want to use the word main artist here).

Arvind Ranganathan's Mridangam turn was fascinating. His fingers danced on the mridangam and every beat was heard clearly. Kudos to his clarity in hand!! 
His patterns were nice and provided a good laya-base for the concert. His Mohara was steadfast and catchy. It was like a thriller. His following of krithis was also laudable. 
He contributed to the laya-dharmam of the concert. He matched and improved Krishna & Sriram Kumar's unbreakable unity effect.


Khamas :

Krishna shifted his gear to  "ఏరా? రారా"  [Era... Raaraa..],  a Javali in Khamas by Sri Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer. 
He chose some speedy phrases in the pallavi (sangathis) which caught us all very excited. Arvind's mridangam provided wonderful end phrases to this, which increased its effect to a great extent.


Slokam & Janaki Pathe :

Krishna attempted the slokam "Sringaram....." and sang it in raaga maalika. He seemed to be paying a tribute to Semmangudi during this. His fascination towards Semmangudi garu is evident in this. 

Krishna seemed to be completely carried away by the genius in Semmangudi, as anybody would love to. 

He continued the Sloka in various raagas, suiting various rasaas like hasyam, karuna, bheebhatsam, roudram, saantam etc. He chose Kalyani, Begada, Saranga & then Kharahara priya. [the phrase "muni jane" was sung in different beautiful swara patterns in kharahara priya like - pa da ni da, ma da ni da, sa da ni da]

He continued Kharahara Priya with Janaki Pathe, a composition of Sri Papanasam Sivan. 
[It is said that Sri D. K. Jayaraman used to sing it often].

The krithi had many good, beautiful adjectives (viseshanas) of lord Sri Rama such as - karunya jaladhe (ocean of compassion), jagadabhi rama, pattabhi rama, deena janaavana, sajjana paalaka (king of good people), neela mani nibha sareera , saaketha nayaka, etc.

I heard this krithi for the first time and loved it very much. Specially the phrase which swings like - Jaa...na      ki...     pathe.... 


Yaman - Sri Rama Chandra - Tulasi Das :

Krishna took up the bhajan of Tulasi Das. He seemed very much involved towards lord Rama (it is evident in his choice of krithis). 

He again went back to the state of tranquility in which he began his concert, with Kaanada. He rendered the krithi in a serene manner. 

Some phrases were dealt with slight shades of hindusthani. 
He proved that, he can sing in any manner without losing the classicism of his art. 

He continued in yaman the mangalam - with the slokam "Mangalam Kosalendraaya....."


He received a Standing Ovation from the audience and a big applause for few minutes altogether. He proved that he deserves it. 

He was very pleasant when he met the people after the concert. 
In the middle of conversation, he revealed that, he was at Himaalayas for the past 20 days..
The impact of Himaalayas and the mood of serenity reflected in his singing. 


I wish that, we get to hear more and more from a true musician like him. 


Sruthi Ravali

T. M. Krishna - Review - Part 3

Kaambhoji :

He directly moved to Taanam in Kaambhoji. This must be considered as the best part of the concert. Very soon he sent the audience into a trance, showering on them an immense and intense Kaambhoji. Everybody just preferred to close eyes and lose themselves into the blissful rain of Kaambhoji.

His Kaambhoji was incredible. His music charms all ages of people - children, adults and the old too. His prastaram was very apt and every single note was understandable for even kids of the age 5. The miraculous thing which delighted me the most was, all the kids in the auditorium sat silently, listening to his each and every swaram with complete attention and high curiosity towards his swaras. I haven't seen any children disturbing the concert.

He rose to the Gandharam and circled his flow around it with aesthetic ease which comforted us with balanced joy. Everybody was able to sing along with him, the patterns which he chose. In that way, it reached all in the auditorium. The divinity of the Raga Kaambhoji is explored and exhibited with so much of love. 


Here is a recording.....

He then shifted to Panchamam... He speeded up a little from there. It was very well represented. All nodded heads to the beautiful phrases. He himself was enjoying it and also getting involved deeper and deeper. 

The ends of the typical phrases like - namta namta naM tomta naM ta...... 
- (g m p,   g m p,    g m n d p D P.....) sounded special at some places because they were not the usual predictable tanam phrases of Kambhoji. 

It was a good & complete team play of both Sriram Kumar and Krishna. Sriram Kumar hardly missed out any phrase. He was almost playing each and every line, ably predicting what Krishna is going to sing. It is a feast to hear Vocal & Violin, having no difference and travelling the journey together, inspiring each other. They both were out of this world and took us out of it too.


Tanam at Panchamam & Daivatham :






The Taara sthaayi Tanam :

 



He was very immersed and involved in the taara sthaayi part. His capacity was clearly proved in the complexity of the phrases he sang. Throughout his singing, he maintained a peace. It reached climax after the tanam at Gandharam at Taara sthaayi. Even the Taara sthaayi panchamam & nishaadam were touched enough soothingly. Even his sighs were heard clearly! Sriram Kumar played with good momentum and impact and gave a good end to it. 

After he winded up the tanam and finished it, Krishna made a very clear announcement that, his Tanam in Kambhoji is an independent piece chosen separately without anything to be followed in Kaambhoji after. He even showed no interest in explaining / discussing the cause. 


This pattern seems beneficial to carnatic music in some aspects. 

Tanam is usually sung after a lengthy raagaalapana. After such a wide alapana, the tanam may exhaust the listener (I mean the audience of today). I don't mean to condemn or disrespect or harm the traditional concert format. I'm a pursuer of True Carnatic Music. So, I do not really mind to make it more approachable to people by adding any kind of modifications, with due respect to the tradition.

Some may find his format unusual, strange and also alien. But, if we consider his individual items separately, there is no space for any doubt.

Musicians like TMK have the ability to convince people against anything through their music. It seemed completely okay and the new format is refreshing and thought-provoking too.



[continued in Part 4]

T. M. Krishna - Review - Part 2

Continued.....

Todi :

Krishna chose Syama Sastri's  "రావే,  హిమగిరి కుమారి"  [Raave Himagiri Kumaari]  as his 3rd piece. He maintained the trinity order - Tyagaraja, Deekshitar & Syama Sastri in the pieces he took.

He started it in an unhurried way, the typical way of Syama Sastri. The audience were enthralled by his crystal clear rendition of the mandra sthaayi "Ga" and anu mandra sthaayi "Ni" too. Specially, the children were absolutely amazed at his ease & capability. 

In his Todi alapana, he did not touch any madhya sthaayi swarams above "Ga" for the first few mins. He concentrated deeply on the mandra sthaayi which comforted the audience with lots of peace, serenity & composure. His voice, at the depths of Todi, sounded like mandra sthaayi Veena vaadyam. We could feel the vibrations within ourselves.

Soon, he approached taara sthaayi. Graha Bhedam phrases were also heard. Somehow I felt the high down pour effect of Sri Semmangudi garu on him in his Todi. Semmangudi is such a persona, who effects the mood, creativity, emotion & maturity of any artist. It is wonderful to see Sri T. M. Krishna, inhabiting the rich tradition of Semmangudi's Raga presentation, and presenting it in his own way.

Surprisingly, there was not even a single krithi of high tempo such as - Bhogeendra Saayinam (Kunthala Varali), etc. Yet, the concert captured audience with its balanced vigor. 

The krithi in Todi, started on a very slow note, as according to its mood. It melted the hearts of people with its pleasing saahityam especially at the sangathi in its pallavi where it goes as - himagiri kumari (n g r n d m) - in mandra sthaayi. When the mandra sthaayi "Ma" was touched, it became "A moment of high vibrations and goosebumps".

Krishna did not compromise anywhere in the aspect of "classicism" of Todi. The strong, shaky "Ga"was simply perfect. Krishna's Todi elevated the mood and listening maturity of the audience.

Krishna almost got himself lost into the rendition. Both Krishna & Sriram Kumar were like Sangeetham & Saahityam, the 2 children of Goddess Saraswati - inseparable, yet individually valuable & unique.

Nerav was performed at the place  "కళ్యాణి... కంచి కామాక్షి, నీ  పాదమే దిక్కు"  [Kalyani... Kanchi Kamakshi, nee paadame dikku - raave himagiri.....] 

Check the recording below..




Krishna also did 2nd kalam Neraval in it, where he showed a capturing continuity in the lines. Arvind's support on the Mridangam was very comfortable. His phrases were brisk but soft and got mixed in the galaxy of Syama Sastri's Todi (His way of Todi).

Krishna did not take up swara kalpana in this. But it did not appear to be a flaw or a loss. On the whole, it looked complete and made long lasting impression in the hearts of rasikas.


[continued in Part 3....]

T. M. Krishna - Review - Part 1

The Visakha Music & Dance Academy's Festival of Music, Dance & Drama began on the 10th of August, 2013 with the blessings of Poojya Guruji Sri Sivananda Murthy, at Kala Bharati Auditorium.

VMDA conducted a week of wonderful programs. Under the guidance of ardent lovers of music like Sri C. S. N. Raju garu and with the efforts of people like Sri G. R. K. Prasad, the festival marked its importance for its grandeur. 

I congratulate VMDA on behalf of true rasikas of carnatic music for arranging such grand classical performances which made a deep impression in our hearts for a longtime. 
It became a wonderful opportunity for us all to listen to such people.

On the 3rd day (12th Aug), the festival had Sri T. M. Krishna's Vocal accompanied by Sri R. K. Sriram Kumar on the Violin and Sri Arvind Ranganathan on the Mridangam. 

Sri P. Madhusudhan, Director of Finance, from RINL - Steel Plant, was the chief guest and the program was sponsored by State Bank of India, Visakhapatnam.



The Concert, was like a recharge for true admirers of classicism. T. M. Krishna earned the confidence of people with his strength - high richness of classicism. His music is something which is very richly classic, elegant, soothing and inspiring.


Kaanada :

Kaanada, as we all know - is a raga that evokes Compassion (Karuna Rasam).

T. M. Krishna began with  " శ్రీ నారద నాద సరసీరుహ  (కానడ రాగం, త్యాగరాజ కృతి)"   [Sri Naarada Naada Saraseeruha in Kaanada], a Tyagaraja's piece in a very neat, balanced way - which formed the theme of the concert. Throughout the concert, his strength of "balance" was evident. 

Soon after he began, Sriram Kumar became a Sita for the singing Rama. Sriram Kumar followed him everywhere, every nook and corner of the wonderful world he took his audience with. He strengthened Krishna's strength by following, accompanying, improving the effect and inspiring him too, at times. 

The Swara Kalpana in Kaanada was more based on the raaga bhavam, flow & mood and not just calculations. He started the prastaram around "Ri", and then "Ma" and then "Da" and then "Pa" and then "Ni" (the shaky, typical Kaanada "Ni") - and presented it with so many beautiful aesthetic patterns, which touched the bottom of hearts.





He also sang the taara sthaayi prastaaram very smoothly, without any kinds of ambiguities. He was absolutely clear in every note. The whole swaram went on for 5 to 6 mins approx. but it was not at all felt dragging or repetitive. It was highly balanced and poured Kaanada into the hearts of the listeners.

His importance to the accompaniment was seen when he gave the chance to violin after a very long swara kalpana. Sriram Kumar, as stated above, was a Sita who followed Rama with devotion and faith. There was no difference seen between the vocal and violin. They blended into a single soul with their combined effort and presented a complete portrait of Kaanada.


Kannada :

He then took up   " శ్రీ మాతృ భూతం (కన్నడ రాగం, దీక్షితార్ కృతి)"   Deekshitar's "Sri Maatrubhootam" in the raga "Kannada". He seemed to be following rhyming in the raagas he chosen   (కానడ - కన్నడ)  -  (Kaanada and Kannada). 
Both the ragas are entirely different in their impact. 

Kannada's shades give an enthusiastic approach to the composition. It can be used for an adventurous theme. The daatu swara moorchana (zigzag) (S M G M P M D N) makes us feel the exploration of new places of beauty. Tyagaraja used it in a questioning theme - in his krithi    "నిన్నాడనేల ??" (Ninnadanela??). 



The charanam of this piece goes on like  -  "సువాసిత నవ జవంతి పుష్ప   వికాస ప్రియ  హృదయం సదయం -  మాస వర్ష పక్షోత్సవ విభవం - సదా శివం, పరమ శివం". 
[suvaasita nava javanthi pushpa  vikaasa priya hrudayam sadayam - maasa varsha pakshotsava vibhavam - sadaa Sivam, parama Sivam] 

The words "sa daa SivaM - parama SivaM" also represent swaraaksharams at sa, daa, pa & ma (underlined). Deekshitar is very well known for his swaraakshara saahitya.

Krishna immersed himself and the audience in the ardent flow of deekshitar and was himself delighted at the words, specially "sadaa SivaM - parama SivaM". His sense of appreciation of beauty (of sangeetham and sahityam) can be seen from his repetition of these words again.

His did swara kalpana in 1st kalam only. This shows his priority to the "balance" and the "bhava" of the krithi. 



[Continued in Part 2]