| Sri Embar S. Kannan and on the mridangam by Sri Neyveli Narayanan. What immediately struck many in the audience was the easy rapport that all four musicians shared with one another and with the audience. Their commitment to the art was apparent right from the moment they tuned in to the tanpura. The concert opened with a varnam in Sree raga. A couple of quick, medium-paced kritis later, that had the audience enthralled, came the crowning glory, a beautifully rendered alapana in raga Dwijavanti, followed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar's kriti, Akhilandeshwari raksha maam. The brothers did wonders with the raga alapana, and just as the audience had begun to think that Dwijavanti had been shown off to her full potential, Sri Kannan proved that there could really be no limit to creativity. The thani avartanam by Sri Narayanan fully embodied the essence of the kriti and as many would agree, Thiruvanaikka's, Goddess Akhilandeshwari was literally brought to life in Mills Hall. The brothers complemented each other beautifully. Sri Ravi Kumar's vibrant voice flitted over his brother's mellow, yet strong voice like cheerful ripples on a calm sea. With Sri Kannan following along like a shadow and Sri Narayanan giving just the right emphases, each and every song was a union of sruti, laya, and bhava in the truest sense; one could simply not separate one from the other. Not unexpectedly, the majority of the concert's attendees stayed on after the intermission. The Malladi brothers sang tukdas by several composers, including those that had been tuned by their father and guru, Sri Suri Babu, exhibiting their vast repertoire of Carnatic kritis. The standing ovation at the end of the recital was spontaneous and many returned home that night, enveloped in saukhyam. Kudos to the IGSA for yet another outstanding concert, where one can truly say that music was played for music's sake. Glossary: Alapana- Exposition/elaboration of a raga/ Akhilandeshwari- Form of Goddess Parvati; consort of Lord Shiva Bhava- Emotion/expression Carnatic- South Indian classical music Dwijavanti- Name of a raga Guru- Teacher Kriti- Composition Laya- Rhythm Malladi- Village in Andhra Pradesh Maam- Me (Sanskrit) Mridangam- double-barrelled drum; a common percussion instrument in South India Muthuswamy Dikshitar- Name of a composer; one of the Trinity of Carnatic music composers Raga- A pattern of specific notes that defines a melody Raksha- Protection (Sanskrit) Saukhyam- Peace/tranquility (Sanskrit) Sree- Name of a raga Sruti- Pitch Tanpura- Fretless stringed instrument; strings are tuned to the first and fifth notes and are used to give the artist his/her pitch. Thani avartanam- solo by percussionist; thani = solo; avartanam = rhythmic cycle Thiruvanaikka- One of the abodes of Lord Shiva, in the vicinity of Trichy and Srirangam in Tamil Nadu Tukda- Short compositions Varnam- Literally means "description" in Sanskrit; vocal exercise in a particular raga with phrases and syllables that bring out the characteristic features of a raga; usually sung at the beginning of a Carnatic recital. |
| Creative Syncopations/Ramya Kapadia Malladi Brothers in Madison |
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| The Indian Graduate Students Association (IGSA) kicked off their Fall 2007 Music of India Series with what can only be called a fantastic concert by the Malladi Brothers and party. The brothers, Sri Rama Prasad and Sri Ravi Kumar, presented a Carnatic vocal recital on Friday, October 5, 2007, at the Mills Hall, UW-Humanities. They were accompanied on the Carnatic violin by |