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II Interactive Listeners' Choice Concert
   
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Buoyed by the tremendous response to the first-of-its-kind Interactive Listeners' Choice Concert held last month, Carnatica presented the second edition last week in association with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, at the BVB Hall in Mylapore, Chennai. Featuring young and upcoming artistes along with established stars, the surprise element in this edition was the appearance of the star guest, acclaimed vocalist Vijay Siva. The complete star cast included S. Sowmya, Carnatica Brothers (Shashikiran & Ganesh) and Nisha Rajagopal. Also featured were talented upcoming artistes V. Ranjani (disciple of Sowmya), Pradeepkumar, Saketharaman, Delhi Muthukumar and Keyboard Star Sathyanarayanan. Accompanying artistes were Nagai Sriram (Violin) and B. Sivaraman (Mridangam), disciple of the legendary T. K. Moorthy.

Following the procedure implemented in the first edition, members of the audience were invited to write in their requests for songs/ragas. An added feature this time was the inclusion of general and technical questions related to music. The artistes' panel went through the requests and picked out a set of ragams and krithis that could be moulded into a concert format. The concert started off with the popular Kalyani varnam, "Vanajakshi", sung in chorus () by all the artistes. This was followed by Muthukumar's rendition ()of "Thulaseedala" in Mayamalavagowla and Saketharaman singing () "Joothamurare" in Arabhi. Responding to a large number of requests for Nayaki, the Carnatica Brothers (Shashikiran & Ganesh) rendered () Dikshitar's lilting "Ranganayakam Bhavaye". Next was the turn of Sathyanarayanan () to perform Madhyamavathi on the keyboard. He effortlessly keyed out "Vinayakuni" to the delight of the audience. Dharmavati seems to be a popular ragam, judging by the pulse of the audience. In response to several requests, Nisha Rajagopal sang () the popular "Bhajana seyya". This was followed by "Akhilandeswari" in Dwijavanti by V. Ranjani (). 

Next was a lively Q&A session, peppered with enthusiastic queries from the audience on a variety of topics, ranging from Tamil Music to concert presentation to technical aspects of various ragas. The star guest of the evening, Vijay Siva was an active participant. In addition to answering various questions, his extensive repertoire of Tamil kritis was highlighted, with a chaste Kambhoji rendition of "Adum Deivam" (), complete with alapana, neraval and swaram followed by a lively Thani by B. Sivaraman. 

An interesting request from the audience was for Khamaas with Kaishiki Nishadam. Star vocalist Sowmya responded with a fine rendition of the popular Javali, "Modijese" (). This was followed by "Gangadheeswaram" in Sindhubhairavi by the Carnatica Brothers, "Mayil Meedu" in Charukesi by Muthukumar, "Srinivasa" in Hamsanandi by Nisha Rajagopal, "Mrgayakara" in Behag by Saketharaman and "Baro Murare" in Desh by Pradeepkumar ().

A North Indian member of the audience made a surprising request for the Nadanamakriya padam, "Payyada Paimeeda" (), which was rendered by Sowmya in the characteristic style of the Dhanammal school. The concert was rounded off with a thillana in Mohanakalyani on the keyboard by Sathyanarayanan and "Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma" by V. Ranjani. It was another successful programme, judging by audience reactions and requests for more editions.

 

-- Editor

(with inputs from the Carnatica Team)

Sept. 29th, 2003.

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