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Setting an example alapana in Simhendramadhyamam jagadeeswari, which covered almost by commenced without any all the phrases of the pallavi. It Performing under stressful conditions ambiguity on the identity of the . ended with a ragamalika in Vasanta, at a premier concert requires excellent The jeeva swaras were highlighted , and Behag time management and scholarship with detailed sancharas, embellished rounded off back to Todi. coupled with poise and experience. with intelligent briga sangatis and These attributes came to the fore in Whilst the clock was ticking away to korvais before touching the tara the concert of the Bombay Sisters, the finish time, 11.30 am, the veteran shadja. The unique feature was a C. Saroja and C. Lalitha, during duo was calm and composed till the total lack of hurried forays into the the season. They performed on the very end. This was despite desperate tara sthayi rishabha, gandhara or morning of 22 December 2018 at the attempts by a member of the audience the prati madhyama which is an Music Academy, commencing their requesting them repeatedly with obsession with present-day artists. concert with Sumasayaka—the daru/ frantic gesticulations to sing the The fact that one must understand pada in composed by song Nandanandana Gopala. Saroja one’s strong points without allowing Swati Tirunal. This generally goes calmly replied to the rasika: “Time the same to overshadow and down well with any audience and the ayachu”. She ended the concert with dominate one’s music was clear in sisters sang it in a leisurely manner. This Sree Ramachandra sritapalaya— her rendition of the raga alapana. was followed by ’s unfortunately this was inaudible as the Ninne nammiti composed by Mysore Tamil composition Gajavadana in mike system failed her once again. Vasudevachar was the composition Sreeranjani, with a few rounds of that followed. kalpana swaram adding to its beauty; The superb qualities of time manage­ and the leisurely paced on Devi Todi was then taken up for the ragam- ment, steadfastness, scholarship, in Chintamani raga. All appeared tanam-pallavi. C. Saroja, known for the eye for detail and the attitude of to be well, when there was a rude her dexterous handling of Todi, wove ‘music for music’s sake’ without interruption at the commencement of intricate patterns in the alapana to playing to the gallery—are some the charanam, with the sound system cover all the three octaves despite of the qualities to be imbibed from playing truant, initially with Saroja, a small voice strain in the higher these senior vidushis. then with Lalitha, and finally after octaves on account of her age. Her Ranganathan N. Iyer about 30 seconds, the entire system handling of the raga, particularly Hyderabad broke down for a good 12 minutes in bringing out the different facets before it was restored and they could of the sadharana gandhara, was A correction continue with their kutcheri. Whilst noteworthy. An equally good tanam Apropos the article, In search of the concern for this interruption, lost paved the way for the pallavi Devi Rama, in the March issue of Sruti, there time and anxiety were palpable, not Sree Tripurasundari, deenadayapari is a mention of Janardhanashtakam. once did the artists let this come in Jagadeeswari in Chatusra Triputa tala The correct spelling for Janardana the way of their superlative rendition. (2 kalai with the eduppu at 3 aksharas is without the ‘h’. The etymology is They continued from the phrase away from the samam). The Janaan ardayati iti. It refers to the they stopped and completed the kriti for the pallavi was full of bhava One who causes people (janaan) to with aplomb. This was followed reflecting their tutelage in the Musiri- perish (ardanam), possibly a reference by a brief alapana in before TKG school. What was noteworthy to the time of the cosmic dissolution they began the first major piece for about the pallavi was that despite (pralaya). Inserting an ‘h’ to ‘ardana’ the morning. This concert had some the time constraints, they managed will make the meaning seem like: the lessons for the younger apprentices to sing a tisram, the pallavi in three One who causes people to be halved in the audience on raga vistara kalas and kalpana swaram in both (ardhanam). paddhati, which were brought out the speeds with the swarams ending in the two raga alapanas taken up at Sundari, Tripurasundari, devasree B. Naveena for detailed exposition. The raga Tripurasundari, deenadayapari and Chennai

4 l SRUTI April 2019