Yamini 2008 @ IIMB:
Reached IIMB towards the end of the first piece (the first concert, rather) by Sowmya. “Kurrai Onrum Illai” was the last piece that was nearly done with as I got there.
What followed was Shashank’s brilliant concert. Amongst the most stunning flute virtuosoes ever, so far as I’m concerned. Truly, a remarkable rendition.The violinist accompanying shashank IMHO was below par and the the folks at the control-corners constantly fiddled around with the acoustics / settings (Not much in there too. Open-Air auditorium, it was.). The concert included arbitrary ragas that I can’t recall anymore, apart from “naLinakaMti” which stood out. The central piece was some RTP that I can’t recall off. Things concluded with “Krishna nee begane baro” and “Baro Krishnayya” which were as usual the crowd’s favourites. Shashank was seen off with a standing ovation.
Things turned pathetic right after, I mean the next performer in Gaurav Majumdar. Not a single soul from the organization team to even introduce them on the stage and half the audience was riding so high after being mellowed down by Shashank’s virtuosity that they took to catching 40 winks. But then again, to the few of us who did keep awake, Gaurav Majumdar’s concert proved to be par-excellence. Raag Jog on the sitar being the start up item was particularly enthralling.
I took to some brief comatose sleep right after, myself. While what went on the stage was some Kuchipudi dancer’s solo. While my brother tried waking me up with various modes of enticement: (“You ‘ve gotta look at this. She’s really hot too. She’s now doing the ‘thatte-dance’, “et al..), I was but in no mood to kill my blissful sleep.
By dawn, it was Chitravina Ravikiran, who too was unceremoniously greeted by the audience’s rythmic snores, lack of introduction and all else. This concert too, was par excellence. While we ‘ve all heard about chronicles of Ravikiran’s prodigal virtuosity with the Chitravina, What I din’t know was that he is an accomplished vocalist too. Ragas played included Reetigaula, et al. There was also a central interruption, thanks to a power failure. Ravikiran took this time out to answer questions regarding the instrument and Carnatic music in general. Some soul in the audience brought up a really scholarly argument about the subtelity owed to the sympathetic strings that are probably not part of the navachitravina, but were off the times when Ravikiran did recordings in Germany some 18 years back. Ravikiran promptly answered all queries, and also addressed to the people regarding the electronic paraphernalia, contact makers he uses in concerts. Lesser mortals of the like of I listened 
FYI, Akkarai S Subbalakshmi is an excellent violinist. Since it was the republic day too, Ravikiran ended his concert with a rendition of Vande Mataram.
Praveen Godkhindi, Dr Suma Sudheendra, Yogesh Samsi: Raga Fantasy, Bharat Sangeet Utsav 2008 @ Christ College:
Unreceptive audience in infinitesimal numbers too. Dr Suma Sudheendra on the Veena was par-excellence. Praveen Godkhindi sucked. Yogesh Samsi was the crowd’s favourite as usual.
The central piece was an RTP in Raga Dharmavati (?) that got insanely boring due to Godkhindi’s painful rendition. His rendering of Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma at the terminus of the concert too was mediocre.
Parveen Sultana’s concert was to follow. I couldn’t stay for I had a lot of work. Made the long journey homeward.
Praveen Godkhindi, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Vikku Vinayakram, Yogesh Samsi @ Chowdiah
Well, It was just VM Bhatt and Yogesh Samsi for the first part of the concert. And I only made it to Chowdiah an hour late thanks to ridiculous Bangalore traffic. This is by far the best concert I’ve ever been to. VM Bhatt and his instrument plain took my breath away. Yogesh Samsi on the tabla was par excellence, as was the acoustics at Chowdiah.
To re-iterate, This was just a totally out of the world performance by the duo and I can’t for sure be articulate enough to describe the experience. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is g0d. ^:)^
They were joined in later by the duo of Vikku Vinayakram (Ghata Legend, off the McLaughin / L Shankar / Zakir Hussain Shakti troop fame) and Praveen Godkhindi. There was brief Konnakol – rendition by the great man which wasn’t particularly the best part of the concert. What followed however would make the next few days for me. Praveen Godkhindi was at his best, or it was that the acoustics were far better. Whatever they played, I know not for sure…but at the end of the concert, the whole bunch got a 2 minute standing ovation. The concert was truly, totally mesmerizing.
Sangeeta Kalanidhi R K Srikanthan, K S Lakshmikanth, Lalgudi G J R Krishnan, Trichy Shankaran @ Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Err.. Not good. Atleast, not very good. I discovered that one of my main aversions with Karnatak vocal is the poor pronunciation. This IMHO is critically important when you’re rendering something in a phonetically rich and ubiquitous language of the like of Sanskrit (or even KannaDa for that matter). Tam karnatik vocalists normally miserably fail at this.
I can’t really think of anybody with the exception of MS who has been / was immaculate with the pronounciation.
Even with Srikanthan, the rendition of Mahaganapatim in Nattai became “Magaganapatim Manasasmarami”.
This is aparrent even with a singer of the repute of Bombay Jayashri (off the Zara Zara fame) who ends up as “Mahakavya naDagadipriya mooshiga vaagana modaga priyam”. The pronunciation of Mahapranas too is consistently poor with most singers and this can sometimes be a turn-off for obsessive-compulsive people of the like of I who ‘ve a fetish for being phoneticaly right. I consider the phonetically-right rendition of lyrics / kritis important especially since Karnatik shaastreya sangeeta is atleast penta-lingual at any time. Apt pronunciation is a key factor.
Trichy Shankaran on the Mridanga was par excellence.
What followed after was the highlight of the day. Ashwini Bhide’s concert!
I’ve no clue what she sung, or what it meant or how phonetically correct she was, but the voice was for sure, heavenly. The show lasted a couple of hours and found my brains entering blissful territories of thoughts all regularly through the concert.
Concerts Missed:
-> Hari Prasad Chaurasia @ IISc Gymkhana. Couldn’t Stay 
-> Master Akash, Neyveli Santhanagopala, Chitravina Ravikiran (Melharmony) @ Purandara Bhavana, Indiranagar
-> Bombay S Jayashri and Mandolin U Shrinivas at Ramana Maharishi acamdemy for the blind.
-> Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma on 19th Feb @ Chowdiah
