Veena vidwans Jeyaraaj and Jaysri organized a chamber music concert today at their home in Mandaveli, Chennai under the banner “Veenavadhini“. I played mrudangam for the veena recital of Shri L. Ramakrishnan, senior disciple of veteran vainika Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan.
Special mention must be made of the superb arrangements made by the hosts. That they have a good sense of aesthetics was evident from the way they have decorated their house. Beautiful paintings of Lord Ganesha, Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar and the veena adorned the walls.
Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan came to listen to the concert and I was fortunate to get her blessings at the end.
The song list is as follows:
Veena: Shri L. Ramakrishnan
Mrudangam: R. Ramkumar
Venue: Shanti Enclave, Mandaveli, Chennai
Sabha: Veenavadhini
List of songs:
1) sarasUDa (varnam) – sAvEri – Adi – kothavAsal venkaTrAma iyer (O)
2) shvEta gaNapatim – rAgacUDAmaNi – tisra tripuTa – muthusvAmi dIkSitar (A)
3) sarasvati namOstutE – sarasvati – rUpakam – g.n. bAlasubramaNiam (ANS)
4) bhavanuta – mOhanam – Adi – tyAgarAja (O)
5) hiraNmayIm – lalitA – rUpakam – muthusvAmi dIkSitar (A)
6) sarOja daLa nEtrI – shankarAbharaNam – Adi – shyAma sAstri (AtNST)
7) sarasamu – kApi – Adi – rAmanAthapuram srInivAsa iyengAr (O)
8 ) patiki hArati rE – suraTi – Adi – tyAgarAja (A)
(Key: O=raga outline, A=raga alapana, t=tAnam, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram T=taniavartanam)
Ramkumar R 