The Hindu Archives - Saketharaman

An ideal start to the annual Sangeet Samaroh of Bhartaiya Vidya Bhavan

admin123 — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 14:33:16 +0000

Music is great leveller, healer and in this world of so many conflicts and turmoil it is a great force of national integration. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has been truly fostering this through education and culture for the last 80 years since Kulpati K M Munshi founded this great institution in 1938 at the instance of the Father of Nation .

The annual Sangeet Samaroh of BVB Delhi has been a very important event in the cultural calendar of the National Capital for the last 10 years. This year’s fest, in tune with the stature of the institution, featured a Carnatic vocal, followed by a Kathakali recital– the latter for the first time ever on the inaugural day .

Opening with Mallari

Saketharaman provided an ideal start to this year’s fest by his vibrant Carnatic vocal concert. This dynamic young musician, a disciple of legend Lalgudi Jayaraman, has been creating waves in music circles in India and abroad over the last few years and has emerged as one of the brightest stars for the future of Carnatic Music in India. He carries lightly on his crown several laurels, including the prestigious Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar of Kendriya Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Saketharaman opened his concert with a Mallari in the majestic raga Gambhira Nattai. It was brisk and set the tone for the evening. Mallari heralds the procession of Utsav Moorti of God during the night procession accompanied by Nadaswaram in the temples during bygone era of last few centuries. There was an ebullient flow of swaras beautifully echoed by the violin player, the well-known Akkarai Subbalakshmi and percussion artiste Neyveli Venkatesh. Saketh chose one of the gems of saint Tyagaraja’s compositions in the raga Saramathi – Mokshamu Galada where the saint spells rather philosophically the route to attain salvation is music and devotion. These inherent nuances were brought out beautifully by Saketh who coaxed his powerful voice to subtle melody singing and soaring to portray the sanctity of this masterpiece

A brief alaap of Sudhasaveri wafted in next and the song on Tripurasundari was bestowed with dexterous Chittaswaras. The piece de resistance of the evening was Deekshitar’s profoundly scholarly Sanskrit composition “Sri Satyanarayanam Upasmahe” preceded by a charismatic alaap when raga Sivapantuvarali enveloped the audience. Saketh lavished his reverence for Deekshitar in this piece, giving away a secret that the composer claims ownership of the singer in a symbiotic divine connection through music.

As a nice innovation, a soft and sober Thanam was nicely sandwiched in between and rendered exclusively and exquisitely by Subbalakshmi. The kalpana swaras that Saketh sang showed his manodarma. He concluded his concert with a bajan and tillana of his Guru.

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Saketharaman turns Anandabhairavi exposition enjoyable

admin123 — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 20:06:17 +0000

Saketharaman is a confident vocalist. He had planned his concert with clarity and presented compositions in an engaging manner. He began with ‘Sami ninne,’ the Sriraga varnam, though one expected a varnam from his guru Lalgudi Jayaraman’s treasure. He next chose a rare piece in Bilahari ‘Ini namakkoru kavalai’ by Koteeswara Iyer. These over, he was set for raga delineation and opted for Charukesi. Though Saketharaman touched the quintessential phrases of the raga, he couldn’t convey its serenity. Tyagaraja’s ‘Adamodi galade’ and the swara strands with a few rapid sangatis didn’t stand out either. Violinist Varadharajan shined through the swara segment with his mature approach.

Perfect choice

Saketharaman, however, turned the Anandabhairavi exposition into an enjoyable affair with his well-carved-out phrases. ‘Ramanama payasake’ of Purandaradasa was an apt choice; it suited the raga and the mood.

Kalyani occupied the centre stage that evening. Saketharaman used his vocal power and imagination to embellish it, even trying a sruti bedam towards the end.

Kalyani’s majesty was addressed in all possible ways in his expansion. He went for Dikshitar’s ‘Kamalambam bhajare’ which crowned the alapana beautifully. Saketharaman’s exhaustive niraval on the pallavi were appended with several swara strands.

S. Varadharajan kept a low profile in many parts, countering the vocalist’s exuberant swara segments with his own.

Srimushnam V. Raja Rao (mridangam) and S.V. Ramani (ghatam) showed great restraint with subtle strokes. Their sharp exchanges, during the thani, are worth a mention.

The sloka of Adi Sankara on the 18 Shakti Peetams, in ragamalika, the finale piece, culminated in Sivan’s ‘Karpagame kan paraai’ in Madhymavati.

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A spirited showcase of skills

admin123 — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 22:45:57 +0000

Vocalist S. Saketharaman of Chennai gave an enthralling vocal concert the other day at the ‘Bharat Sangeet Utsav’ organised in New Delhi by the Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha and Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. He delighted audience by intelligently choosing compositions and intertwining these with his creative talent. His ragam-tanam-pallavi session was delectable and brought out his depth in creative aspects.

It needs to be mentioned that performance of all the artistes on the stage as a team contributed significantly to the excellent concert.

Saketharaman started in a delightful manner with the Todi raga Adi taal varnam in two speeds. He sang Tyagaraja’s “Tanavari tanamu” in Begada raga in a detailed manner by introducing neraval of the phrase “Rama Rama Rama Raccaseyakava” and swarakalpanas. He also took up Muthuswami Dikshitar’s “Ardha narisvaram” in raga Kumudakriya for detailed rendition. Singing the song in an emotive manner, he presented a scintillating alapana of the raga to the utter delight of the music lovers. Saketharaman included a composition of Shyma Sastri too by taking up “Durusuga krpajuci” in the raga Saveri. In an unhurried raga alapana, he brought out the nuances of this raga in a fine manner. He made good use of his creative talents while singing the neraval of the phrase “Narayani Shyma Krishna Vinuta Na Manavini Vinu Giri Suta”.

Including a ragam-tanam-pallavi session lifted the stature of Saketharaman’s concert. Execution of the pallavi “Sudha Madurya Bhashini Sadha Nandini Vandana Dharini Palayamam” composed in a rare raga Vandana Dharini and to a slightly complex chatusra jati Triputa taal in khanda nadai and the subsequent kalpanaswaras in the ragamallika pattern, in both forward and reverse directions, was again a delightful experience for music lovers.

Vittal Rangan (disciple of A. Kanyakumari) on the violin provided excellent support. He handled in a matured manner even ragas like Saveri and Kumudakriya, besides producing befitting swarakalpanas. He also rose to the occasion during the RTP session. DSR Murthy on the mridangam and S. Sunilkumar on the kanjira paired together to provide riveting percussion support. Besides, the duo played a captivating tani avartanam in Adi taal.

Shertala Dr. K.N. Renganatha Sharma who also gave vocal recital at the Bharat Sangeet Utsav, regaled the audience.

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Spirited Performance

admin123 — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 16:59:41 +0000

Saketharaman was successful in his attempt to introduce variations in tempo while rendering the kritis.

S. Saketharaman’s singing for Mudhra Fine Arts at the Infosys Auditorium, in the Ramakrishna Mission School, was truly sensational, as he came pretty close to balancing emotional expression with technical virtuosity. The hallmark of his recital was the accent on an energetic display of variations of many shades.

The proof of the pudding was the opening varnam in ragam Kedaragowla ‘Saami Dayajooda,’ which he presented in different tempos. After a sketch of ragam Mayamalavagowla, he took up Tyagaraja’s ‘Meru Samaana.’ The niraval on ‘Galamuna Sobillu Kanakabhooshanamuna,’ was followed by some breath-taking spell of improvisation for three to four minutes. There was no looking back thereafter.

His exposition of ragam Chandrajyoti was met with an equally spirited response from the violinist H.N. Bhaskar – the pre-eminent disciple of the distinguished violin maestro the late M.S. Gopalakrishnan. The composition was Tyagaraja’s ‘Sasivadana Bhakta Janaavanaa,’ set to Adi talam. The kalpanaswaram was again in equally brisk pace, exactly as the song itself was.

Saketharaman soon found himself in the rather unusual situation: of receiving a listener’s request rather early in the concert. His response was prompt and he sang the song, ‘Rakshamam Saranagatham,’ written by Bangalore Negara, also known as Meenakshi Suther, in ragam Nattai. Clearly, the choice from the audience was by no means ordinary. The latter piece was the lone departure from what was probably a predetermined effort by the artist to showcase Tyagaraja in the performance.

Saketharaman’s alapana of ragam Khambodi comprised slow, subtle and nuanced phrases in the middle and higher octaves. He eventually raised the tempo. He thus consolidated on the momentum built up over the past 90 minutes or thereabouts in the recital.

The rendition of Tyagaraja’s ‘Maa Janaki,’ the niraval and improvisations followed a predictable sequence. The lengthy percussion duet of V.V. Ramanamurthy on the mridangam and Dr. S. Karthick on the ghatam rivalled the other performers. Saketharaman’s frequent attempt to introduce variation in mood and tempo was achieved to a great extent in the Suddhasaveri kriti, ‘Thaye Tripurasundari.’

The Ragam Tanam Pallavi was presented in Desh. The lyrics for the pallavi: ‘Raghuveeram, Raghavam, Ramam Bhajami,’ were set to Handajaati triputa taalam. The raagamalika comprised Aanandabhairavi, Vaasanthi and Shyamkalyan. Bharatidasan’s song ‘Thunbam Nergayil’ also in ragam Desh was followed by the concluding tillana.

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