Electrifying - Sid Sriram


Electrifying


Sid Sriram                  vocal
H.N.Baskar                 Electrical violin 
Patri Satish kumar      mridangam
Giridhar Udupa           Ghatam
Bangalore Rajasekar   Moharsing 

 Well before the commencement of this concert, the hall was almost full inspite of being a Sunday plus a West Indies Vs India ODI at Chepauk.

  Sid Sriram commenced his concert with his signature invocation..”Vakrathunda Maha Kaaya..” in Behaag followed by “Vanajaksha Ninne nammithi..” varnam in that same raagam composed by Prof. T.R.Subramaniam That was followed by Papanasam Sivan’s Shanmugapriya song”Saravana bhava enum thirumandiram..” which was a bit loud. The violinist gave a beautiful account of Shanmugapriya.

 A brief aalapanai in Sahaana was followed by “Raghupathe Raama…Rakshasa Bheemaa..” a composition of Thyagaraja. The violin exposition of Sahaana was good. Then came an elaborate aalapana of Subhapantuvarali with a re-play by the violinist brilliantly. Muthuswami Dikshithar’s “SriSathyanarayanam” was presented nicely
That was followed by a crisp Neelambari kruthi of Thyagaraja in Thriputai thaalam “Neeke Daya raadaa..” which was once again very loud. Then came a super jet speed Kaapinarayani kruthi of Thyagaraja “Sarasa saama dhaana..”
The main item was Shyama Sastri’s Bhairavi raga krithi in Jhampai Eka taalam..”Sari evaramma..” Tha aalapanai and the violin exposition that followed were good.  The thani that followed was electrifying…but very loud..
The Thukkada section commenced with Kanakadasar’s “Baaro Krishnaiyya” in Maand, Misra peelu and Johnpuri. Sadasiva Brahmendrar’s “Sarvam Brahma Mayam” followed. Next came a pleasing G.N.B composition “Radha Samethaa Krishnaa” in Misra Yaman. Ghanam Krishna Iyer’s “Jagaj janani Sukhapani kalyani…” in Ratipatipriya was very appealing. Immediately followed by  Maharajapuram Santhanam’s Misra Sivaranjani Thillana that was greeted  with continuous applause. 

  Then came a Thiruppugazh “Kanaka Sabhai mevum enadhu gurunadha”in Karaharapriya. Finally came a high pitched Mangalam.
The high decibel maintained throughout the kutcheri by the entire team was well received by the younger generation…. But stole the beauty of the concert. Gifted with a beautiful full throated throw in singing and an excellent repertoire, the vocalist should mellow down his singing style to make it a memorable concert. A few degree of voice control would definitely enhance the aural effect of his concert. It is his duty to preserve his voice for posterity…..to render memorable concerts in the years to come. Not only in the concert arena but in the film world as well. 

   About the Author:

SHANKAR VENKATRAMAN, a practising company secretary by profession, hails from a family with musical lineage. On the maternal side, his mother’s great grandfather Nemam Subramania Iyer was one of the last disciples of Saint Thyagaraja Swamigal. His maternal grandfather Nemam Nataraja Bhagavathar was the disciple of Mahavaidhyanatha Sivan and an Asthana Vidhwan of Sringeri Samasthanam. His son “Kalaimaamani” Prof N.S.Ramachandran was the Director of different  Kendras of All India Radio and the  Dean and Director of Music Department, University of Delhi. He had composed many kruthis out of which “Sri Chandrasekhara Yatheendram Aashrayae”on Sri Kanchi Paramacharya in Sankarabharanam popularized by Dr.M.S.Subbulakshmi and “Sree Maha Ganapathae..” in Aabhogi an evergreen hit of M.L.Vasanthakumari are very popular.

Shankar Venkatraman’s father (Late) K.V.Venkatraman, son of Kanjanur-Kottur S.Vaithyanatha Swamy Iyer was an ardent devotee of Sri Kanchi Paramacharya and had served as the Correspondence-in-charge for Sri Paramacharya while Shri Periyavaa was camping in Kumbakonam during 1930-31(When Periyavaa was referred as Kumbakonam Periyavaa). Sri Sengalipuram Anantharama Deekshithar is Vaithyanathaswamy Iyer’s maternal cousin.

Shankar did his schooling at Vidya Mandir, Mylapore (1968-1982) Chennai and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. He did his Company Secretary course from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Chennai-600034.

(*The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of Music of Madras.) 

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