I was so helplessly busy with the non-musical parts of life (read corporate drudgery) but every now and then a snippet of Ranjani-Gayatri’s Fort High School concert would show up in my social media feed and I would sigh in awe. The ocean of people that show up to the concert every year – at least 90% of the audience doesn’t even get a good view of the artistes on stage but yet they commit to show up in person, to experience the brilliant, divine music as and when it happens.
Just thinking about yesterday’s concert at the Bidaram Krishnappa Rama Mandira makes me smile ear to ear. What a sacred space that is, and what a celebratory kutcheri it was, on his Pattaabhishekam day. Ranjani-Gayatri began their concert with Purandaradasa’s Smarane Onde Saalade in the sprightly Malayamarutham, with swarams to Smarane. This remembering, this recollection, is indeed such bliss!
Continue reading “Bidaram Bidabedi! – 27 April 2024”
Ranjani-Gayatri’s Rasa by RaGa phenomenon swept over a houseful Chowdiah Memorial Hall with music like never heard before. I can’t believe I was attending a second concert of the same tour – this was such a completely different experience!
Ranjani-Gayatri’s “Sapta Puri” concert that happened at Chowdiah Memorial Hall was only around two hours long yet it was a journey across so many beautiful Kshetras all over India!
First, we were taken to the most powerful Kanchipuram, as Dikshitar’s composition came to us in the uniquely charming Kamala Manohari, with swarams choosing to celebrate her lotus eyes, Kanchadalayatakshi, instead of the usual Raaka Shashi Vadane, her radiant full-moon face, because every part of Her, every part of this Krithi demands being adorned by swarams!
Sigh, the Rasa by RaGa concert is over and as I sit in my train coach, my brain is flooded with words, as every little precious detail of the concert dances in front of my eyes, taunting my Monday to come. I’m going to write because otherwise the words will not let me sleep, but I’m going to reveal as little as I can, because I could never rob you of the thrill of letting each surprise hit you squarely in your hopelessly grinning face, as I’m sure it will when you attend this concert live.
Ranjani-Gayatri’s mastery over music is so unreal, the way they own the notes, the beats, the nuances of their interplay. At this point they’re not just creating music, they’re orchestrating pure emotion – every microsecond they know what will lead to joy flooding your entire being, what will make your heart drop hopelessly, what will make you gasp, what will make you sigh, what will make you clap fervently, what will make you cease all activity. And their drive to explore newer and newer dimensions of music is just never-ending. Trust me when I say the concert began itself on such a high that I wondered – wait, that was just the FIRST piece? Ganesha invocation, except he wanted to dance in fours and fives, in Tamil and Sanskrit, to the bold, vibrant tunes of… Hmm, so close. 😛
Notes on Ra-Ga 