Friday, June 15, 2007

Enjoyable Melodies - Priya Sisters

Main Artist(s): Priya Sisters - Haripriya & Shanmukhapriya
Album Title: Enjoyable Melodies
Amutham Inc.
CD
Album Cover
Tracks
01. Sadhachaleswaram-Bhoopalam
02. Manasuloni-Hindolam
03. Kshaanamadhunaa (Ashtapathi)-Kalaavathi
04. Mannapuggazh-Ragamalika
05. Narayanaya-Hamsanandhi
06. Edavalapeda Machika-Revathi
07. Theeradha Vilayattu Pillai-Ragamalika
08. Naneke Badavanu-Madhuvanthi
09. Pazhani Nindra-Kapi
10. Govardhanagiridhara-Dharbarikaanadaa
11. Entha Chakkani (Sai bhajan)-Misrabehaag
12. Thillana-Bhageshri


The album starts off with Dikshitar's Bhoopalam "Sadhachaleswaram". The brugas in the pallavi aren't clean, but nevertheless, they get through. Their sense of shruti improves quite a lot in the first line of the anupallavi, and their brugas improve on the second round of the pallavi. The background music which was surprisingly appealing, was nicely and suitably composed for the mood in which the krithi is sung. The CD neglects to give credit to the orchestra. Still, overall, this track is a good one.

The next item is Thyagaraja's "Manasuloni". The sisters sing this in Hindolam, and handle the raga nicely, with the exception of a couple of questionable shruthi lapses. Their pace is slower than what is expected from them for this krithi. The tempo isn't too bad...but at times, a tad bit faster would have been beneficial for them. Sahithya was well-pronounced, and the bhaavaa element was somewhat better than I expected. Worthwhile.

The next track reflects the title of the album - an [utterly] enjoyable melody!! Excellent rendition of one of Jayadeva's Ashtapathis in Kalavathi. They begin this song as "Kshaanamadhunaa" - this is sung as the pallavi of the song, perhaps differently to the commonly begun "Kisalaya Sayana". The sense of bhaavaa in this song is simply outstanding, and very touching to the listener. Impressive!

The album cover indicates the next item to be of Kulasekhar Azhwar's "Mannapugazh" in Ragamalika, set to Rupakam. Dedicated to Lord Rama, this version covers ragas Durga, Lalitha, Saranga, Hindolam (again!) and Neelambari, They handle the whole song, and the mala (garland) of ragas in it very very well, with a specific improvement in the effectiveness of Hindolam. Neelambari also deserves a special a mention - handled extraordinarily well. This is indeed, another enjoyable melody.

Annamacharya's "Narayanaya" follows in Hamsanandhi (Ekam - khanda gathi). This is handled nicely, and has an unforgettable beat. The beauty of Hamsanandhi is brought out quite well, with a nice balance between the emphasis on sahithya, as well as a dichotomy of handling the raga both gently and forcefully. Very appropriately handled. Another pleasant, enjoyable melody.

Their voices have settled down a lot by this part of the album, and their shruthi, awareness of raga, laya etc. has all reached a peak. One of the most attractive elements of their singing is the effortlessness, and natural talent+ability. There are no gimmicks, and unlike when certain singers try a tune like this, I don't hear the artists thinking. It's all natural.

Another composition of Annamacharya follows in Revathi ragam, Eka talam. This is ok. They handle the raga ok, but the pallavi (perhaps unfortunately) revolves in the lower octaves. Towards the charanam, we hear more of their higher octaves. Again, there is an effortlessness about the way they render this composition. The background music is consistently terrific - it really is a pity no credit was given here!

What follows is the evergreen Ragamalika melody of Subramania Bharathiyar, "Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai" (tisra gathi), popularised by one of the three queens of Carnatic Music, D.K.Pattammal. They struggle to live up to her version, or her paethi's version. A bruga sangathi goes horribly wrong. The Sindhubhairavi version is at a mere (perhaps below) satisfactory level, in a contrast to the past few tracks. The bhaavaa element lacks here. There is a strong improvement in the Khamas segment of the song, with a lovely sangathi in the raga. The bhaavaa element comes back. The tempo for the song overall was well chosen. The background music for Shanmukhapriya sounded very amateur, with not enough done to disguise the obvious keyboard sound which (obviously) had been well disguised up until now. While the sisters sing Shanmukhapriya very nicely, an absense of the intense effect that is felt when DKP sings this segment of the song is felt. However, to make up for this loss, they sing a wonderful Maand and handle this part of the song exceptionally well. Good.

Purandaradasar's "Naneke Badavanu" (Khanda Chapu) is rendered in Madhuvanthi next. The bhaavaa element is quite good. While some brugas are very clean at one point, the shruti suffers for a second or two before it. Another ok rendition. They try to put a lot of bhava, but it does get a little boring at certain stages of the song. Not bad I suppose.

Periyasami Thooran's Kapi composition Pazhani Nindra (Rupakam) follows, popularised by another one of the Queens of Carnatic Music M.L.Vasanthakumari. Priya Sisters learnt from Radha Jayalakshmi for sometime, who had learnt from MLV's guru, so the similarities can be seen. The swaras at "Arulin" in the anupallavi is sketchy, and could be handled a lot better I think...as with most of the anupallavi. Still, a reasonable effort. The bhaavaa element and control of their voices, shruthi etc. seems to come back as they start at the lines "Kaadhal Valli Kandha Dheivam". This line of the song is rendered very nicely, and both sisters harmonise perfectly. A sangathi in Kapi follows in the next line which is very nicely controlled, and handled in effect. This part of the song had a significant improvement. An enjoyable melody I guess.

Another evergreen melody follows; Narayana Theerthar's "Govardhanagiridhara" in Dharbarikaanadaa. This composition is handled very effectively. A lot of the sangathis are predictable, commonly sung gamakas of the raga...whether this heightens the quality of the songs in the album is an interesting issue worth considering. Dharbaarikaanadaa is really handled very very well. The flute of the orchestra plays a beautiful, very effective line or two of Dharbaarikaanadaa before the song starts...and renders some spell-binding sangathis in between each part of the song too. A very very enjoyable melody!

A Sai bhajan in Misra Behaag (eka-khanda gathi) by Saikrishna Yachendra follows. Titled "Entha Chakkani", the sisters render this song very well. It is a rendition that can be appreciated for its musical quality by even a non-Sai devotee. To be able to transcend such a barrier is not only very difficult, but also (perhaps for that reason) very impressive. This is the case in this song. Another enjoyable melody.

To conclude the album, the sisters render a Bhageshri Thillana of Lalgudi G Jayaraman, dedicated to Lord Muruga. The background music render a nice set of lines in Bhageshri, before the Priya Sisters render the raga very effectively in the Thillana. They bring out the beauty of the raga very well, throughout the composition. Naturally, as the raga demands, they put in quite a lot of bhaavam in the rendition. The background music also handle the raga well. The jathis, and swaras are handled well...especially as time went on. This rendition brings the album to a beautiful finish.

It is no surprise therefore, that I think that this is truely an album worth having. The background music is terrific for the majority, as is the wholesome singing of the Priya sisters. It really is an enjoyable listen; an enjoyable album of predominantly Enjoyable Melodies.