Swathi Sangeethotsavam 2020 - Prince Rama Varma - Saadhu Tadaa - Vakulabharanam 1/2

Prince Rama Varma along with his Dream Team of Sri S.R.Vinu, Sri B.Harikumar, Dr.S.Karthick, Payyannur Sri Govindaprasad and Sri Ananthapadmanabhan, created magic at the Kuthiramalika Palace where Maharaja Swathi Thirunal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swathi_Thirunal_Rama_Varma lived, where the prestigious Swathi Sangeethotsavam is conducted every year, from January 4th until January 13th.
2020 saw one of the best editions of the festival thus far, despite the organizers, artists and the members of the wonderful audience, having had to battle a host of setbacks like extreme heat and untimely road repair which rendered the venue almost completely inaccesible.
In this video, Varma ji brings to life, the soulful, melodious and lesser heard Raga Vakulabharanam to life in a magical and etherial way, with Sri S.R.Vinu being the perfect partner during the Alapana and the amazing percussion team being the perfect ensemble to complement Varma ji's refined sense of aesthetics.
Though the entire Alapana gives a feeling of peace, calm, tranquillity, repose and meditation, it is in fact strategically packed with fast phrases too, which occur more like little ripples in a great lake rather than the crashing of waves in an ocean.
The two distinct styles of vocalization that is followed by most Carnatic musicians are one that follows the Nadaswaram and another that follows the Veena. Varma ji's approach is intimately linked to his mastery of the Veena and that reflects in the perfectly chiselled execution of the finest gamakams or ornamentations that Varma ji consistently comes up with.
The song, the spontaneous, charming, playful, yet brilliant Swaram rounds that follow, the wonderful percussion trio, the constant stream of warm and joyful smiles that light up both the stage as well as the audience, makes the entire package something divine; to watch, to listen, to exprience and to repeat again and again.
The song itself is from Maharaja's Opera on the life of Sudama or Kuchela called the Kuchelopakhyanam and it was set to tune by Varma ji in the most brilliant way possible, with most of the syllables of the lyrics matching the corresponding notes in the music! Saa of Saadhu being the note Saa and so on. This kind of Musical Pun is called Swaraksharam, which was a major strong point with people like Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna.

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