Attended a concert titled 'Grand saxophone concert' by Dr. Kadri Gopalnath (Saxophone) accompanied by V.V. Ravi (Violin), K.M.S. Mani (Mridangam), Rajendra Nakod (Tabla) & Venkatachalam, a disciple of Kadri Gopalnath on Talam on 6th April 2018. This concert was organised by Consulate general of India, Dubai in association with Indian fine arts, Dubai as part of 'India @ 70'. The concert was in the Indian Consulate auditorium, Dubai & I attended with Jayant & Sameer.
Concert started with a composition of Papanasanam Sivan in raag Tilang (तिलंग). I think it was Sri Ganesh charanam in Adi taal. He then presented a kriti of Tyagaraja. I missed the name. Next was a composition in Raag Hamsadhwani in Rupak taal. Was it Pavanaguru?
He then started next composition without announcing it. Nevertheless, it was good. I think he said it was Raag Senavati. He then played a composition in Raag Dhenuka.
Composition of Tyagaraja in raag that I could not get was the next presentation. Was it Karaharpriya? V.V. Ravi then played a solo piece without accompaniment. It was good.
This was followed by light music. Audience welcomed it with rhythmic clapping. This section also contained Sawal-Jawab. Tabalji new exactly what Kadriji will play note by note and played Tabla beat-by-note. This is possible only by long association. This was followed by Mridangam solo and Tabla solo alternatively followed by Sawal-Jawab between them. Tabaji played very good relas. Percussionist enthralled the audience with their skills in this section.
Kadriji then presented a composition of Raag Ahir Bhairav. It was followed by another composition, the name and Raag was again lost. It sounded like raag Pilu. It was followed by another composition. He then played a movie song and another composition.
Concert ended with my favourite Bhairavi and to to it up famous and another favorite of mine 'Bhagyada Lakshmi'. Needless to say there was a long standing ovation.
Kadriji plays every note very clearly but does not speak clearly. He mumbles. So it was difficult for someone like me, who does not know Carnatic music and raags, to catch and understand words. So if I have written name of some raag wrongly, kindly excuse.
Tabla and Mridangam accompaniment (together) is not very common in Carnatic music concerts. Here we had that combination. The effect was excellent. V.V. Ravi played very well and supported the main instrument aptly. Kadriji plays very well, we all know it. To see him play was an opportunity. Concert lasted more than two hours.
Credit to consulate for starting the program at 7.30 sharp. Although consulate has a good auditorium, the seats are not fixed, chairs were placed. It's not a sloping arrangement, so people at the back could not see the artists seated on stage clearly. It is not a wonder that there was a full house. Additional chairs were placed and yet some were standing. These are real rasiks. Attendance was more than 375.
Sound system and acoustics of the auditorium were excellent. Volume of Tabla should have been a bit low, at times it masked finer notes of main instrument.
Saxophone and Violin Are western instruments now well entrenched in Indian classical music. Idea of playing Carnatic music on Saxophone is exotic. Watching such a concert live is rare. Watching this living legend perform is bliss. We enjoyed it thoroughly. It was worth the 300 km travel.
Entertainment rating 9/10
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