Comments on Background Score: Classic Incantations Concert Review

THANKS A MILLION for the recordings!!!

2012-02-14T09:02:54.464-08:00

THANKS A MILLION for the recordings!!!

Amazing entertainment post, Thanks for sharing thi...

2012-02-13T02:15:08.962-08:00

Amazing entertainment post, Thanks for sharing this beautiful post with us.

ohhh mann !!! very detail info n nice presentation...

2012-02-09T21:25:20.403-08:00

ohhh mann !!! very detail info n nice presentation, thanx a lot for spending time to gather all this.

You effing bastard... with 20 years of strong trai...

2012-02-05T19:45:25.718-08:00

You effing bastard... with 20 years of strong training in classical music and being hand-picked by A.R Rahman himself for this concert and lauded highly by him during the rehearsals, Navin Iyer did a much better job than Naveen Kumar, who has fought with ARR! Just in order to have positive and negative points in your review, you need not criticize a trained professional musician like this. Grow up!

Good write up Suresh! I couldnt attend due to some...

2012-02-01T02:09:47.686-08:00

Good write up Suresh! I couldnt attend due to some personal reasons, but i originally wanted to.

enjoyed reading your thoughts on the concert and pleased to know about Matt's meeting with you and ARR following your blog. Continue your good work! compliments!

And yes, I'm waiting for the Incantations cd!

Awesome review. Zillion thanks for the audio links...

2012-02-01T00:37:36.653-08:00

Awesome review. Zillion thanks for the audio links Suresh. Waiiiiiiiiiiiting for the CD to be released and will definitely watch-out for the telecast in case if it happens. Best part to me was the tribute and selection of the tributes...And I am still listening.Thanks ARR

Thank you very much for sharing your experience an...

2012-01-31T00:42:49.011-08:00

Thank you very much for sharing your experience and the audio links. I must say it is an interesting read.

whoever it was who kept saying "aaha" an...

2012-01-30T13:54:01.397-08:00

whoever it was who kept saying "aaha" and "uch uch uch uch" during the cry of rose!!!Darn u!! :D neways, thanks for the beautiful review along with the clips... bliss for us who couldnt watch the concert live.. for some reason, i thought he played the beginning portion of cry of rose a tad bit quicker than the original.

My fav part was the tribute. That shows what the man is made of. Gotta learn to show love and respect from the legend ARR!

Karthyk Krishnan - That is quite a lame reason for...

2012-01-30T10:20:45.256-08:00

Karthyk Krishnan - That is quite a lame reason for not playing Swades theme. It wasn't played in Bangalore concert as well.

But, nothing much to add. Bangalore concert was pretty much the same. I was not expecting much as it was going to happen in Open auditorium, but I was really surprised by the sound quality they achieved. It was perfect.

Absolutely a wonderful review.. Many of the places...

2012-01-30T08:46:11.170-08:00

Absolutely a wonderful review.. Many of the places were like.. this is what exactly i felt when i was not alone thinking that way... one thing which stands out in the review as well as the concert was Navin's flute in Bombay theme music.. He just could not match the original and rightly picked up by you in the review..

The one thing which was missing in the orchestra from the original programme was Theme music of Swades.. and this is what Matt Dunkley told me when i asked him if it was missed on choice.. " we were supposed to play Swades theme but the solo accordion player forgot the key to his accordion case and couldn't open it in time!" .. It was sheer bad luck for us not to listen on that... Do follow up with the review with what you felt in bangalore..if you happened to visit..

Thank you for the extra ordinary work!!! I was a...

2012-01-30T08:12:01.096-08:00

Thank you for the extra ordinary work!!!

I was also one of the luckiest soul to have been there at the concert. I happened to play your recording of Kadhal Rojave for my parents and they got goose bumps :)

Great review as usual, Congratulations on the Maes...

2012-01-29T21:21:03.577-08:00

Great review as usual, Congratulations on the Maestro following your blog!, now am proud of myself for following your blog :)

Krishna - Hahaha.. Thank You :-) Vijayan - No. I ...

2012-01-28T22:06:46.786-08:00

Krishna - Hahaha.. Thank You :-)

Vijayan - No. I didn't take any picture or Video.

Bharath - Thank you. Yes, Classic Incantations CD will be released soon.

Ramesh - Yes. I too wished the same. Both "my wish comes true" and "Journey home" are my favourites and they songs would sound other worldly if KM choir and Orchestra had performed them.

Sunil - I can sense your emotions by reading your comment. There will also be TV show showing excerpts from the concert. They recorded the entire Delhi concert for that.

Varadharajan - Chennai Mozhila sollanumna Concert - Naasththi... you have written a mini review here.. Glad to know that you enjoyed the concert

Hi suresh bro, First of all it was nice meeting yo...

2012-01-28T18:33:54.301-08:00

Hi suresh bro,
First of all it was nice meeting you, and congratulation for rahman sir following your blog...
The Concert was awesome spellbounding but not free from little disappointments...
Bombay theme lost some sharp bends in flute but orchestra managed it very well,
And In meenaxi it would ve been great if they had gone for bombastic title credits rather than sitting sweetly on melodies, though i liked it i felt that opening credits would ve been even better,
In bose it would ve been great if they had played hum dilli dilli jayyenge which has every bit of orchestra wonders in it...
And the final disappoitments where missing Swades Theme And LoBS Suite..
Now on the positives, I never expected that i would like opera style of music and was thinking when the passage and LOTR would pass, but after they started i prayed god, that this should never end watta performance it was especially the vocals of Kavita and arun were beyond the world..
The Warriors of Heaven and earth was at its best... its the great punch for all those believe Rahman is weak in scores and orchestration, especially wen the theme shifted from dacoit duel to horses , i got goosebumps all over..
Lagaan theme was the pitch perfect, perfect example of how rahman has developed KMMC has his life and bread, the choir overtook the performance of even babelsberg..
Next came the best part of the concert, The Rising Suite wow wow wow wow and wow especially twds the end moments when orchestra reached its pinnacle i was at edge of my feet...
next is where our man started his journey, "The cry of Rose" if there is any soul which didnt cry on hearing this i think there can be none... Stupendous and spellbounding...
The Robot Suite is the one which everyone expected it to be nice and it was excellent, The Choirs performance of Arima Arima Chant was top notch, The surprise element is wen everyone expected them to perform only the end credits the orchestra covered the entire film score as a suite..Jaw breaking one..
127 hours suite,if ure planning for a date with your love in a candle light place, canyon is the best piece which u can opt to play, then the orchestra shifted to Acid Darbari and left everyone spellbound...
Tribute to Indian Composers , Any other prson wouldnt have done this first, he did it and it with perfection, Navin Iyer was excellent in pehla naasha,but sad that they stopped sendhoora poove in prelude and didnt enter melody on a whple i say take a bow man u made us proud...
Elizabeth the Golden age was
the excellent example of underplay and they did it exceedingly well once again the choir chemistry with the orchestra was spellbounding...
Slumdog Millionaire suite got the sitting crowd to a standing ovation especially when azad plucked the strings and when the boss piano piece ended it was out of the world... one of the best part of the concert....
Can AAyo re sakhi be done like this also was my reaction when i heard it..its very difficult to sing the charanam of the song as a choir which has sharp bends, but the guys did it with aplomb..
On the whole i felt the concert travelled throughout his film career and every minute of three hours is a worth... I just wanted to shout thalaivaa u r great... excellency excellent...

Dear Suresh Ji, Thanks a lot for sharing your exp...

2012-01-28T11:26:02.983-08:00

Dear Suresh Ji,

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience along with the respective audio links. I highly appreciate your effort.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed all suites, it was the initial plucks of the “Warriors of Heaven and Earth” suite that completely moved me to the extreme end of an emotional spectrum. Wow, what an introduction? If the beginning is this superb, then the whole experience is highly likely to dumbfound everyone. Other pieces that deserve a special mention are the “Passage” suite, which is very mystical – congratulations to Kavita and the rest of the KMMC choir and “Cry of a Rose” suite – I wonder why they chose to name the “Roja” suite this but after reading your description about the person beside you, I sort of come to a conclusion, an obvious one being Madhoo's character longing for Arvind Swamy in the film but in addition I like to add that Rahman Ji views his dear fans as a rose (a symbol of friendship and love) and the flute version of “Kadhal Rojave” has certainly swept us to tears. Rahman Ji once said, when composing an emotional track you have to acquire the correct feeling (sounds clichéd) but I wouldn’t be surprised if he himself cried whilst composing this number. You can probably guess my taste in music favours soft instrumentals and choral music in the long term.

From the “Tribute” suite, without a doubt, “Malarnthum Malaratha” and “Senthoora Poove” equally soar above the rest. It’s almost as if Rahman Ji went through my mind and knew I wanted to be gifted with these evergreen presents. Hearing these in WCM is really a dream come as through “Malarnthum Malaratha” we can heard Raga Abheri in an orchestral fashion, furthermore, the three most heard and favourite tracks for me by Raaja Saab are “Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiran”, “Senthoora Poove” and “Nee Partha” and for me to hear “Senthoora Poove” in WCM is seriously an answered wish. I’m really interested in the song by Rahman Ji’s father R.K. Shekhar, I would really like to hear the original.

I sit here writing this, trying to contain myself as I’m emotionally lost in all these ques. I would so love to be in India visiting one of these spectacular events right now but thanks to you and others who have shared reviews, videos, audios, images etc. I feel I have lived 50% of this experience. This is a great treat for us Rahman Ji devotees who couldn’t attend in person.

I was surprised in a pleasant way when “Aayo Re Sakhi” from “Water” was chosen to be played at the end but I recall Rahman Ji once saying he has worked the hardest for “Water” than any other album of his. As far as I remember, I’ve heard him he raving about three albums in particular: “Roja”, this was when he was asked what’s his favourite piece of work? “Kadhalar Dhinam, an album he rates 10/10. And recently he has been all praise for “Rockstar”. “Aayo Re Sakhi” is certainly an underdog composition that’s unpredictably arrived in the climax of the event. Rahman Ji might of wanted to use this track as an ode to God.

I said this to another member who shared his experience that, I can only dream of you felt in the actual auditorium.

If this doesn’t define him as the “Mozart of Madras” nothing will!

Thank you,

Sunil Malhotra

Good review Suresh. The concert was great and I lo...

2012-01-28T10:52:50.926-08:00

Good review Suresh. The concert was great and I loved the sound of the orchestra. However I felt there could have been some vocal pieces too which has a good dose of orchestral music. For example:

My Wish Comes True from Kisna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WffaYmdS-yI
This one has good strings section as well as chorus, and an indian melody on the bamboo flute as well.

The Journey Home from Bombay Dreams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4mebCn9X7A
Similar to the above, it is a western oriented song, with an indian flavor too.

Excellent review and thanks for the recordings. I ...

2012-01-28T10:04:52.908-08:00

Excellent review and thanks for the recordings. I do wish they release the scores of orchestrated versions.

Gr8 Review and btw did you took any video or photo...

2012-01-28T09:35:10.899-08:00

Gr8 Review and btw did you took any video or photo? If so please upload that also. Thank you for your wonderful detailed review.

Wow, a review that matches the grandeur of orchest...

2012-01-28T09:08:25.927-08:00

Wow, a review that matches the grandeur of orchestra. Man, I didn't see you taking any notes, but am amazed at the level of detail in your review.

I think your auditory perception will be better than mine even when you turn deaf!!