Amazing Carnatic | Abhishek Raghuram | Music of India

#darbarfestival | “It is only with these values and the awareness of the culture that the music will continue to thrive and evolve.” (Abhishek Raghuram)
► Join our newsletter at www.darbar.org/... for the finest in Indian classical music and dance, and watch full length exclusive concerts in pristine HD on the Darbar Player: www.darbar.org/...
If a few brief minutes of Abhishek aren't enough…watch a full 75-minute performance in pristine HD on the Darbar Player, along with dozens of other captivating concerts: www.darbarplay...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn more about the music:
Abhishek Raghuram’s command of South Indian classical singing is worthy of one far beyond his years. He is descended from Carnatic musical royalty - his grandfather was mridangam legend Palghat Raghu, and his mother’s side of the family include members of the Lalgudi violin dynasty. He learned percussion in the family first, winning an All India Radio mridangam competition at the age of seven and sometimes accompanying top artists on the kanjira.
But he soon chose to prioritise vocal music, studying hard under P.S. Narayanaswamy. He debuted aged nine, and has since gone on to receive widespread acclaim for his mature and detailed approach to a range of classical forms. He has toured internationally, composed tillanas, and sung for film and ballet. He has a long and bright future ahead of him.
Darbar believes in the power of Indian classical arts to stir, thrill and inspire. Through shared experiences and digital connectivity we ensure that one of the world’s finest art forms reaches the widest possible audience. Founded in 2006, we deliver premium quality live events, music education, broadcasts and online engagement through promoting artistic innovation and creative technology. We are also committed to providing a platform for new talent from India and the UK.
All Rights Reserved ©2019 Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust

[@darbarfestival]

If a few brief minutes of Abhishek aren't enough…watch a full 75-minute performance in pristine HD on the Darbar Player, along with dozens of other captivating concerts: www.darbarplayer.com/videos/abhishek-raghuram We'd like to upload everything for free - but filming, editing, and hosting cost money, and we’re a small not-for-profit organisation. Signing up to the Darbar Player costs about the same as a couple of coffees a month ($5), which we hope is an excellent price for such a wealth of unique music.

[@65siva]

I have subscribed for Darbar player. Why am I not getting this particular video of Abhishek? I have written to DP help since last 3 months and no response. can you help to get the video uploaded?

[@reinshorseriding8453]

Hope this concert is uploaded soon, just so beautiful!! Please do it soon darbarfestival

[@WorldofWellness]

The page isn't found. Any assistance reg this?

[@subbuiyer89]

I have great respect for Abhishek's dedication to music and the great verve he brings as a performer. Everytime one listens to him, he is able to avow his audience. However, when he mentions that lyrics are not important, I have to agree and disagree. Agree if you are singing your own lyrics, then it is a musical choice one makes. But if you are dependent on the lyrics of Vaggeyakaras such as Diskhitar, Thyagaraja or Shymashastri, you cannot exercise that freedom. Their lyrics were born out of a spiritual experience and the meter and metrics of their music had a certain sanctity. As long as you sing their compositions without paying any royalties, the least you can do is stay true to the spirit of the composition. Spirituality is the ability to experience the truth in everything one does; not just selective activities of life.

[@VoiceofVasavi]

Beautifully said !! :).. As long as we sing their kritis , the royalty we can pay them is singing the lyrics correctly!

[@srikanth.seshagiri]

I agree with your point. As much as I love listening to Abhishek and in awe of his virtuosity, I must say I don't completely agree with his views on downplaying the sahitya. The beautiful samanvaya of the sahitya-bhava-raaga-grammar is what differentiates Karnataka shastreeya sangeeta from Hindustani shastreeya (no offense), while Hindustani plumbs the depths of the raaga-bhaava expression, the prosody is not given much focus. The krithis of our vaggeyakaras need to be explored to highlight the beauty of this samanvaya more and establish it for the asikas of the art to appreciate.

[@meaisu.7]

Its very good to see the young generation is taking forward the culture and spirituality simultaneously... Hope is high

[@ranganathanpv8513]

👌👌👌one of the young gems in Carnatic music. It is pleasure to watch him performing with full involvement. May Guru Kataksham and Daiva Kadaksham be always with him🙏🙏🙏

[@Harmoniumwala]

Carnatic has got a very different but deep flavour. Best wishes to the artist and thanks to darbar for coming up with a lovely video. Regards, Harmoniumwala

[@murthyjsr1054]

Excellent rendition of Abhishek Raghuram....He is Almighty's gift to music lovers. Thanks to Darbar festival Organisers for conducting with such an extra ordinary musicians & made available some concerts in general.

[@darbarfestival]

Hi Murthy Jsr, Thanks for your message - you are right, this is a wonderful performance that we had to share with you. ALSO - We would love for you to subscribe and JOIN our channel - for a small monthly subscription you will have access to full raga performances from the finest musicians in the world 😊 The best part of your membership is that you can feel 100% confident that you are supporting Indian classical music and musicians through a registered non-profit organisation. Your membership will help us produce further content for all to watch 😊

[@Akshay.Ramanathan]

Please upload the entire Bindumalini rendition. It is priceless! :)

[@ambareeshiyer]

Akshay R so true.... I've never heard someone rendering bindumalini so well.... The best I had listened to was mandolin u srinivas' rendition.

[@shankaranupam]

Wow😍😍 happy to see abhishek at Darbar festival

[@manjuakrishnan705]

Such a divine composition in raaga bindumalini...I have been blessed to listen to this krithi in a live concert by Sri.Abhishek. Always pure Bliss listening to his interpretation 😇

[@nguntupalli009]

Entha muddo entha sogaso by Tyagaraja

[@arnesaknussmm8206]

What a wonderful artist, such enthrallinging spiritual music. Learned a lot about the singing of carnatic music. Thanks!

[@raghuramankr3847]

Dear organisers (Durbar Festival), excellent views expressed by Sri Abhishek Raghuram with his amazing rendition. Longing to hear the full concert. When can we expect Sirs?

[@chetan5848]

0:21, a very expressive face. It lends joy to his music.

[@abdullahbueno7532]

Such beauty moves the soul. Elevates the mind and soul. Makes popular American music seem dead.

[@darbarfestival]

Hi Abdullah Bueno, Thanks for your message - you are right, this is a wonderful performance that we had to share with you - please SHARE this video with your networks. ALSO - If you have not already joined our channel, we would love for you to join our community and subscribe to our channel - you can do this by clicking on the subscribe button, you can also press the bell icon to get instant updates on our latest videos. Our team loves to share our music, here are some links that you will enjoy: - Alap in Raag Kirwani | Pandit Tejendra Majumdar & Mysore Manjunath | Sarod & Violin - kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKubfId6mNOSipI - Kings of Tabla Duet Part Two | Pandit Kumar Bose & Pandit Anindo Chatterjee - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaDQfIGlrrlrotk - Peaceful Alaap | Shashank Subramanyam | Raag Vagadeeshwari - kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5rYYWqPiKekfc0 You can help us by SHARING these videos with your friends and giving us your feedback through your comments :)

[@manasaadusumilli]

Malifluos .. Never seen such an exotic artist but I think the lyrics are the soul of any piece.... Melody just adds flavours and emotions:-)

[@venugopal2227]

you are an amazing genius in south Indian music....

[@darbarfestival]

Hi Venu Gopal, Thanks for your message - you are right, this is a wonderful performance that we had to share with you. ALSO - We would love for you to subscribe and JOIN our channel - for a small monthly subscription you will have access to full raga performances from the finest musicians in the world 😊 The best part of your membership is that you can feel 100% confident that you are supporting Indian classical music and musicians through a registered non-profit organisation. Your membership will help us produce further content for all to watch 😊

[@archananaveen100]

Your music is maturing very nicely with you. God bless you!

[@useless0ful]

:D love you!!! How awesome, brilliant, great you are, but yet so innocent, sweet, unassuming, unaware and pure you are!! So much divinity and purity and sweetness in your smile!! Blessed to have you among us and listen to your beautiful singing!! Such privilege to listen to amazing music from you!!

[@satishkul]

I don't know why, but i feel his raag aalap has a pinchful flavour of hindustani classical music. Can somebody explain me this please ?

[@metalforlife4ever]

Yeahh actually I also felt that! I'm not sure if it's the raga's flavour, I think it's just Abhishek's style. But yes, very interesting!

[@Yours.truly.jhyothsna]

Please do add the song only to the channel please. A very beautiful and soothing raga sung by a very talented artist and person. Please do put only the song please. I want to listen to the raga alapanai.

[@KannapiranArjunan-vm2rq]

Great. Evolving..also music history..Tamil Pan or Isai or music ( Iyal, Isai and nadagam) is the recorded earliest music in India. Silapathigaram ( also 2000years back in Tholkappium, Natrinai, kurunthogai and others) authored by Ilango Adigal around 500CE (1500 years ago) gives a perfect description about Classical Music. Is it not amazing that somebody in the Tamizh land defined all these as early as the 5th century? In just one verse, he gives the names of the seven swaras as per Tamizh PaN. குரலே, துத்தம், கைக்கிளை, உழையே இளியே, விளரி, தாரம் என்றிவை எழுவகை இசைக்கும் (Swaptha Swaram) எய்தும் பெயரே சவ்வும் (Sa) ரிவ்வும் (Ri) கவ்வும் (Ka) மவ்வும் (Ma) பவ்வும் (Pa) தவ்வும் (Tha) நிவ்வும் (Ni) என்றிவை ஏழும் அவற்றின் எழுத்தே ஆகும் Sa-Kural; Ri-Thuththam;Ga-KaikkiLai;Ma-Uzhai;Pa-ILi;Dha-ViLari;Ni- Tharam. In another verse, he says PaNs(Ragams) are obtained by arranging the 12 Kovais(swaras) in a specified structure in the ascending and descending scale. Sa-Kural; Ri-Thuththam;Ga-KaikkiLai;Ma-Uzhai;Pa-ILi;Dha-ViLari;Ni- Tharam. Purantharadasa (1500 CE, 500yrs back) a devotee of Vishnu, contributed enormously to further perfect the Tamil Pan as carnatic music and all others iincluding Mumoorthys are followers of Tamil Pan transformed ( name changed) to Carnatic music and further added their kirthana.

[@darbarfestival]

Thanks for your message - we would love for you to join our community and subscribe to our channel - you can do this by clicking on the subscribe button, you can also press the bell icon to get instant updates on our latest videos. Our team loves to share our music, here are some links that we think that you will enjoy: - Amazing Sarod | Raag Bhimpalasi | Debasmita Bhattacharya - kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5eweZyKftJgsMU - Jayanthi Kumaresh | Raga Kapi - Thillana on saraswati veena - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqrZZZiXZtV5ppY - Pravin Godkhindi | Raag Yaman | Bansuri - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHqpdKWepdmVrs0 - We have created playlists to help you organise your listening - check them out at: kzbin.infoplaylists?view=1&sort=dd&shelf_id=4 You can help us by SHARING these videos with your friends and giving us your feedback through your comments :)

[@AnirbanBanerjeeTheSarodGharana]

very nice words and presentation though i cannot appreciate only one kind thinking of Abhishek-ji that, it is a good time to take music as a carrier....to me it is only applicable to those who has back-ups....there are so many artists including myself who are good musicians but dnt get calls or even a chance due to this 'back-up' or so called references !! for this reason it is not a good idea for musicians like us to take music as the only profession though it is my only profession and we people are living only on the trust in music and God to send a back-up or a good reference...that is what only we need to perform in prestigious concerts like Darbar !!! sorry.....but that is the truth.

[@umawilliam6696]

Amazing! So what is Aheer Bhairaw called in Carnatic tradition?

[@sridharnanjundeswaran9568]

Simply out of the world!!

[@victorvei]

Magnífico artista

[@profvenkataramanikrishnamu1710]

Amazing rendition of Bindumalini

[@sridharjoga7558]

There might be lot of criticism on my comment.. but would like to put forward my views about lyrics.. the lyrics are used by writers are to address their feelings about some experiences that they are going through while they are in the devotion of the so called 'spirituality' you mentioned in your interview. If lyrics were not important then they were never to be written in first place.. melody can never subside the lyrics.. melody is itself expression of lyric. It is your ignorance that made you say what you said about lyrics...

[@mohancharlu9153]

Sridhar Joga agree to disagree

[@lathajayan7893]

Excellent rendition 🙏

[@darbarfestival]

Hi Latha Jayan, Thanks for your message - you are right, this is a wonderful performance that we had to share with you - please SHARE this video with your networks. ALSO - If you have not already joined our channel, we would love for you to join our community and subscribe to our channel - you can do this by clicking on the subscribe button, you can also press the bell icon to get instant updates on our latest videos. Our team loves to share our music, here are some links that you will enjoy: - Amazing Carnatic | Abhishek Raghuram - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIPTYX96j6lpg6c - Brindavani Sarang | Jayateerth Mevundi - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iouyf4SqiKmjnJo - Surbahar History | In Conversation with Irshad Khan - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqCroWyhg9d3m5o You can help us by SHARING these videos with your friends and giving us your feedback through your comments :)

[@48Xtian]

Thank you Maestro .👏👏😉

[@bheemeshv6202]

How far is it correct to say conveying melody is much more important than lyrics as raaga adaptation to certain songs are decided by the lyrics, and emotion is not just conveyed by melody alone

[@nbalasubramanian1949]

REALLY SOMETHING SCINTILLATING VOICE.

[@siddharthpullerivadhyan5165]

🙏🙏🙏 what a legend.... ❤️❤️

[@aswinvinod5014]

I feeel happy that i have no choice ❤️

[@captal6187]

“Interpretation” absolutely.

[@Hariharamahadevan]

Kindly upload the full.Video of enta muddo enta sogaso

[@murthyremilla]

How to get a link to the full keerthana without the inerruptions of interview? thanks in advance

[@darbarfestival]

HI Murthy Remilla, Thanks for your message. Nice to learn that you like this performance. If you would like to watch full length content - we have a premium (paid) service where you can watch full videos - this is called Darbar Concert Hall and is currently being updated. You can access this from www.darbar.org Currently, there is a FREE 3 day trial so that you can preview this service before becoming a paid subscriber. You see, we would like to upload everything - but filming, editing, lighting, sound etc cost a lot of money and we are a small not-for-profit charity with an even smaller team. Please support us by joining our paid services so that we can produce even more content for all of our viewers in the future. Finally, we would like to thank you for watching and sharing our content :)

[@yashrudrakar7813]

Awesome

[@vijayamahadevan4136]

Great sir

[@AnoopMohanan96]

Excitement over

[@nalinparmar3529]

super 🙏

[@chiapet9570]

please pleasel oadthe song alone without his speech. he sings so good, beautiful bindumalini.

[@bhargav428]

Where can I get your all official full videos??

[@seemagaurrow21]

Classical music specially vocal does not support contortion of the face. Sublime music specially.

[@venkatakapardeemallajosyul3779]

I think melody comes from emotion which entirely depends on lyrics. Without giving adequate importance to lyrics singers may not render the melody.

[@bharanidharanswaminathan6915]

It is very good music from Abishek. But I concur with the Sridhar joga observation and add to that it is only lyrics and the raga assigned to the kriti that brings out the emotion of that particular kriti. I heard from different musicians from internet and personal that Saint Thiagarajas kritis are made of such rich embellishment. Clearly Abhishek has to look back on his comments.

[@bharathgopal]

Hi...you must also give credits to the accompanying artists....not fair that there is no mention of them in the meta data

[@ramabommaraju2715]

I disagree! I am 100% certain, albeit your statements, you relish the words equally as much as the melody! how can you not feel "entha muddo" without feeling absolute love! You do! It shows in your face and voice!

[@murthyremilla]

@t not working. any help please

[@darbarfestival]

Hi Murthy Remilla, To access the JOIN button, you need to: 1 - Signing into KZbin 2 - Click the JOIN button which will be next to subscribe button 3 - KZbin will be prompt through the next steps and your payment details If you can’t see the button, it might mean that KZbin has not started this function in your geographic region.

[@videoprasanna]

Very nice interview. Agree with most. Needs to just stop the theatrics while singing.

[@ThangPat]

I adore Sgri AB for his immensity, sponteinity, and versatility. But, I am rather disappointed by his confirmed underplay of the lyric, it’s meaning and connected bhavas. Now: I suspect that this is the reason why he cursorily deals with these equally important aspects in his performance, thus forfeiting full marks that he would have entitled himself to avail. ABji, please reflect, reconsider, and reform.

[@darbarfestival]

Hi Venkata Jayaraman, Thanks for your message - I will share this feedback with our management team:) Our team loves to share our music, here are some links that you will enjoy: - Echoes of Khayal | Begum Parveen Sultana | Raag Hansadhwani - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJi7g5t8brGsqKc - Stunning Chandrakauns + Madhukauns | Ranjani & Gayatri - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaDcoHZ8jrKEqcU - Raag Charukeshi | Manu Seen - kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJWzm4iHgqqriKs You can help us by SHARING these videos with your friends and giving us your feedback through your comments :)

[@gopalmahadevikad9500]

Why the full concert is not uploaded?

[@Acharyakripa]

Speechless

[@sria8163]

I think Telugu should be learnt from a bhava point when anyone sings a kirtana of Thyagaraja.He is giving importance to melody than lyrics which he has stated himself . This holds good to some degree in Hindustani vocal classical but not in Carnatic vocal music. The bhava of a lyric is lost if u focus too much on melody Sri Abhishek.

[@ambareeshiyer]

Sri A hogwash

[@ambareeshiyer]

Sri A grow up dude ..... Elevate your level of consciousness... Rather than just cribbing about Sahitya.... This abhishek is a genius...pity you guys if can't appreciate the commitment he has towards music.... He just admitted in that video that spirituality can't be different from how he perceives music...

[@netinaut8746]

What about the bhava of the raga ? Lyrics need the raga, not the other way round. To tie down the raga to the semantic sensibilities of the lyrics, is in some senses constricting creative and melodic expression... who needs lyrics, when you listen to Pt. Nikhil Banerjee render say, raag Hemant or Mali render... ? I love language, but I love music more :)

[@4strings932]

Sri A words are for human, melody is for the higher :)

[@sria8163]

I entirely agree with instrumental music the bhava of a raga is well brought out be it Niladri or Nikhil .Here again words aren't enough to appreciate their dexterity in exploring the bhava of the raga.Coming to Carnatic vocal ,the main theme is the bhava of the lyrics finding the right slot in the bhava of the raga.The language of Telugu or Kannada or mallyalam or tamil is also tuned to Carnatic vocal.Imagine Meera bai bhajan sung in Carnatic vocal,it's not relishing. The composer of a kirtana knows best which raga holds best for his composition.But if some singers go overboard on raga then they jeopardize the essence.

[@netinaut8746]

You make an astute observation around 8:20 "I think it is much more important to understand the meaning of the melody than the lyrics" and convey the "import"/ "superior priority" of the melody over lyrics. Agree with you 100%. However, around 9:45 you invoke "divine grace" and the "spiritual", but sound constrained and constricted when you say "one thing is there is no choice, but I am happy there is no choice". Hindustani music (instrumental and vocal) as well as many other forms music, emote quite splendidly without invoking "divine grace". If you are an atheist, you can't be a Carnatic musician?

[@shankarlakshmanan6167]

Neti Naut Hello there, you’ve made a fine observation, and I would make a few points: The importance or ‘superior priority’ of melody over lyric is true - and should be true - of all great forms of music. If music needs to stand on the crutches of lyric, it is merely a means to an end and not an end in itself. But what Abhishekji says later about divine grace is not in any way contradictory to the earlier premise. In the Hindu culture of classical music, which includes both Hindustani & Carnatic - music is already a divine phenomenon. Music is clearly a means to approach and experience the divine and comes highly recommended right from the oldest of scriptures. The two streams of our classical music were one to begin with and their splitting into Carnatic & Hindustani is a relatively recent phenomenon. The fundamental concepts are very much the same and that includes the role of ‘divine grace’. To answer your last question, if you’re an atheist and you delve deep into Indian classical music - you’re more than likely to evolve into a highly spiritual person.

[@akshaypadmanabhan8582]

Neti Naut the reason being much of the Raga improvisation is done with the krithis composed by the masters as base. When singing the raga then, the melody of the krithi which has a certain mystical spiritual component to it also manifests. Hence spirituality is automatically there in Carnatic music mostly. However if you just sing the scale of a Raga, just the notes in no particular order then I guess it’s fine. Mainly in Carnatic music intent is intertwined with content.

[@VikramHariDasa]

There are a number of atheists who are Carnatic musicians. TM.Krishna and Sanjay Subrahmanyam are a couple of examples. However, the beauty of this art form, especially Carnatic, is such that conversation between the singer and the listener can be in totally different dimensions. While an atheist singer may sing for a "musical experience" of a particular composition through a raaga, the listener can perceive that totally differently by blending the emotions of the raaga rendered, with equally rich lyrical meanings. At the crux of this divine experience is an emotion derived out of fusion of a raaga and lyrics . In my opinion, such an experience is more fulfilling for a theist as compared to an atheist, since the very purpose of the composer behind the composition was to invoke the divine, praise Him . To keep it short, many of the compositions in Carnatic focus on the divine, the raagas themselves trace back to Vedas, the experience that one takes may differ ie just music vs divine music.

[@netinaut8746]

Vikram Mohan, akshay padmanabhan, Shankar Lakshmanan: As a very young lad, I used to listen to flute Mali with a great sense of awe and enchantment; MSG's crisp and cogent violin with a sense of tremendous appreciation; Bala Murali delectable and delightful singing with a wondrous sense of fabulous beauty... But, the perennial harping on 'divine grace and surrender' , was honestly quite boring... There is only so much 'bhakti' I can muster, I used to complain to a friend of mine ;-) I have listened to some extraordinary music in Marathi, Dogri, Rajasthani, Bengali, Gujarati - I don't know any of these languages... I recently listened to a Ganesh bhajan by Pandita Ashwini Deshpande, set to Janasanmohini... As a bhajan, it failed thoroughly... But as a rendition in the said raga, it was splendid... You don't need a god to emote when you listen to Pandit Nikhil Banerjee render say Hemant, Rageshwari or Manomanjari... Great music can stand on its own merit...

[@nanarama4554]

@@netinaut8746 ...and that's what Abhishek says....

[@napicture]

Please learn the lyrics correctly. DO NOT MISREPRESENT SAINT THYAGARAJA 🙏🙏

[@Dwarakadishdas]

Great Artist. See the ending of bindumalini. But i differ on his view that lyrics is not much important. Most of the young artists have no patience to learn the meaning of lyrics. If the divine content is not taken in, then it is only sense gratification. That kind of artists get puffed up and they drink, smoke and enjoy having deprived of god consciousness.

[@pradeepchandramusicals]

Plz dont mix interview talk n concert like this...its very disturbing to watch...feels like not worth watching...its so ditched n disturbed...or else finish full interview first n then start full strech concert...dont mix music n talk worstly like this...both have their own standards n respect...okay....

[@ambareeshiyer]

ARYAMAN ARYAMAN 100% true.... Just spoiled it by mixing it..... Especially when abhishek is creating magic...

[@macdog1]

I guess ram is here, but not there? From this world it was just perfect So... Hmm

[@vardhanicheruvu6532]

H

[@arpithshetty2960]

Not a fan of his attitude.

[@vidhyasankarasubramanian9887]

Better keep quiet .

[@AishwaryaSinger]

Nobody cares about you being a fan or not. We all should be blessed to even hear his singing on KZbin.