Sanjay at Sankara Gurukulam

rajagopal · Post by **rajagopal** » 03 May 2006, 12:15

Sanjay - Vocal
Varadarajan - Violin
Neyveli Venkatesh - Mrudangam

Venue - Sankara Gurukulam in Abhiramapuram, Chennai

Date - 2nd May 2006

Concert duration - 2 and a half hours

List of songs

Varnam - Shriragam

Tyaagaraaja - Kedaaram - Beautiful composition of MDR, sung with a lot of bhaavam and kalpana swarams in the end.

Raamaa nee ve - Naaraayani - Sanjay announced teh name of the raagam after a breezy alapana. I have not heard this piece in a long time. Was a refreshing change.

Raama ninnu vina - Shankaraabharanam - Another Tyaagaraaja kriti, normally rare in Sanjay concerts. But this was another surprise for me. He sand alapana and also neraval and swarams in the pallavi line itself.

Oho kaalame - Sahaana - Have never heard this piece. Who's composition? Nice alapana before the song though. excellent response from Varadarajan.

Ennadu jootuno - Don't know the raagam. Very liesurely rendition with kalpana swarams.

Gaanaamuda paanam - Jyotiswaroopini - Long alapana and kalpana swarams followed by a short sparkling tani by Venkatesh.

Nijagaada - Sindhu bhairavi - Nice lilting Jayadevar ashtapathi.

Ettanai koti - Desh - Nice Bhaaratiyaar song rendered with lot of bhaavam

Had to leave after that. But heard that he sang one or two songs before winding up

Overall impressions

A wonderful different concert from Sanjay. A lot of unfamiliar songs and raagams. Also songs that I have not heard Sanjay sing at all. His voice was in excellent form throughout. The accompanists were also great.

meena · Post by **meena** » 03 May 2006, 12:29

sree mdr's tyagaraja gurum, thats nice

Ooho kalame by Sree vedhanayagam pillai

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 03 May 2006, 12:46

>Ooho kalame

This is becoming the Sanjay song now...Twenty years from now, if someone sings this, it will be called 'Oho, anda kAlathla Sanjay used to sing this'

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 03 May 2006, 17:23

ennaDu juthunO is in Kalavati (tyagaraja's version)

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 03 May 2006, 21:53

The shankarabharanam krithi he sang in NYC also...remarkable krithi. Still ringing in my ears a month after....

Languid, melodious and devotional...

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 03 May 2006, 23:03

Refreshing, but Koteeswara Iyer's composition is going to become overused at the rate it's going. Still, quite impressive.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Jun 2006, 08:12

A varied song list, as can be expected of Sanjay.
He sang 'eththanai kODi inbam' in Cleveland--an emotive rendering. In Chicago, the pallavi line was also Bharathi's, from his verse 'veLLai thAmaraip pUvil iruppAL' in karnataka devagandhari. It was delightful.
Wish I had heard Vedanayakam Pillai's 'oh kAlA'.

VK, twenty years from now? Sanjay would still be an energetic performer at that time. If you say 'forty years', then it is apropos.

As for his voice, it was mellifluous, and the notes flowed out of him effortlessly...

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Jun 2006, 11:16

>VK, twenty years from now? Sanjay would still be an energetic >performer at that time. If you say 'forty years', then it is apropos

Well said.. I agree.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Jun 2006, 00:07

vocalist,
I do agree with you that I would rather hear a different Koteeswara Iyer's song in every kutcheri. I bet Sanjay rotates them--what if we happen to be there just when he has come back to that particular piece we have heard before?
He is a busy bhagavathar singing all over the globe, giving many concerts. Then, there are requests from the audience and he sometimes obliges, I suppose.
I hope Sanjay is going to sing more of Koteeswara Iyer's kritis in the future. KI's compositions are a treasure house of the source ragas from
which every raga we savor has come to exist. Another thing--by listening to such ragas--sometimes in the pallavi mode, we shed our fear of the unknown, get familiar with the ragas and enjoy more of what carnatic
music has to offer...

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 25 Jun 2006, 16:03

arasi,

First of all, welcome back from the BBoard!

Yes, I believe Sanjay does rotate them, but this is the only time he's sung it as a main piece, I think.

Not that I dislike Kedaram, but I'm glad he didn't sing Dikshithar's Anandha Natana (AGAIN!) and instead sang something else.

Despite these minor aspects, it is a refreshing list.

>>I hope Sanjay is going to sing more of Koteeswara Iyer's kritis in the future. KI's compositions are a treasure house of the source ragas from
which every raga we savor has come to exist. Another thing--by listening to such ragas--sometimes in the pallavi mode, we shed our fear of the unknown, get familiar with the ragas and enjoy more of what carnatic
music has to offer...

I agree, and hope so too. Someone ought to show this list to Ranjani-Gayathri etc. It is possible to sing such rare items beautifully and correctly!

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 25 Jun 2006, 21:10

actually the Jyotiswaroopini piece hasnt been a Sanjay regular for 3-4 years now... The Sucharitra piece is more frequent these days... i also heard a Tanaroopi kriti last december.. way to go!!! :cheesy: