Sanjay Subramaniam (Vocal)
Nagai Muralidharan (Violin)
Pathri Satheesh Kumar (Mridangam)
Manjoor Unnikrishnan (Ghatam)
Payyanur Govindaprasad (Morsing)
The concert part started with the melodious strains of Reetigowla - Pari Paalayamaam. Next was a not-so-frequently-heard kriti in Nalinakanthi - Paalaya Sadhaa. Yet another Pari Paalaya figured after a detailed rendition of Pantuvarali raaga. The kriti had comprehensive dose of neraval and swarams. A second submain piece was presented in the form of Pari Paahi in Mohanam which too was embellished with copious neraval and swarams. The interlude before the main piece featured Aanandhavalli in Neelambari. Sanjay chose Saarasa sama mrudhu in Gowrimanohari as the main piece. The not-so-well-trained listeners had some difficulty because of the ambiguity in the alapana when shades of Kharaharapriya peeped in. Their doubts were unequivocally set at rest by Nagai Muralidharan's version of the alapana. I could hear some in the neighboring seats whispering "I told you so - that it is Gowrimanohari". Sanjay wisely avoided neraval for the kriti. The tani was brilliantly executed - the Kerala based Ghatam and Morsing artistes matched beat for beat everything offered by the seasoned Satishkumar. The concert was rounded off with Reena madaanuta in Behag and a thillana in Anandabhairavi.
Sanjay's voice did not show much of a damage from the volume of work in December. Some of us were happy hearing Nagai after a long gap. This year we could see a larger proportion of Westerners in the audience, all of them serious listeners.
The photo below is , as usual, courtesy my friend and fellow forumite hari_sub (Prof. Hariharasubramaniam)
