Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Music Club IIT Madras

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 09 Aug 2006, 12:15

Sanjay Subrahmanyan - M R Gopinath - K Arun Prakash

Music Club IIT Madras
8th August 2006 6:45 pm

nI vaNTi deivamu - nIlAmbari varNam - aTa tALam - Tarangampadi Panchanada Iyer (short rAga sketch)
cinna nADE nA - kalAnidhi - Adi - T (S)
angArakam - suruTTi - rUpakam - MD (NS)
brOva samayamidE - gaurimanOhari - Adi - karur dEvuDu (R)
ninnu sEvincina - yadukula kAmbhOji - misra cApu - subbarAya sAstri (short rAga sketch)
ennEramum oru kAlai - tODi - Adi - mArimuttA piLLai (RS)
tani Avarththanam
ohO kAlamE - sahAnA - Adi - vEdanAyagam piLLai (short rAga sketch)
ennaDu jUtunO - kalAvati - Adi - T
RTP - mOhanam - tisra tripuTa (2 kaLai) sama eDuppu. tALam reduced to misra cApu.
'mOhana rangA vandaruL varam thandaruL jagan'
rAgamAlika tAnam in bEgaDa, pUrvikalyANi, janaranjani
short tani in misra cApu
visvEsvara - sindhubhairavi, pahADi, kOsalam - rUpakam - ST
ramanai pUjithal - mAND - Adi - PS
mukthi aLikkum - navarOz - cApu - GKB
thiruppugazh - jOnpuri - Adi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T

The concert started with a short sketch of nIlAmbari and the varNam was nicely rendered. The kalAnidi kriti with svarams at pallavi was good. The suruTTi kriti was presented neatly with neraval and svarams at 'dInarakshakam pUjita vaidhyanAta kshEtram'.

The first AlApanai of the evening was gauri manOhari. The AlApanai was done exceptionally well and the kriti was good as well. The yadukula kAmbhOji sketch and the kriti were moving and filled with bhavam. One was truly touched by the rendition.

tODi was treated elaborately to the right measure. The kriti was good and had good old tamil flowing. The svarams were beautiful and also had some intricate kaNakku. Some parts of tODi reminded one of the yesteryear nadasvara masteros.

The sahAnA short sketch and the kriti were good and the rare kalAvati kriti was good also. The mOhanam AlApanai was well structured and the rAgamAlikA parts of tAnam were very well done. The pallavi was nice. The usual anulOma-pratilOma and tisram were done. He sangs vilamba kAla svarams in tisra tripuTa and mEl kAlam in misra cApu. (reducing the tALam from tisra tripuTa to misra cApu)

It was quite refreshing to hear two extra caraNams of the swati tirunal kriti in pahADi and kOsalam other than the sindhu bhairavi one, which one usually gets to hear. The mAND kriti was nice and the navarOs peace was nicely rendered as well. The jonpuri thiruppugazh and pavamana led to curtains.

Sri Sanjay gave a really good concert. His voice was not at its best, but one could still feel the life in his music through the concert. One is not able to recollect any 'thoivu' in the concert.

Sri Gopinath was good in accompanying almost all thro' the concert. There were few parts were he could have done better.

Sri Arun Prakash did a amazing job in perfectly accompanying the main artist. His charecterestic playing for the kriti and actually playing according to the sangati was good. His tanis were good also.

bharath

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 09 Aug 2006, 16:14

How long was the concert?

A few observations/comments:
Quite a dare to start off with a Neelambari Varnam. Actually, Neelambari is one of those ragas that I am rarely satisfied by - artists just don't do it enough justice.

Nice to see Surutti, Gourimanohari & Yadukulakambhoji. Even nicer to see a nereval in suruTTi as a pre-main piece. However, the transition between Yadukulakambhoji, Thodi & sahAnA is taking the safe way out (why not something different?). Yet, it's encouraging to see Enneramum Oru (tOdi) after so long. mOhanam RTP, groan! Pallavi line - not bad at all. A double thani must be one of those new trends developing - why do they think their kutcheri is a mridhangam arangetram?!

The song is actually "Ramanai Bajithaal" (mAND), though Sanjay might have changed the lyrics *cringe!* Even then, he could've chosen a better piece of Papanasam Sivan instead! With the exception of this Maand item, he's made a refreshing & outstanding choice for his post-RTP selection.

Overall, having looked at the structure & content of his concert from the songlist, and based on the review, I'd want to attend one of Sanjay's concert (& encourage others to go too). It's been quite a while since any songlist/review has made me to feel that way.

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 09 Aug 2006, 17:23

"However, the transition between Yadukulakambhoji, Thodi & sahAnA is ordinary & boring."

please elaborate...

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 09 Aug 2006, 19:09

I've noticed that almost all his concerts that contain even 2 of those rAgAs, it's always the same transition. Ordinary, common, boring. Why not a change for a little while? Having said that, I'm glad he hasn't used a Kedaram again! (not that he sings it bad, just far too repetitive.)

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 09 Aug 2006, 19:25

i checked my concerts, and some other lists posted on this site, and found hardly any concerts where he sung even 2 of these ragams... and they were either not consecutive or in the opposite order (austin 2004, e vasudha and kartikeya)

and he hardly sings y.kambojhi these days... anyways, let it pass... to each his own...

very nice list, btw...

kkumar29 · Post by **kkumar29** » 09 Aug 2006, 23:36

I am amazed. This vocalist must be a "dirga darisi" who, living in Melbourne, is able to write so many comments and observations by just looking at a song list of a concert performed in other parts of the world. Vow!!!:rolleyes:

K. Kumar ( I wonder whether this is the same Nishant who I used to know as a 5 year old kid in the mid eighties! in Ringwood)

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 10 Aug 2006, 11:10

vocalist, u could be right with the starting line of the mAND kriti. i wasnt sure if i noted it right. had lost the original concert notes i made and hence wrote it out of what i remember. i only hope to have not forgotten anything to list here. It was one amazing concert.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 10 Aug 2006, 16:38

Sorry to disappoint you Kumar, but you're off by a long shot, mate.

rbharath, I think I'm right about that. But how long did the concert last?

I've modified the sentence concerning rAgA transitioning.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 10 Aug 2006, 17:40

vocalist, the concert was just less than 3 hours. the neelambari varnam is far from being bland for a starting piece. i recommend you to listen to it atleast once.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 10 Aug 2006, 19:07

No, not bland. When I come across the right word, I'll put it up there.

Only one Neelambari made a benchmark for me, and that was of an old lady from Malaysia whose name I do not know (though if I got to see her again, I'd recognise her). "An effective Neelambari" is not just beautiful, gentle and calm, but has a very dreamy effect - you literally could go to sleep. So far, Sudha, Sanjay & Bombay Jayashree haven't reached that level. I'm leaving it to the idea that it's only a matter of time...

An effective Neelambari to start off a concert would be a dare in that, it might put the audience to sleep. But then again, if it isn't an "effective" Neelambari (as i call it), it'll just be a pleasant start. Hope it all made sense.

Cheers for the details. I'll definitely keep your recommendation in mind.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 10 Aug 2006, 22:01

Vocalist,
Is putting you to sleep the only effect of this raga? Is it because we are conditioned with all the tAlATTUs (lullabies)? It is fine by me if these young vocalists start a concert with nIlAmbari which can be a serene start to three hours of musical fare in place of an invocation. Let Sanjay and others weave new patterns and surprise and please us. As you say, time will tell. Meanwhile, I feel richer by the variety and exploration he offers. Some of us may not be around all that long to see the results:)

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 11 Aug 2006, 07:34

bharath
I agree with you that listening to a track is a must before....
A Kannada Harikatha exponent (bhadragiri achutdas) once elaborated , a full 30 minutes, on a humorous episode of a swimming instructor elaborating on swimming , by the side of a pool , with no water in it.
My tummy aches to this day , with the way he had us in splits.

As arasi says , what is generally known as sorrowful , can be converted to serene by a masterly exposition .How can anyone judge that without listening to..
In a bangalore concert Tk Rangachari too refers to this as a sorrowful raga.
The fact that a modern day artist takes this definition further and dares to sing a varnam (BTW I have never heard a neelambari varnam before in my life) only suppports arasi's view that these present day masters are taking CM in the right direction ..
http://rapidshare.de/files/28959310/tho ... AMBARI.MP3

and of course I hope to be there for some more time than arasi to see it all !!
the full track on neelambari will come up on the performervs entertainer thread

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Aug 2006, 07:44

Coolji,
May you live to be a hundred--a healthy one at that--which also gives me some extra time:)

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Aug 2006, 07:47

'to see the results':):)

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 11 Aug 2006, 09:29

Seeing this list made me wish he had sung something like this in Singapore. Was Sanjay's voice alright? It was really bad the last time he was here.

I liked the way he structured the concert but he seems to have something against pratimadyama ragas. Not even one apart from a short purvikalyani in the Thanam? Of the four Sanjay concerts I heard live (and the few I have on tape/CD) there seems to be a very strong suddha madyama bias with entire concerts without a pratimadyama piece. Not that there is anything wrong with it of course, but it would have made what appears to be a good concert even better. In Singapore too the two times I heard him there was once when he sang an RTP in Varali (after Anandabhairavi and Sankarabharanam). The other time was an all suddha madyama affair.

The two or three concerts in Chennai I heard one had KAlyani with a short raga sketch and Vasudevayani, but the other two concerts were again all suddha madyama.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 11 Aug 2006, 09:51

Among all performers, the 80-20 rule seems to apply with respect to M1-M2 based ragas and within that 20% Kalyani alone contributes 30%. For this and other statistical observations: http://www.depauw.edu/library/musiclib/ ... ations.asp

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 11 Aug 2006, 16:04

arasi, it's much deeper than that. The effect of the "effective" Neelambari is almost unexplainable, but I did give a small attempt at trying to articulate it further. Considering Neelambari is one of my favourite rAgAs, I wonder if I gave off another idea about it. I love variety - but if it's not up to scratch...hmm. Anyway, I'm certain your warm & generally optimistic way of thinking will keep you alive and happy for quite a long time. Please don't think of the unthinkable.

Pretty please.

On a similar note, I'm surprised there's no mention of Lalgudi's Neelambari Varnam. I thought it might be in coolkarni's collection? It's VERY nice! (at least, on violin).

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 11 Aug 2006, 16:57

TNS-LGJ-VR
http://rapidshare.de/files/26242026/06- ... i.mp3.html

effective??

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 11 Aug 2006, 19:33

Will have a listen to it soon.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Aug 2006, 20:47

Vocalist,
Thanks for your kind words. Yes, life in many ways is a

state for me. Echoing Coolji's sentiment, the child in me refuses to part company with me --sometimes making me look silly, at other times landing me in trouble--so what? No, the blues are not my color.
Then of course, there is music...

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 11 Aug 2006, 22:28

I have fallen asleep many times listening to neelambari -NOT REALLY- it took me to a different state of mind where, I finally woke to recollect a beautiful neelambari rAga I heard in my dreams. Such is the effect.
I dare not listen to neelambari sitting behind the wheels.

One such song is ennaga manasukurani..MS/SSI

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 12 Aug 2006, 17:50

I listened to it twice. Very close, so much so that I almost fell off my chair after the first minute in shock. Partially because it was so good, and partially because I couldn't believe TNS could sing that so well (especially seeing I'd almost forgotten the young TNS and had a horrible memory of the Singapore Shruthi-lapse concert). Almost like it's from an album.

If any artist could sing it to that level nowadays, it'd be quite impressive. It's probably the best version on audio that I've heard so far.