Vijay Siva, San Jose, California, Oct 20, 2013

[mahavishnu]

Sri N Vijay Siva - Vocal
Sri RK Sriram Kumar - Violin
Sri J Vaidhyanathan - Mridangam

1. rAma nee pai - kEdAram - T
(Neraval @ tyagaruni hrdayAmandu vAgIsAnandamandu)
2. himAchala tanaya - Ananda bhairavi - SS
3. guruvina gulAmanAguva - pantuvarALi - PD (RS)
4.karuNinchutaku - sindhu mandhAri - Patnam
5. pahimAm ratnAchala nAyaka - mukhAri - MD (RNS; Neraval @ sadyOjAtAdi panchamukhArishaDvarga rahita hrut sanchArA)
6. seethamma mAyamma -vasanthA - T
7. manasu swAdhinimaina - sankarAbharanam (RNS) Neraval @ tanuvu tAnu gAdani encuvAniki
8. RTP dhanyAsi- (tisra Triputa) thenpazhani vadivElanE deivAnai maNaLane;
(rAgamalika swarams in bilahari, nAyaki, kathanakutUhalam) Tani
9. kaNNinuN siRuththAmbinAl- rAgamAlika (jOnpuri, devagAndhAri, charukEsi, Ananda bhairavi, kambhoji) - madhurakavi AzhvAr
10. tumhe kAraN - (desiya) khamas - Meera bhajan
11. agaramumAgi - jaganmOhini - aruNagirinAdhar
12. thadEkOvasishta shiva kevalOham - rAgamAlika - Adi sankarA (brindAvani, hamIrkalyANi, rEvati, dEsh, sindubhairavi,
13. nI nAma rUpamulaku - Mangalam - sowrAshtram

Without resorting to hyperbole, I must confess that Vijay Siva is my favourite male vocalist of his generation. His music is uncompromisingly classical, his delivery is as clear as crystal, his integrity and kutcheri dharmam are unimpeachable. And above all, he has a great sense of proportion. Vijay delivers with the same sincerity in Saidapet, Sydney or San Jose, his manner and demeanor utterly professional.

Carnatic music enthusiasts in the SF bay area were treated to about 3 1/2 hours of high-quality classical fare. While the pAtantaram, kutcheri organization and the general presentation, were clearly traceable to his illustrious guru, today I saw glimpses of an emerging originality… the arrival of a very distinct Vijay Siva style (as with the last few times I have seen him live). I am not being frivolous about this; I have been following Vijay's music from up close since our school days (he was 3-4 years senior to me at PSBB).

Vijay has gone about arriving at this inimitably beautiful style of his, through years of hard work and staying within the tropics of his training (going back to DKJ/DKP and eventually to TL Venkatrama Iyer and P.Sivan). Vijay's creativity is not forced; it has merely emerged from within the parameters of his tradition. And this is an example I wish all classical Carnatic musicians would follow.

I really liked that he jumped right into the concert with rAmA nee pai with niraval and swarams. There was no stopping the perfect pace of the concert from that point. HimAchala Tanaya reminded me of Dr. S. Ramanathan, who packed so much love and angst into the lines: " umA hamsagamanA tAmasamA".

The pantuvarALi was a bit pedestrian, but Vijay hit his peak with the mukhAri piece. The neraval was on a well chosen line that displayed Dikshitar's creative use of sadyOjAtAdi panchamukhAri to bring out the rAga mudra. If he had stopped the concert here, people would have walked out getting their evening's worth.

But there was so much more to come. SankarAbharanam, the brilliant dhanyAsi RTP with very controlled rhythmic manipulations and the superbly chosen tail end pieces. All uniformly magnificent! Vijay's sense of shruti and maintenance of kalapramANam deserve special mention.

I remember learning "kaNNinuN siRuththAmbinAl" in my after-school divyaprabandam class and I remember struggling with it (vividly)! Vijay presented it so beautifully, I feel like he actually reached the ear of thenkurugUr nambi himself. How did he learn to emote so perfectly to Vaishnavite poetry? I've heard him sing the ranganAthar oonjal with the same feeling.

Sriram Kumar followed him, led him, inspired him and challenged him as a true friend, intellectual companion and musical partner on stage. Their rapport and stage relationship is amongst the best I have seen in the business. In addition to the years of DKJ school training, the two of them enjoy the same scholarly passion for music. This is a modern Carnatic combo that I think the generations to come would cherish.

And, J Vaidyanathan…. What a master of his instrument he is! He has a "perfect" kappi vaidhyam with a characteristic ring whose every facet is brought out in the 2 kattai sruti range. While I have heard him play with boisterous zeal in the past, he epitomizes the genre of artful restraint. JV's consummate immersion in the music of Vijay Siva and his intellectual ancestors makes him an ideal accompanist for this music. I wish he played a longer tani, but then again the sense of proportion was just right.

Of course, this music has an exuberant element also. But today, we experienced a soulful and deeply introspective dimension of this school.

And finally props to SankritiLaya for their excellent organization (Mani & co if you are reading this, bless your heart)! The concert was held in downtown San Jose in a superb auditorium with cathedral ceilings, amazing acoustics; professionally stage managed and coordinated. They even had uniformed staff to usher people to their seats. And no long meandering speeches! In the one short intro speech, they apologized for starting 6 minutes late. This is taking concert organization in N. America to a different level of professionalism. Kudos.

Back to work on Monday, a very busy week ahead for me including a lot of travel. But man, am I glad we live the same time as musicians like Vijay Siva! Perhaps it is a good thing that there are so few of them. We cherish them more this way.

[sappri]

Thanks for posting such a wonderful write up on the concert - it almost felt like being there - honestly a VS concert is so cathartic....

[rajeshnat]

Mahavishnu
Review has a lot of charm . Just perhaps in pantuvarAli his aggression was just not enough (as you have called it bit pedestrian), he zones into extreme excellence when he picks up mukhAri - for me he hits that right spot of contemplative aggression in mukhari. His krithi selections which generally touches trinity and wrapping up with few ragamaligas gives that continued zing effect. The team especially JV's right intensity would have been brilliant.

[mahavishnu]

His krithi selections which generally touches trinity and wrapping up with few ragamaligas gives that continued zing effect.

Rajesh, I couldn't agree more. And he has one of the widest repertoires of Trinity compositions that I know of. It works well for the DKP/DKJ style of presentation where they do a lot of wonderful, crisply presented short kritis. And these rAgamalikAs that you mention are part of this special touch that Vijay has acquired.

I was hoping for a big P.Sivan composition also, since I heard that he presented a very elaborate kANA kaNN kODi in Toronto. But I will definitely be catching a few of his performances during the season and I hope I get lucky then! I need to find one with Trichy Sankaran in Chennai and that will make my day!

[annamalai]

Thanks for the review. I still remember the fantastic concert of Vijaya Siva @ Music Academy last year - Kalambikayam - Bhairavi, a short Charukesi Pallavi. Since Vijaya Siva is also mridangist; kanakku stuff is effortless and natural (an aspect which I like in Mandolin Srinivas).

[mahavishnu]

kanakku stuff is effortless and natural (an aspect which I like in Mandolin Srinivas).

I totally agree. VS's sense of rhythm is so effortless to the extent that he seldom keeps tALam with his hands while singing, it just keeps running in the background like clockwork. Yet, his timing is just perfect.