Sanjay Subrahmanyan at Kalarasana 21 December 2013

[kunthalavarali]

The three and half hour concert had Nagai R Sriram on the violin, Palladam Ravi on the Mridangam and K V Goplakrishnan on the Kanjira. Here is the song list:

01_Varnam_Begada_Ata_PSI
02_Suryamurthe namosthu dhe _Saurashtram_Chatusra Dhruva_MD, S
03_Keesu keesu endru_Bhairavi_MChapu_Andal
04_Mamava sada varade_Natakuranji_Rupakam_ST, R,N,S
05_Venkatesa ninnu sevimpa_Madhyamavathi_Adi_T, R,S,T
06_Enna rakshiso ninu_Subhapantuvarali_Rupakam_PD
07_RTP_Sankarabharanam_ Pallavi line: Ellam sivan seyal endre kavalai indri iruppai mada nenjame_MChapu_SB; Swaragamalikai: Varali, Vasantha, Chinthamani, Chandrakauns and Darbari kanda
08_Thillana_Darbarikanada_MChapu_Thanjavur S Kalyanaraman
09_Orinmeya_Viruttam_Thirumazhisai Azhwar_Desh
10_Rama namame thudhi_Desh_Adi_Thanjavur Sankara Iyer
11_Aarumo aaval arumuganai_Maand_Adi_Kannan Iyengar, R
12_Mangalam_Saurashtram_Adi_T

(I am not sure about the item #9)
Corrections welcome

[rsrini080463]

Thanks much Sir. I could not decipher the raaga after vasantha. Thanks for clarifying that it was Chinthamani

It was a good concert and thanks for listing out the krithis.

Regards

[bharathi]

Now that the list has been uploaded, I will just describe my take on the concert..

Another breathtaking concert by Sanjay Subrahmanyam for Kalarasana.
The Ata thALa varnam was rendered beautifully setting the tempo of the concert.
SUryamUrthe was sung with great poise and devotion
Naattaikunrinji Alapanai was brilliant, neraval and swaras were beautiful, especially worth the mention is his experimenting with rendering the same swaras from different perspectives each time.. a veritable treat to hear.
The madhyamavathi song ‘Venkatesa’ was too fast paced to hold the emotive flavour of the rAgA and the violinist sped past most of it screeching
The shubhapantuvarali, brought back, the all needed serenity to the concert.. it was rendered with great passion
Shankarabharam was presented with attention to all detail.. as is typical of Sanjay.. an excellent meditative thanam followed, the Pallavi was a lovely Tamizh line; “Ellam sivan seyal kavalaiyindri erupai maDa nenchame”; rAga mAlika swarams were delectable.. I loved darbAri kAnaDA and chandrakauns sung with big dose of hindusthani flavour.
The tillana was lovely too, I have heard it many times from Sanjay.
The viruttam was lovely “oonil mEya Avi”.. I remembered that last year Sanjay promised a session on viruttam alone sometime.. I wonder when that will take place
The last piece “Arumo Aval” was simply stupendous; setting the audience to give him a mighty standing ovation..

Some brickbats: too many brigas in the madhyamavathi and in particular the mElkAlam swaras were a strain on the ears.

Although the violinist was accompanying the main artist, by giving fitting repartee's, I was very distracted by his screeching bowing that came in the way of the melody..There was a constant hiss from his instrument, as if he had applied too much of Rosin to his bow and he was unable to keep pace in delivering with clarity the fast paced swaras/sangatis of the main artist.

The acoustics of the hall was also not very good.

[sankark]

To me the varnam fell flat, not a great start. Was there till swarams for rtp. P got the short end from duration point of view. Violinist was a revelation to me - first ever time hearing him - and didn't hear that hissing/screeching, volleys and returns were awesome especially during thanam. All his (both sanjay and sriram) pyrotechnical display got applauded very well. First ever time listening to palladam ravi as well and he certainly was good to excellent.