Vardarajan
Venkatesh
Darbar – Dari teliyaka, PS
Nattai –pallandu pallandu, Periyazhwar
Anandabhairavi – Andolika vahane, ST, R, S
Charukesi – Onde manadhalli bhajisa vAkdeviya , R, N, PD
Kalavathi – ennaDu jUtunO , T
Kalyani – needhu charaNa, T, R, S, N@ O jagathjanani Omkara rUpiNi kalyani, Pallvi Gopala Iyer
Thani
NEtrandhi nErathilE –huseni, Subbarama Iyer
Nattakuriniji – RTP, kanda triputa
Pallavi -
ManathAl unnai ninaithAl dhinam thudhithAl vandaruLUm senthamizh vANiyE
silayAi sirpa vadivAi sindanai chudarAi vandarUL pOzhiyUm thAyE
kapi- EmandunE, Dharmapuri Subbarayar
Thilang – Ramakrishna, PD
Urilen kani illai in kambhoji
kundram Eri kuLiR mazhai – danyasi
kulam tharum - mohanam
sindu bhairavi – vipperu vizhamum, Thiru mangai azhwar
jonpuri - malasai kopam, thirupugazh
kamas - Akila charA chara followed by ThiruvaLar mayilaiyin, Papanasam Sivan
I am sorry I just have to gush about this concert:). please excuse my lyrical excess.
When I entered I overheard the custodians of the auditorium telling the organizer that fireworks during the concert(if any) have to follow the state’s fire code. I was chuckling to myself sanjay and fire-works! yep, there was one of a kind, somewhat a subdued one. What can you expect when he sings ananda bhairavi, charukesi, kalyani and nattakurinji.
Sanjay opened the program with the infrequently performed varnam, in Darbar. Then came his trademark pallandu pallandu pallAyirathandu in nattai.
With an ascetic approach sanjay explored ananda bhairavi, revealing it’s breadth and shape demonstrating his intellectual depth, qualities matched by the emphatic playing by Varadarajan in responding to his nuances. As i was optimistically hoping, came Swathi Thirunal’s utsavaprabandha Kirtanai in Malayalam, Andolika vahane at a stately pace, studded with telling details of the procession making a moving case for the ruminations of the composer while retaining its lyrical majesty and in his sensitive interpretation it came to life grand culminating with swarams with clinical clarity with varadarajan and venkatesh sharing his sensitivity in playing with the rhythmic elements.
Next he sketched charukesi with inward reflection and dredged the nugget of PD, 'Onde manadhalli bhajisa vAkdeviya' out of semi-obscurity like a calm rumination and he shaped the pensive spans of the text ‘Onde manadhalli bhajisi vAkdEviya’ with textural intricacy in a searching way with Varadarajan’s and venkatesh’s nourishing partnership…
Kalyani - opened with a subdued hum from which melodic fragments emerged with a deft combination of playfulness and virtuosity displaying his adventurous spirit. Needu charana emerged imparting emotional weight to every word. Then sanjay excavated out the composer’s reverie with improvisatory flair at ‘O jagath janani OmkAra rUpiNi kalyani’ bringing lyrical refinement with impeccable intonation to every phrase followed by Venkatesh’s tani where he played with impressive technical command and improvisatory flair with one of the fastest/softest fingers in the industry…
Then he dipped into the brooding 'Netrandhi nErathilE' distilling the dynamics of the restless mind with a passionate spontaneity conveying the despair of the nayika…
And then the night’s/tour’s masterpiece RTP -
Nattakurinji uncurled to full dramatic effect making each note register while subtleties loomed while digging out it’s ethereal colorings … he gave it his all and Varadarajan offered a countermelody with melting warmth. The thanam unfolded at somewhat a restrained tempo with enigmatic tension dissipating and accumulating with calm intensity and subtle gradations that kept the music gliding along morphing from a hushed phase into a rhythmically charged one with palpable vigor and exacting deliberation creating a spatial effect… such magic has become a commonplace…and at this juncture of transcendence, clapping seemed like a sacrilege… Yep, it was one organic nattakurinji. (no ragamalika in thanam.
)Then with his voice swelling with an enveloping intensity it was kind of commingling of invoking his surrender through melody and the pensive text, ’ManathAl unnai ninaithAl dhinam thudhithAl vandaruLUm senthamizh vANiyE, silayAi sirpa vadivAi sindanai chudarAi vandarUL pOzhiyUm thAyE' with exacting attention to rhythm in kanda triputa with many iterations in his extended flights linking together phrases strengthening the text’s emotional punch like an eloquent prayer with swarams in aberi and begada and he came a full circle back to nattakurinji with the violin and the mridangam blending with verve in bringing down the house in their collective improvisation. And the absorbing concert ended with the endearingly poignant viruttam in kamas followed by Sivan’s waltzy rhythmic ‘ThiruvaLar mayilayin iraivanin adipaNi’ winning a rousing ovation.They have been performing for almost four hours with barely a pause and it seemed as if they could happily keep going. And the authentic chemistry between the trio - I still can’t get out of the behag from the previous concert and how Sanjay picked from Varadarajan some TRS ish swarams and how the three played off of each other with exuberance. It is interesting how Sanjay draws upon different musical styles kindling thoughts of masters of yesteryear and makes into his own distinctive voice…
Though it is some distance for us, we did go to Andover to hear Sanjay.