V Shankaranarayanan for NSTSS on 30.12.2015

[natts1959]

V Shankaranarayanan - vocal
Nagai Sriram - Violin
Melakaveri Balaji - Mridangam

List:

1. Kaanada Ata Tala Varnam
2. Abhimana - Begada - Adi - Patnam Subramanya Iyer (S)
3. Venkata Ramana - Lathangi - Papanasam Sivan (N,S)
4. E Papamu - Ataana - M Chapu - Thyagaraja (R)
5. O Rangasayee - Kambhoji - Adi -Thyagaraja (R,N,S)
6. Sri Ramachandra - Ragamalika - M Chapu - Tulasi Dasar
7. Tunbam Nergaiyil - Desh - Adi - Bharathidasan
Duration : about 2hr 25 min

I arrived a little late for the season this year and have been attending my all time favorite Sanjay at almost all his concerts. I heard from one of my friends that Shankar's morning concert for Partha was fabulous and the VSN-Nagai Sriram was really good. I know/follow VSN from his Singapore days and attend at least one season concert every year. Unfortunately since I so pre-occupied and emotional with dear Sanjay all along, I had to take this trip all the way to Nanganallur to catch up before i left India.

Concert started off briskly with the Kaanada varnam and begada krithi. Rounds of swaram were done well and violinist responses were crisp too. he started to sing a Lathangi ragam and cut it short to a minute and went into the krithi. Neraval had some phrases that were different from the Lathangi that we normally hear. I listed to the recording before writing this review and figured it as DP...-PmM-G... all flat swaras which initially gave me a jerk but was a completely new phrasing in that raga. When he did it the second and third time (may be on purpose), it registered and sounded quite different and nice.

The next item was completely unexpected. When he sang Ataana (3-4 min) I thought he is going to start off with the usual Bala kanaka maya... But to my surprise he took up E Papamu popularized by Alathur Bros. I have not heard it in the recent past from anyone and his rendition was quite a delight. Its not an easy krithi to render with some 8-9 sangathis in the pallavi alone and all of them intricate.

Kambhoji raga was was very well done and Sriram's response was apt. O Rangasayee was a ditto SSI padantharam. In fact i was surprised how close it was to the original that i have heard from SSI. Neraval and Swaras were neat.

Sri Ramachandra Kripalu was in Hamsanandi, Basant and Miyan Ki Malhar (i think). Slow and emotive with long karvais exploiting the Ni-Ri-Sa phrases in Hamsanandi which always gives a pleasant feeling. Some people who were getting ready to leave but sat back to listen. Last one Tumbam Nergayil, to me could have been avoided and did not have substance.

Now coming to the positives and negatives, in my opinion - VSN's voice has to be the biggest positive. At the tail end of the season it was so fresh, no apparent strain and traverses 21/2 octaves with ease. A couple of years back he had a nasal tinge but now it is more sonorous and robust. He is able to bring out a lot of emotion with that voice by modulating as well using "kampitham" gamakas. Perfect sruthi suddham too

Probably the single biggest difference i perceive this season as compared to previous seasons is that he is more disciplined and crisp. His manodharma was never an issue but in the past, but he had trouble rendering krithis since those unnecessary/avoidable on-stage improvisations would creep in and result in the occasional "slips" which is bound to happen with anyone trying new things for the first time that too on-stage. yes some improvisations would come out spectacularly but eventually the slip nullifies the effect. I also see that the urge to render new krithis with a clean padantharam rather than the 20 min raga elaborations. At the cost of repeating myself, his E Papamu was really well done.

I think the combo of VSN-Sriram is a positive as well, They gel very well on stage and feed off each other. Great chemistry. Looks like they are great friends and discuss a lot of music from the way they exchange glances/smiles after some sagathis or some swara patterns

Negatives - I would like to hear more engaging neravals. The neraval in Lathangi was probably par but the neraval for the main item should be more engaging. Especially after the standard set prior by the raga being so well elaborated by both and Krithi so well rendered. If the neraval is not on par with that standard set , it tends to drag the concert a bit. It came back when he started the rounds of swaras but may be he needs do something not to lose the attention of audiences for even those 5-7 minutes.

Tillana at the end would have been more apt rather than "pass-off" tumbam nergayil. Finishing is very important so that audiences carry that experience back with them. The hall was quite a disaster. There was echo all over and is certainly not suited for a concert. Wonder how a big artist like Sanjay will perform there (I saw the bill board with his concert scheduled for end Jan)! Mridangam was off-sruthi for most of the concert and that was annoying sometimes especially when sustaining Sadjam during a krithi anupallavi/charanam/ neraval

Overall a concert of high quality and very satisfying. One of the better concerts that i heard this season. E Papamu was bonus. I was happy i could catch up though i would have preferred alwarpet to Nanganallur! And i'm also glad that his conviction of moving back for music sake (which i can tell you wouldnt have been an easy decision) is probably starting to pay off now.

[rajeshnat]

Tillana at the end would have been more apt rather than "pass-off" tumbam nergayil. Finishing is very important so that audiences carry that experience back with them.

thillana could have been there - but how is tunbam nergayil just a pass off . Quite frankly desh is a good raga for rasikas to hum back home. Any way i have no clue of how he sang- Thank you for the review natts1959. the acoustics of nanganallur is not the best but that is true for almost 70% of the halls

[natts1959]

It was well sung. However i still felt like listening to a tillana at the end. May be its a personal choice

[nag45]

Regarding how Sanjay will perform in this venue: He has been performing here every year for more than 2 decades without a break barring last year. Same with Priya Sisters.

[Venkataraman]

Dear Natts1959.. at last there seems to be some review of this artist in the hindu.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday ... 077463.ece

The reviewer seems to have liked the neravals. May be things are different on different days.

I attended charsur and partha concerts of VSN. Personally, Charsur was good but Partha was far superior.