Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s Philly / Delaware concert on May 7th, 2016

[Sankar Narayanan]

Sanjay Subrahmanyan
S. Varadarajan
B. Venkatesh

==========

Song List:
1. vandana mOna - ata tALa varNam in chaste vAchaspathi
2. brisk and brief pU mEl vaLarum annaiyE – Anandabhairavi; S @ pallavi
3. soulful nAttakurinji AlApanA followed by swAti tirunAL’s mAmava sadA varadE; N, S @ lalita maNi hAra sulalitE mAm pAhi sadA
4. elaborate tOdi AlApanA followed by tyAgarAjar’s kaddhanuvAriki ; N, S @ baddu tappaka bhajiyincE; this was the main sans tani
5. brisk narasimhudu in kamalAmanOhari – mysore sadAshiva rao
6. beautiful but abbreviated kannaDa AlApanA followed by dikshitahr’s sri mAthrubhUtham
7. the much awaited RTP – the master chose latAngi as the nectar to entice the rasikA bees with an exceptional rAgam and tAnam, and then repeatedly reminding ‘thAm thAm thamadhena mamadhai illAmale sathiya thoNdu seivOm (rough translation with due apologies to arasi and other forumites – “let us perform truthful service without egoistic me, me, mine”) in kanda triputa; the enchanted bees were then taken thru a swarm of swarams in bAgesri, kadanakudukulam, hamsAnandi, valaji, and sri.
Venkatesh rounded this main piece with an explosive and enthralling thani.

The post-RTP line-up was very fulfilling (calling them tukkadAs will not do justice):
8. Ini enna pEchirukkudu in sahAnA (composer: subbarAma iyer)
9. kaNdena gOvindanA in chandrakowns (composer: purandarar)
10. kundram Endi kuLirmazhai slOkam in mANdu followed by UrilEn kANi illai slOkam followed by brindAvanam iduvO kaNNan piLLaiyai in suddha dhanyAsi (composer: suddhAnanda BhArati)
11. akila sasAsara pasupathiyAy in kamAs (how can mylai be missed?)
12. nI ninaitthAl Ahadhum undo nIrajadaLa nayana mahAlakshmi in darbAri kAnadA (a tribute to the main deity mAhalakshmi in the Delaware temple)
13. mangaLam
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The auditorium was well-packed. The audio setup was sound. Thanks to Sruti for a well-organized event.

[arasi]

Sankar Narayanan,
Thank you for the review of another sparkler of a concert in Sanjay's tour--in these showery/rainy/ cloudy days we are experiencing in our part of the world.

The varNam is by Tiger Varadachari on Rukmini Devi Arundel: vandanamonarinciti.

nI ninaindAl is by PS.

Your translation of the pallavi line is fine. Can't improve on it, I'm afraid

The invariable question will follow: how long was the concert?

You're in Chicago now?

[rajeshnat]

12. nI ninaitthAl Ahadhum undo nIrajadaLa nayana mahAlakshmi in darbAri kAnadA (a tribute to the main deity mAhalakshmi in the Delaware temple)

Sanjay has generally always avoided contemporary vageyakkara . May be he has done few tanjavur sankara iyer - other than that say from Lalgudi generation to the best of my knowledge he has avoided. This song i dont know who is the lyricist(may be Lji can help). This song is quite catchy when roughly a year back i heard by two singers vidya and vandana .
Kudos to sanjay - varadu - venkatesh for bringing another long concert . Arasi has already asked the question that I wanted to ask

[arasi]

Rajesh,
I have heard this song before, sung by him. Assumed it was PS's. Sorry. I went and searched it, and what do I find? Several calling it Bharathi's. Is it Suddhananda Bharathi's then, I wonder. Surely, someone who's going to one of Sanjay's concerts who happens to read this can get it from the authentic source.

By contemporary, you mean contemporary, but not living'?

[rshankar]

And the composer of akhila carAcara paSupati?

[arasi]

Ravi,
I have heard this virutham in kamAs. You can find the lines in kedharam's review of Sanjay's Richmond concert 2012 (14?). Possibly Sivan's verse to preface his kamAs song.

[kunthalavarali]

nI ninaitthAl Ahadhum is a composition of Periyaswami Thooran. akhila carAcara and brindAvanam iduvO are by PS while pU mEl vaLarum annaiyE is by Mazhavai Chidambara bharathi.

[arasi]

Thanks, kuntalavarali. Yes, pU mEl vaLarum annaiyE is by Mazavai Chidambara Bharathi (Sanjay first sang it in MMU (Bharathi mUvar). The other Bharathi (Suddhananda)'s song is brundAvanam iduvO? Not P Sivan's.

Ah, nI ninaindAl AgAdadum uNDO? is by P Thooran!

[HarishankarK]

nI ninaitthAl Ahadhum is a composition of Periyaswami Thooran.

Is the raga DK or Jonpuri?

[sirsub11]

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[kunthalavarali]

Thanks Arasi for the correction.
HarsishankarK, I did not attend this concert but I have heard Sanjay sing this song in DK

[Sankar Narayanan]

@Arasi: Thanks for the reply and for validating my translation of the RTP pallavi line! The concert was exactly 3.5 hours. My attending Sanjay's concerts was limited to Boston, NJ, Philly this time. No Chicago but will look for posts from forumites

@Arasi/kunthalavarali: Thanks for providing composer names where I was not aware of. Always good to know something new!

@HarsishankarK/kunthalavarali: Sanjay did sing the concluding piece 'nI ninaindAl AgAdadum uNdO' in DK.