Sanjay Subrahmanyan @ Washington DC

[kedharam]

Sanjay Subrahmanyan
S. Varadarajan
B. Venkatesh

Mukhari – madirakshi, Thiruvottiyur Thyagayyar
Nattai – re re manasa, S, Chengalvaraya Shastri
Shankarabharanam – Dakshinaamoorthe, MD, S
Abhogi - Maneyolagado govinda, R, PD
Ganamoorthi – Ganamoorthe, T, S
Begada – ‘karunai tandennai ALamma’ Mazhavai Chidambara bharathi, N @ Anbarkarul katakshi akhila bhuvana sakshi , S
Hindolam – mAmavathu shri saraswathi, Mysore Vasudevacharya
RTP Kalyani, Khanda Eka/chatusra
Orumayudan ninadhu thiru malaradi ninaippOm murugA oru kAlum unai maravAmal
Maannu pugazh – Kulasekara Azhwar
Charukesi – karunanidhan, ST
Kapi – kalilo, HMB
Kamas – akila charachara, PS

I am going to gush about this concert 


The concert was well-crafted, striking a balance between celebrating famous compositions and presenting buried treasures showing the sheer breadth of his repertoire.
Generously stocked with varnams, Sanjay began with an off the beaten path treat in mukhari with a poised lilt setting a lively pace for the evening.
Following the opening varnam came with a fervent tone the grippingly expressive rendition of ‘Re re manasa’ where the rhythm and tempo has a lilting flow. Took flight and unfurled swarams with typical flair at gajananam as Varadarajan and Venkatesh lent their support to the proceedings capturing the dynamic nuances.

With a languorous slow tempo came an engrossing account of MD’s celebrated work, ‘Dakshinamoorthe’ as he chiseled it with meticulous deliberation and care, effectively evoking the salient features of MD bona fides embedded in every phrase. Varadarajan played insightfully for Sanjay’s elastic ebb and flow and Venkatesh aligned his strokes to the lyrics and the gait elevating the work.

Sanjay expanded abhogi through choice phrases investing every note with nuances creating a compelling portrait. Varadarajan’s improvisational flair was evident in his solo as he rose to the challenge in drawing out the earthy quality of the ragam full of nuances. With pleading despair ‘Maneyolagado govinda’ unfolded portraying the composition’s agonized undercurrent of pathos with expressive phrasing fully idiomatic in kannada with Varadarajan and Venkatesh adding unobtrusive melodic embellishments.

Ganamoorthe came emphasizing the work’s grinding dissonant notes to great effect and he tossed off swarams mining the range of non- linear progression of notes in a lucid way.

Wielding his voice to its fullest potential, Sanjay skilfully built up begada, exploring untrodden ground and spanning the sthayees. And Varadarajan’s strings lent further resonance and breadth by unfolding the notes with expressive playing setting the scene evocatively for Mazhavai Chithambara Bharathi’s composition.

In his ardent interpretation, ‘karunai tandennai alamma’ abuzz with rhythm received a committed portrayal. This composition seems ideal for misra capu – in terms of lyrics, as it unfolded with inexorable sweep and rhythmic persistence.
Sanjay was here at his finest as he extended ‘anbarkarul katakshi akhila bhuvana sakshi‘ with interpretive depth unravelling the intertwining rhythm as layers of nuances came to the fore in giving credence to the angst of the composer. Varadarajan and Venkatesh chugged along Sanjay’s elegantly conceived interpretations and swarams and matched his dynamics deftly with rhythmic subtleties as an undercurrent.
Sanjay followed this with a crisp account of Mysore Vasudevachar's MAmavathu shri saraswathi leading straight into

The treatise in kalyani ...

The contours of the exquisite raga emerged in its full plumage. Sanjay charted it by expertly exploring its many colors and exulting in the key phrases through some scintillating janta swara combinations, as he folded diverse musical ideas into his, his strong suit. His expanded exposition reminded me of this T. S. Eliot poem: “We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started/And know the place for the first time.”

Varadarajan with his usual brilliance followed his spacious rendition and rose effectively to match Sanjay’s finesse in his ethereal solo capturing his interpretation with acutely detailed playing especially in the lower register to expressive effect.

Tanam subtly accented by Violin unfolded with unbridled fire and tonal refinement in long stretches with melody suffusing and unifying the rhythm in kalyani, nattakurinji, sahana, and saveri as each short vignette was exquisitely rendered to enthusiastic ovations. Varadarajan illuminated Sanjay’s pensive musings with every note perfectly placed, giving way to the ensuing pallavi.

With a reverential hush, ‘orumayudan nin thiru malaradi ninaippom murugA oru kAlum unnai maravAmal ‘ zipped along the beat of khanda eka/chatusra. It came with characteristic precision, perfect attunement between the text and the laya with growing pathos in each iteration in un-laboured fashion. The confection was supported gracefully as Varardarajan and Venkatesh gave their all nestling inside Sanjay’s creativity in matching his flourishes and navigating the rhythmic complexity with precision warmly applauded by the audience.

This was followed by Venkatesh’s technically assured thani with varied rhythmic combinations and interweaving of patterns with high-speed finger work as he earned one of the most rousing ovations.

Post RTP indulgences were delightful with the Sivan piece concluding the evening and the listeners allowed the jaunty notes to fade before giving a standing ovation…

[kvchellappa]

When Sanjay is in the brave new world, my heart aches for Kedharam and the feast, capturing the emotional highs and the brilliance of the rendition behind which a lot of work has been put in, one behind the other, with no gap as it were as between two pieces by Sanjay, has been more than I could have asked for. Thank you.

[arasi]

Another winner of a list...asAveri kriti in Boston and bEgaDa in this concert, worthy revivals from Sanjay's vast repertoire. karuNai thandennai (or vaithennai?)).
kalyANi RTP, eh? A big miss...
tukkaDA section is rich too.
You made it to another concert. Good for you!

[kedharam]

arasi, thanks. corrected.

kvchellappa,

[Ranganayaki]

The varnam was new to me, I had never heard it before. He set the tone for a serious concert with his sensitive rendering of the nattai kriti, and the breathtaking flow of swaras that followed it from both him and Varadarajan.. The concert was held as part of the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple’s Sri Medha Vidya Vaaridhi Mahotsavam, intended to celebrate the deities of knowledge: Sri Vinayaka, Sri Dakshinamurthi, Sri Saraswati and Sri Hayagriva. Sanjay lauched directly into this with the Nattai kriti, immediately followed by Dakshinamurthe in Shankarabharanam. I followed the sahitya listening to this kriti and a light shone on Dikshitar’s devotion and also the depths of philosophy in this composition, as in most of his others. I felt my breath taken by the final lyrics Swaguruguhootpatthe, Swaanubhoga Trupte..

In Maneyolagaado Govinda, the Abhogi kriti, I am not sure I see any of the pathos that Kedharam has suggested. It is joyful composition, expressing the enjoyment one would feel to see Govinda play in their house with Balarama, and asking him why he would rather stay in the constant company of the girls who surround him, which, he warns, would lead people to question his reputation. No despair in this kriti, I think.

Following the Abhogi, he seemed to continue the celebration of these divinities with the Ganamurthe, on Sri Venugopala, the musical form of Vishnu, in lieu probably of a song on Hayagriva. (Are there even any kritis on Hayagriva?) If that was the intention, a vruttam of the Hayagriva Stotram would have been nice preceding it. This was immediately followed by Mamavatu Sri Saraswathi, completing the entire pre-main section.. None of these four kritis were preceded by an alapana in any great detail, the focus was on the kritis. So the Abhogi, in spite of the the more detailed alapana seemed more like a filler, though I would not say that about the Begada Kriti with a detailed alapana. Still the pre-main seemed not too heavily kalpana-oriented, but was certainly weighty with great songs.

Arasi, he did sing Karunai Thandennai Aalamma.. The “Vaithennai” is from a different song in Begada, Kadaikkan Vaithennai Aalamma.. Very similar sounding pallavi, even musically, if I remember right. He performed neraval on the words “Anbarkkarul Katakshi.. Akhila Bhuvana Sakshi..” I just searched this song to find the correct lyrics for the neraval for you all (think they are correct, though), and I couldn’t find it anywhere, but I happened upon a write-up by Sanjay which had a paragraph detailing his experience with this song and it is something wonderful to share here:

Mazhavai Chidambara Bharathi, a contemporary of Kavi Kunjara Bharathi, was the grandfather of Mazhvarayanenthal Subbarama Bhagavatar on the maternal side. It is said that MSB used to sing many of these compositions in his concerts. I had learnt an MCB song (Kanmaniye solladi in Saranga) from my grand aunt Smt.Rukmini Rajagopalan many years back and used to sing it quite often in concerts. Later I came to know that the Saranga was a GNB tune and that the original was in Kapi. I even remember lsitening to a beautiful slow rendition in Kapi by Tanjavur Sankara Iyer. About 15 years back, I was at Madurai for a concert. An old man named Ramani knocked on my door at the hotel. He actually sang the song Karunai vaitthennai aalamma in Begada and said it was an MCB song and that he was a disciple of Subbarama Bhagavatar. I remembered that it resembeled the Ramaswami SIvan song Kadaikkan vaitthennai aalamma and he said that the MCB was the original and that it was later copied. The Music Academy has published a book on the compositions of MCB in musical notation and that is where I picked up the songs Poomel valarum in Anandabhairavi and Karunai thanthennai in Begada that I sang yesterday. This book also has a nice introduction by the noted Tamil writer Chidambara Subramaniam, who was also a grandson of the composer.

The Pallavi was the main item, but the neraval was rather short and simple. Only the taanam involved multiple ragas: Kalyani, Natakurinji, Saveri and Sahana. Post-main, the concert became lighter, but remained very interesting, without the usual disappointing little tukkudas. Mannupugazh was sung in a ragamalika that included Suddha Saveri, Lalitha (possibly, but I did hear a panchamam here and there but it was not prominent enough to be Lalithapanchamam, just enough to make me uncomfortable with Lalitha), Saranga, Hindolam, Neelambari. There was a vrittam which began with the words “Akhila Charachara” but the Papanasam Sivan kriti in Khamas was “Tiruvalar Mayilaiyil.”

Varadarajan was a model accompanist, completely unobtrusive while Sanjay was singing, my attention never really drifted to him, but fully toe to toe with Sanjay in verve, strength, and imagination every time he took a turn. Venkatesh’s tani included a sheer burst of out of control fireworks that somehow just happened to be in perfect sync with the rhythm.

The whole concert was an eclectic mix of composers, with as many distinct composers as there were songs. I feel grateful for all the hard work Sanjay must put in to never create much of a beaten track, learning more and more songs to bring us a variety of newer as well as rarer, older compositions.

[Ranganayaki]

Kedharam,
I forgot to mention my thanks for your review.. I can't believe you have been to all the concerts, as far as Houston even! But I remember you did that the last time Sanjay was here in Richmond, at least on the East Coast.

Thank you ..

[kedharam]

Ranganayaki, thanks for your review as well.

"In Maneyolagaado Govinda, the Abhogi kriti, I am not sure I see any of the pathos that Kedharam has suggested. It is joyful composition",

I interpreted it in a diff way. She pleads with him to stay at home with her and play. And then she goes on to explain in detail how she will pamper him if he stays with her...I may be wrong

[arasi]

Ranganayaki,
To hear from you after a long while, that too in this context is a treat:) Your sensitivity is something some of us who have been around at Rasikas.org for a long while recognize and appreciate. Sanjay's approach to music has many dimensions (just for a moment, isolating it from all other assets he possesses). It has little to do with his proficiency or his merits. Listening to him for nearly two decades as I have, I see how he has evolved. His relationship to his music is the key, it seems to me. His steadfastness, single-mindedness apart, it's something unique I feel--something which has absorbed him all along, and which we find glimpses of in his performances. His imagination is vast, his search still as fresh as it would have been at the start. Another rasikA said it well--something to this effect--he creates this world when he's singing (not consciously, it seems) and he draws us into it. Sanjay is hard on himself I imagine, when planning a concert and in getting ready for it. As a performer, he's sensitive to audience responses, but they mean nothing, compared to what he's solely occupied with--that is his deep involvement with his music making. That's what draws many people to his concerts--whether they know enough about the intricacies of CM or not. He has imbibed a lot from the old masters, but he is not restrained by his knowledge of their music. He is also a good example for the future generation of musicians. Work hard, keep learning, love your music, let your imagination be replenished with ideas. Adore tradition, but renew yourself constantly...

[rajeshnat]

Ranganayaki
Good to see your crystal clear writing after a long hiatus. Keep continuing to write more concerts.

[kvchellappa]

Sanjay said in an interview that if there are ten different views on his singing, he would consider it a success. He must consider it as at least a partial success as there are two views! To read both the reviews has been a sheer delight.

[Ranganayaki]

Arasi, thanks.. Love what you wrote about Sanjay, it's all so true! His obvious preparation showcases his respect for his audience. That, with that deep involvement with the music keeps us enthralled and keeps us coming back at every chance.

Kedharam, unlike you, i interpreted the lyrics as Purandara's monologue to Krishna, but I agree that the speaker can be seen as a woman. But nothing in the words indicate a romantic involvement. The words say go and play elsewhere, with Balarama, but they don't juxtapose other women and the speaker-woman. There is no pathos because of the other women, only a danger to his reputation. So I am unable to agree with you on that despair idea, whether the speaker is a woman, a man, or Purandara himself. May be the kannadigas here can say a word on this? I understand the language quite well, but I'm still only a Tamilian. KVC, aren't you a kannadiga?

Rajesh, KVC, thank you! I missed a few key concerts this year, Ranjani-Gayatri, TMK, but we've been mostly in a state of starvation here! Hardly any concerts these days.

[kvchellappa]

I am a Tamizhan though an 'appa'.

[arasi]

Chellappa,
One post, already two points of view! There are many more out there!
And Purandara DAsa! The same song, if he had sung it out at different times, would have had that many moods of adoration for him, and moods of interpretations for us--just as in the joy of being with children and watching them--how each time the experience gets different, even unique...

[arasi]

KVC,
Cheluvaraya is more like it...

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Kedharam, unlike you, i interpreted the lyrics as Purandara's monologue to Krishna, but I agree that the speaker can be seen as a woman. But nothing in the words indicate a romantic involvement. The words say go and play elsewhere, with Balarama, but they don't juxtapose other women and the speaker-woman. There is no pathos because of the other women, only a danger to his reputation. So I am unable to agree with you on that despair idea, whether the speaker is a woman, a man, or Purandara himself. May be the kannadigas here can say a word on this? I understand the language quite well, but I'm still only a Tamilian. KVC, aren't you a kannadiga?

Even though we have discussed the lyrics earlier here in 2012,

https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopi ... da#p221496

I request Smt Savitri to provide complete meaning for maneyOlagADO gOVinda - I think that will be relevant to this thread.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

In post # 5, Ranganayaki asked.....
Following the Abhogi, he seemed to continue the celebration of these divinities with the Ganamurthe, on Sri Venugopala, the musical form of Vishnu, in lieu probably of a song on Hayagriva. (Are there even any kritis on Hayagriva?)

My guess, Yes, there are. I am guessing there might be a composition (or more) from Vadirajaru, a contemporary of Purandaradasaru.
Another guess - Sri R K Padmanabha's compositions?

I better do a search soon, because I have said "guess" three times in three short sentences!

Update: A quick search already shows Vadirajaru composed with the ankita "hayavadana" .........

If I find enough information, I will open a separate thread for this topic so that it would not be anymore digression from the original topic of this thread.

[arasi]

Srini,
You will find a few, I guess
Meanwhile, vEdAnta DEsikA's rich contributions include the hayagrIva stOtram and a number of musicians preface their concerts with gnAnAnanda mayam dEvam nirmala spaTikAkritim, AdhAram sarva vidyAnAm hayagrIvamupAsmahE...

[Ranganayaki]

Thank you, Sreeni.. I searched too, but was not able to find any carnatic compositions. I saw this song called Laali Hayavadana, but it seems to be a song on Vishnu, with nothing specific to Hayagriva (source/foundation of knowledge).. More info on this topic may be welcome here, but a new thread would be great to inform people.

Arasi, I agree, this is the stotra I referred to. http://www.acharya.org/sloka/vdesikan/H ... am-eng.pdf

Also, if anyone could tell me the raga in this second stanza of this song (mannupugazh) by Sanjay, it would be great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiXjM_wH3hs This section starts at 1:30. Thanks!