Sandeep Narayan 17 Dec 2017 at MA

[ratanabhinav]

Date : 17 Dec 2017
Venue: Music Academy , Chennai
Time : 6 : 45 PM to 9:15 PM
Artists :
Sri . Sandeep Narayan : vocal
Sri . Delhi Sundararajan : violin
Sri . Thanjavur K.Praveenkumar : Mridangam
Sri . S.Venkatramanan : Kanjira
Sri. Bangalore B.Rajasekar : Moharsing

Premise : My rating scale is : worse -> bad -> ok -> good -> excellent
1. Vanajakshi Kaylani Ata tala varnam
2.Va va shiki vahana Nattai rupakam - Koteeswara Iyer - Kalpana swara
3. Tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam - Ananda bhairavi - roopakam - Mudduswamy Dikshithar - Alapana
4. Thunai purindarul - Varamu (Hindolam with Chatusruti daivatham instead of shudha daivatam) - Adi tala - Tyagaraja
5. Evari mata vinnavo - Kamboji - Adi tala - Tyagaraja - Aalapana , Niraval , Kalpana swara
6. RTP - Latangi - then ?? I left at this point
coming to the review part of this concert
Although Sandeep has a great voice which is capable of taking music to dizzying melodic heights , he doesn't exploit it much . Expecting more creativity and melodic excellence from him. There weren't a lot of 'aha' moments in his concert today .
But he's not that bad either .

Here's my review of each and every individual item , taken up one by one .
#1. Was as usual.
#2. As usual starting point of the concert - nattai - rendered with swaras.
#3. Alapana presentation was too dragged . Sancharas were not sung with porutham . IMO , it was as though he sang thinking what to sing next . But not a bad effort . It was ok to good . Kriti rendition was good .
4. Here came the much needed respite from vilamba kalam. This was rendered well .
5. Alapana was good in some parts , too dragged in some other .More melodic creativity would have been nice . But was satisfying overall . Niraval was okay . Swaras were good to excellent . Thani was all about theatrics and show off. Not a melodious ( ) and soulful rhythm .
6. Latangi alapana was refreshing , I left at this point ....


Expecting more melodic creativity and ' from the heart ' wowsome phrases during alapanas . It has not got to do only with textbook style technical presentation.
The overall kalapramanam of the concert was slow . Or rather , somewhere between medium and slow .

[hema]

I left after the Anandhabhairavi. Found the Alapana rather repetitive. I also found the rendition wanting in places -- especially this is a Kriti that has been rendered by many stalwarts -- my favourite is KVN. I agree that the mrudangam was rather loud. Sandeep must form his own style -- some of the mannerisms of Sanjay suit Sanjay best. Sandeep has a good voice -- can exploit it better.

I am not sure about this -- this is more a question:

I feel the note and the syllable used to enunciate the note -- the entire prosody needs to be preserved. Since this is an oral tradition -- have these been honed over the years and our ears are expecting a particular form, or were they designed thus by the composers? Clearly the arrival of the mikes led to a large number of sancharas in the mandara stayi with every nuance heard.

[sureshvv]

The overall kalapramanam of the concert was slow . Or rather , somewhere between medium and slow .

This in itself seems to be a new frontier for Sandeep. So he is trying out new things.

PS: As a review, your method of separating the song list from your comments hinders the reading. It would be better if you make those comments inline.

[kvchellappa]

.. or online like you VVS!

[ratanabhinav]

The overall kalapramanam of the concert was slow . Or rather , somewhere between medium and slow .

This in itself seems to be a new frontier for Sandeep. So he is trying out new things.

PS: As a review, your method of separating the song list from your comments hinders the reading. It would be better if you make those comments inline.

Noted . Will incorporate the format next time onward.

Coming to the concert , in the review of Rithvik Raja's MA concert on 18 Dec , it was mentioned in Sri. shriram,krishnan72 's review and I quote , " His musical ideas were flowing well one after the other and he handled everything on stage effectively " , " He sang open throated throughout and his Bhairavi and Kambhoji spurts were enjoyable " . In Sandeep's concert , this factor was missing . Neither were there melodic 'spurts ' nor was there any enjoyable feel. That gush of melody , coming straight out of the singer's heart and subsequently, filling the listener's heart , was missing .This is what I wanted to convey in my review .

[ratanabhinav]

deleted

[ratanabhinav]

It goes like this :
Singing straight from the heart with gay abandon , not bothering about technicalities (not being more lakshana oriented oriented , but being more lakshya oriented ), and yet being in the territory of technical validity and shruti alignment and producing a rich and moving bhava is what ' it ' is all about . The million dollar question : " Will he/she do the above ? " , and , doing the above is the testimony for succeess and musical acumen .

PS : This could happen only if there is something inside the singer's heart in the first place . If there is no such great stuff in there , you can't expect much from him/her .

[pperumal]

Was there for the 1:30 pm concert onwards at this hallowed venue.
Rithvik sang well - he seems to be slowly emerging out of the shadows of TMK. I adore TMK but would prefer listening to the original and not a cheap imitation :p. Of his disciples I see that both Rithvik and Ravikiran both seem to be finding their own voice and expression - of course with the gesticulations of their illustrious Guru (which I perfectly understand - don't we all pick up mannerisms from our parents, friends, etc.?).
Full points to Rithvik for singing over and above the clearly sub-standard accompanists.

Sandeep - I usually stay away from owing to his propensity for 'shouting'. This concert was no exception.
He should get out of the Sanjay Subramanian mould and try to find his own 'calling' - which he clearly has not shown any signs of doing.
I wish he does. Sandeep has an amazing voice which can negotiate phrases of varying speeds and volume.

- PP.

[sureshvv]

Premise : My rating scale is : worse -> bad -> ok -> good -> excellent

Don't understand this part.

[ratanabhinav]

Premise : My rating scale is : worse -> bad -> ok -> good -> excellent

Don't understand this part.

My rating scale ranges from worse to bad in ascent . That's what I meant
Excellent is better than good , good is better than okay , okay is better than bad , bad is better than worse . ' Worse ' is the lowest rating I can give to any piece and 'excellent ' is the highest rating .

[shriram.krishnan72]

@PP - Agree with the well thought points you have made

@ratanabhinav - Rithvik and Sandeep are both good musicians with their own styles and strengths. To compare Rithvik's review which I wrote and using that as a yardstick to critique Sandeep is not the most prudent choice according to me. Kindly excuse me if I am inappropriate in saying the above. Hope you understand where I am coming from. Best wishes for a good music season.

[ratanabhinav]

@PP - Agree with the well thought points you have made

@ratanabhinav - Rithvik and Sandeep are both good musicians with their own styles and strengths. To compare Rithvik's review which I wrote and using that as a yardstick to critique Sandeep is not the most prudent choice according to me. Kindly excuse me if I am inappropriate in saying the above. Hope you understand where I am coming from. Best wishes for a good music season.

touche . But it was made in my interest for good music and constructive criticism .
Same to you !