Sri Sanjay subramaniam's concert at Spring music festivel in

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 12 Feb 2007, 12:30

Can anybody post a review of this concert that happened on saturday at Jayanagar.

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 12 Feb 2007, 22:53

When sugrIva called for a meeting of all the monkeys to give orders on going about searching Mother Sita, millions of them gathered. And it was a great scene, with all of them occupying every possible place around,
some of them on tree tops, some hanging to branches, some on the near by hillocks and hill tops. I was reminded of this scene as i entered the concert hall. The auditorium was swelling with people. People were all around the place. The prudent early birds occupied the chairs. Next ones settled on the steps in the auditorium. And later ones hanged around windows and doors.

Anyone who attended please dont be offended, though Sanjay is definitely a su-grIva, i have no intention of comparing the audience with monkeys.They were very well behaved. They moved at right times and clapped in right amounts. No one punctuated Alaapanas with those irritating tch..tch..tch sounds. Atleast none of my neighbours.

In such a great ambience, Sanjay presented a cracker of a concert. I went in a little late, thanks to an athithi at home. Here is the partial song list
(my knowledge is very limited and there could be many mistakes. please forgive):

naaDaaDina mATa - janaranjani-tyagaraja
raghuvara - sankarabharanam(?) - gopaladasa(?)
tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam - ananda bhairavi - dikshitar
bhajare maanasa - AbhEri - mysore vasudevacharya
Ragam tanam pallavi - dhEnuka - raaga malika swaras in begada, kaanadaa and hamsaanandi
harivaasara upavaasa - purandara dasa - sindhu bhairavi
raamanai bhajittal - mand - sivan
tillaana - darbari kaanada - (?)
pavamana - saurastram - tyagaraja

The AbhEri aalaapana was a cracker and was replete with melody. Somehow, through out the alaapana, i got a feeling of listening to bhImplas and varadaraajan's violin sounded like a harmonium. I really dont know why i felt like that. And i was pleasantly surprised when sanjay picked "bhajare manasa...". Tani was rendered after this kriti and arun prakash & guruprasanna played a very engaging one. Their accompaniment was also top class.

RTP in dhEnuka was again excellent. Varadaraajan's replies were visibly enjoyed by the audience. Sanjay's Tanam was rendered with many novelties, and audience appreciated them.

This is the first time i heard a tillaana from sanjay and it was very pleasant.

Overall, a differently styled concert from Sanjay this time and i was glad to have attended it. Somehow, now, i have a feeling we may listen to sanjay in a movie song soon.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 12 Feb 2007, 23:14

The darbAri kAnaDa tillAna coud be vINe SEShaNNa's

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 12 Feb 2007, 23:54

DRS, i thought it was in tamil. i am not really sure though.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 Feb 2007, 00:37

I was one of the monkeys in the auditorium (wish I could ape sugrIvA--dream, impossible dream).
humdinger, the ones you missed were:
1. varNa--chalamu (tsalamu) sEya--in hindOLam.
2. paralOka sAdhanamE, manasA--pUrvi kalyANi--TyAgarAja

The sankarAbharaNam kriti was: bAgu mIra kanunAtO
The one Sanjay sang after bhajarE was: nI bhajana gAna rasikula--nAyaki--Adi

Sanjay Subrahmanyan started the concert with one of my favorite varNams among the ones I have heard him sing. I would have said 'the' favorite one, had I not listened to his kadana kuthUhalam varNam during the season. This one in hindOLam, in my view, sets a mellow tone to the concert. It moves smoothly. Janaranjani rAgam was distinctive and brought about the briskness of the rAgA. tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam was as good as KVN's. bAgumIra is one of the endearing songs in sankarAbharaNAm. The depth of the rAgA coupled with the lyrical quality of the kriti--a kriti I don't hear much these days, made it special for me. The rAgam, neraval and swaram were impressive. The rAgA for the AbhEri kriti bhajarE was an essay in beauty. Swirls of continuous swarams filled the hall.
The dhEnukA pallavi was outstanding with explorations which included maguDi sounds! The pallavi line was:
kA vA vA vElavA! ten pazhani malai murugA vA vA vElavA! bEgadA was a welcome change in a rAgamAlikA pallavi. HamsAnandi which I have not heard Sanjay sing, was not the usual fare but a quick glimpse into unexplored regions of the rAgA.
Varadarajan sparkled here and there. Arun Prakash playing for Sanjay is an ideal thing, in my view.
All in all, a treat for me...

deepsands02 · Post by **deepsands02** » 13 Feb 2007, 01:03

The darbAri kAnada tillAna that Sanjay sings is composed by Thanjavur S. Kalyanraman.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 13 Feb 2007, 01:50

calamu seya- If this is the LGJ varNa it is in valaji.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 13 Feb 2007, 02:33

arasi wrote:I was one of the monkeys in the auditorium (wish I could ape sugrIvA--dream, impossible dream).

arasi and humdinger, SrirAmanukku kainkaryam seyvadarkku ivvoLavu AsaiyA?

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 Feb 2007, 09:57

Lakshman,
If I am not mistaken, this one is by Tiger--and in hindOLam.

ksrimech,
Yes, sri rAmA was very much there--in paralOka bhayamu, nADADina mATa, nI bhajana and rAmanai bhajiththAl--and sugrIvA helped build the bridge between the old and the new

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 13 Feb 2007, 10:25

Arasi, i dont know whether to be happy or not for having posted before you. We may have missed a more detailed review from you. But i am happy, i have got my song and raga list almost correct:)
Can some one please tell, whose composition is that sankarabharanam kriti. I heard 'gopala dasa' in the kriti which i thought was a mudra. But again deducing words from a Sanjay's rendition is always tricky.

ksrimech, i need a translation please, atleast for last two words of your line.

and again, please to consider, i just wrote that as a description of the scene where people occupied every possible piece of place available and listened with utmost attention. no other comparisions to be assumed please.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 13 Feb 2007, 10:28

Arasi,
Now, all this talk of monkeys reminds me of the new exhibition about our relatives in the American Museum of Natural History (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/arts/ ... ref=slogin), and of my essentially Drawinistic ideologies! So, enjoy this musical tribute to the fact that we share 96% of our genetic code with chimps and their pygmy cousins, the bonobos::P
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/EAK ... As1NMvHdW/

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 Feb 2007, 11:40

Agreed, Ravi. I rather liked humdinger's description--which led to sEthu bandhanam! The bridge between the old
and the new--which really means newly mined lode of very old stuff...

humdinger,
You did a better job of reviewing than I am capable of. I don't know that much about music. I can only enjoy it, not comment on it with erudition...

ram · Post by **ram** » 13 Feb 2007, 11:55

Yup .. the hindolam varnam is Tiger's. Its one of my personal favorites ever since I heard Sri Sanjay first sing it.

If the shankarAbharaNam kriti was bAgumIra (rUpaka tALam), it is by vINai kuppaiyer. It has his mudra gOpAladAsa in the charaNam. OST sings it often.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 13 Feb 2007, 12:13

humdinger, i asked "you have shown so much interest in doing kainkaryam to SrirAma?"

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 13 Feb 2007, 12:40

Arasi...now, if you say you dont know that much about music, i dont know what to say.

deepsands and ram. thanks for the info.

ksrimech, thanks for the translation. as per your qn, but then who wouldnt?

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 13 Feb 2007, 13:44

humdinger, didn't u see the the

icon next to it?

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 Feb 2007, 13:56

ksrimech,
If you compare my posts with those of others, you would know what I mean. Rasika, yes, but I am not well versed in music to analyse the details. That's why I do not venture to write a review...

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 13 Feb 2007, 14:05

Hmmm...Arasi, then I should reconsider my contributions too although I don't pretend to call them reviews...

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 13 Feb 2007, 14:08

ksrimech, ha ha...anyways, "vidyA dadaati vinayam..." thats what bhartruhari said.
(trans: knowledge leads to humility)

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 13 Feb 2007, 15:14

Hi ,
Thanks to humdinger and arasi for the review. I definitely missed the kutchery , abheri and dhenuka RTP and my current favorite janaranjani raga. Somehow I think, the unusual raga RTPs by Sanjay happens in Blore. Last time(?) it was Bahudhari RTP at Koramangala.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 Feb 2007, 21:05

You miss one and I missed that one, but had heard about it.

tmt fan · Post by **tmt fan** » 13 Feb 2007, 21:36

Sanjay is nowadays under the influence of nagaswara pani in rendering ragas and if you close your eyes and listen you can feel the nagaswara kutcheri without any dought.any how one can apprecite his previous pani of rendering was much more soulful and really extremely enjoyable version.But who will bell the cat?NR.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 Feb 2007, 21:40

nAdaswaram music is not soulful?

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 14 Feb 2007, 00:26

arasi and humdinger, I think you got me wrong. I did not even bother about the review when we had some other interesting thing being quoted here about SrirAman and the vAnarAs. Its the bhakthi component which attracts me more and music is secondary for me. Quoting what everyone knows "sangIta gnyAnamU bhakthi vinA sanmArgamU galadE"

. I understand from your songs that you have understood it really well. Only thing is that I was a little confused why u gave sugrIvA's example when he was the only vAnarA whom iLayAzhvAr threatened to kill (SrirAman had already killed vAli by then).

humdinger, I'm very happy that you gave such an example. Again, I did not take it in any other way.

meena · Post by **meena** » 14 Feb 2007, 00:29

ram / arasi

do u have the full txt -hindolam varna?

ram · Post by **ram** » 14 Feb 2007, 08:51

Unfortunately I don't have the text of the varnam but I know it by heart after having listened to Sri Sanjay sing it multiple times. Here is a crude attempt of mine at the text ...... I am not sure about the correctness of the words as I have not been able to ascertain the exact words that appear at some places even after listening to it in multiple concerts of his. Corrections are most welcome.

hindOLam varnam - tiger varadAchAr

pallavi

chalamu seyanEla rA, chAla kOrIna nApai

anupallavi

chEludaina srI bUma (?), pUrIsha nannElukOra

mukthAyi swaram

sa ma ga sa ni da ni, sa ni ga sa ni ma da ni,
sa da ni sa da ni, ni da ni ma da ni sa ga

ma ga ma da ma ga sa ni, sa da ni sa ga ma da ni
sa ga sa saa ni da ni, da ni da maa ga sa ni da ni

charaNam

palumAru vEDina rAvE rEmIra

chiTTa swarams

1) ni, da, ma, ga, sa, ni, da, ni, sa ga ma da (palumAru)

2) ni da sa ni da ma daa, ni maa da ni da ma ga, da ma da gaa ma ga sa, ni da ni sa ga ma da (palumAru)

3) ni da ni ma da ni da ma, ni da ni ma da ga ma ga
da ma da ga ma sa ga ni, ni ma da ni sa ga ma da
ni ma da ga da ma ga sa, ma ga da ma ni da sa ni
ga sa ma ga sa ni da ma, da ga ma sa ma ga ma da (palumAru)

4) saa ni da ni sa nii da ma gaa sa maa, ma ga sa ni da ni sa ga maa, ma da ni
sa sa ni da ni maa da, ma ni ni da ma ga sa ni, sa sa ni da ga sa ma ga, da ma ni da sa ni da ni
sa ni da ni daa, ma da ni da ni da ma ga sa ni, sa da ni, sa ga maa, da ni ma da, sa ni sa ga
sa da ni saa ga, ma ga ma sa ma ga, sa ni da ni, maa ga sa ni daa ma ga sa ni, sa ma ga ma da (palumAru)

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 14 Feb 2007, 10:49

Wow, Ram that's quite a photographic memory you have!

meena · Post by **meena** » 14 Feb 2007, 11:00

ram
thanku so much.

divakar · Post by **divakar** » 14 Feb 2007, 11:16

ram: great job..

some correction(s)

P: calamu sEyanElarA cAla kOrina nApai
AP: celuDaina shrI bhUma .... purIsha nannElukOrA
C: palumAru vEDina rAvEmirA

more corrections are welcome

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 14 Feb 2007, 11:46

ksrimech...thanks for the kind words there.

As per your question, First, the main motive was to describe the scene. It came to my mind as an example of such an attentive audience struggling for place.

Second, su-grIva in sanskrit means "one with good(su) voice(grIvam)". so sanjay can definitely be called a sugrIva

With the sabha being "Rama lalita kala mandira" and with plenty of Ramabhakti kritis in the list, i thought its apt to talk about Ramayana.

btw, Sanjay did a good Rama bhajana during the 'ramanai bhajittal' kriti, singing "hare ram ram ram..." .

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 14 Feb 2007, 11:48

palumAru vEDina line is, musically too, a charmer...

My drift too--su-grIvA singing praise of rAmA and helping in building a bridge and taking us to uncharted territories in his musical exploration without sacrificing tradition...

ram · Post by **ram** » 14 Feb 2007, 13:22

Ah Vijay ... my memory is bad but the ability to take notes fast helped. The varnam is a melodious one and Sri Sanjay has sung it several times which made it easy to know it by heart.

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 14 Feb 2007, 13:46

Wow, are you saying you were able to notate a whole varnam just by listening to SS live at a few concerts? Hats off to you!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 14 Feb 2007, 14:39

In any case, thanks for the notation and lyrics...

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 14 Feb 2007, 15:07

Re missing word- I think thats "cennapuri"(Madras, Chennai) which I have seen Tiger use in another varNa as well(vAcaspati). Guess he used it as his mudre.