Sanjay at KALARASANA - Rani Seethai Hall - 26th DEC 2010

[sridrect]

One MASTER is struggling at DURBAN !!! But this MASTER is in such sublime form - it really does not matter where he performs. This season right from Kartik Fine Arts - to - Jaya TV - to Vani Mahal - to Academy - to now Kalarasana each one is a WOW concert. It was a real privilege to have been there today (just got home about 90 minutes back) !!!

Vocal: Sanjay Subrahmanyan
Violin: S Varadarajan
Mridangam: Neyveli Venkatesh
Kanjira: Gopalakrishnan

A spell binding concert for 3hr 25m that received a full 5-minute standing applause at the end.

More details later or someone else can do the honours !!!!

It is a divine privilege to be a maverick fan of the MASTER and enjoy the highest quality of music being provided by him !

[behag]

The concert the previous day at Krishna Gana Sabha was also very good, RTP in Hamsadhwani.

Just saw Bilahari's comment on the other thread. On the one hand, yes, the sound system was loud, and Venkatesh in my humble opinion bangs the drum too much always. But I enjoyed the concert, Krishna Gana Sabha was very mellow and contemplative, this was full of fireworks... Sanjay really manages to produce different kinds of concerts! The ragamalikkai swarams in all sorts of HM ragams at the end of the RTP were a bit over the top, but I think he was carried away by his own exuberance ( Sanjay is so happy on stage when he is singing well, its quite infectious, he was practically dancing with joy)!

I must say his voice is excellent this season unlike 2009 when he often had bad throat ( although he produced some terrific concerts nevertheless)

[arasi]

Behag,
That hamsadhvani RTP was excellent. in the few concerts I've heard of Sanjay this season, traditional rAgAs ruled.
I am with you when you say that this concert at Rani Seethai was a dance of music in its vibrancy. For those who look for exotic rAgams in Sanjay's concerts got a whiff of a few in his RTP too. I heard a few remark about the volume as well (in some parts of the auditorium?).
Wish Bilahari had been in one of the earlier concerts where the hot house kind of rAgAs weren't in bloom--something he isn't very keen on!

[bilahari]

Er... dance of music in its vibrancy was not how I saw it. Sorry! I saw ragas like Ananda bhairavi and kEdAragowLa and shudda sAvEri go through the shredder. The melody or sowkhyam aspect was absent until PK. I don't mean to rile the people who enjoyed it - this is just my view and I'm a big fan of Sanjay, too, so don't roast me. And all those ragamaliga swaras were boring. But that mALavi bit was ever so beautiful!

[behag]

no roasting, to each his own and anyway, i do know you are a big sanjay fan

but even if one takes this concert out of the reckoning, he is in fine form this season.

[sridhar_ranga]

Variety is the spice of life innit! After the serene concert (I think of it as delectable 'maDi samayal' feast ) by Smt Vedavalli at the academy in the morning, this one was a very enjoyable contrast for supper flavored liberally with fiery pepper/onions/garlic/saunf... My third Sanjay concert this season and I liked this more than the other two - I even felt like getting up and dancing on the aisles ...so peppy was the fare, not a single dull moment for me.

[bilahari]

The RTP was in PK, right? Someone swore it was PV and I do have a tendency to get these confused... I will put up the list soon and my comments - will try to be fair. In truth, I enjoyed the concert from RTP onwards. Varadarajan was brilliant.

[rohithc911]

Could someone please provide a full song list for this kutcheri as well as the Krishna Gana Sabha kutcheri? Greatly appreciated.

[bilahari]

Approximate Songlist:

01. evarE bOdana (varNam) – sahAna – aTa
02. marivEragati (S @ pallavi) – Ananda bhairavi – miSra cApu
03. tyAgarAja pAlayASumAm (R) – gowLai – Adi
04. vENugAna lOlunigala (R, N @ vigasita pankajaranalu, S) – kEdAragowLa – rUpakam
05. vA vElava – tAnarUpi – khaNDa cApu
06. dhAriNi (S @ pallavi, T) – shudda sAvEri - Adi
07. tAyai ezhai – bhairavi – Adi
08. rAgam tAnam pallavi – pUrvikalyANi – khaNDa tripuTa (samam + ½ eDuppu)
pallavi: kANAmal vINilE kAlam kazhittOm sEzhADar pOTRum tillai
rAgamAliga swaras in mALavi, shudda dhanyAsi, prIyadarSini, nAgavaLLi, jOg
09. kANa vENDum – suruTTi – miSra cApu
10. vruttam in kAmbOji, kAnaDa, mOhanam, and senchuruTTi followed by tiruppugazh (?)
11. tillAna – sindhu bhairavi – Adi – MDR
12. nI nAma rUpamulaku (mangaLam) – sowrASTRam – Adi

The concert started with a nice rendition of the sahAna varNam with the pUrvAngam sung in two speeds. As I’ve noted before, the varNam has some N-G jumps that give it an almost nArAyaNagowlai elegance. Sanjay then took up marivEragati, and it was awful. He didn’t bring any of the bhAvam of Ananda bhairavi and sang it in a rather aggressive manner with excessive vocal theatrics. But I have honestly been less than impressed with most vocal renditions of this krithi. To me, instrumentalists like MSG and TNK are able to convey the bhAvam of the composition much better. However, Sanjay’s kalpanaswaras were downright horrible – there was absolutely no gentleness and melody in what he was singing. In particular, patterns like SP,MGRS in the upper octave were crude and chewed up any remaining life in the presentation of this ragam. The gowLai that followed that was decent but I was still smarting from the Ananda bhairavi. It had a unique accent on the madhyamam in phrases like RGM,,,,RS, and the N3 conclusion was well done. Sanjay’s kEdAragowLa alapanai was fair but completely hackneyed, and he was delivering – or attempting in vain to deliver – ragas like Ananda bhairavi and kEdAragowLa when in an exuberant mood fit for...kadanakutUkalam? But the choice of ragas definitely was in stark contrast to his demeanour on stage. He picked the beautiful vENugAnalOluni and sang it with almost none of the softness with which TSK used to render this krithi (I picked TSK because my all time favourite rendition of this krithi is by him and MSG – what sweetness and gentleness there is in that recording!). Oh, but his singing of the word “kAvalanE” was really beautiful each time. The neraval was noteworthy for the second speed sequences that Sanjay seemed to be shouting and not singing. Again, the loud volume where I sitting may have amplified his exuberance manifold, but I’m not absolving him. The concert soon reached its absolute minimum with the dhArini main – the swaras were everlasting, loud, and frankly obnoxious. There was no musical value in what effectively reduced to a can-I-shout-louder-than-you-can-bang-the-drums competition between Sanjay and Neyveli Venkatesh. I call it a tie. The thani that followed rivalled Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan’s for loudest of the season. There may be a tie there as well, given the important allowance for TV’s thani being played in a much smaller hall.

I was contemplating leaving after the thani, but decided to get my money’s worth and stayed. The pUrvikalyANi RTP was good in patches. The rAgam flowed beautifully and Sanjay sang his heart out. However, he let his imagination get the better of him and some of the panchamam-less phrases smacked of hamsAnandi. Additionally, I was disappointed by his excessive Hindusthani-isation of a classical rAgam – plain notes came in plenty. Having listened to a brilliant mInAkSi mEmudam from TNK just two days before, I found the singing cheap rather than creative. The alapanai did have its moments, though, like that lovely stay at N3 while ascending to the tAra shadjam for the kArvai. The tAnam was very well executed, as well, but I generally love Sanjay’s tAnams anyhow. The tAnam was classical and brisk and didn’t have too many alapanai phrases. The pallavi was nice but the inevitable ragamaliga swaras were boring for the most part because I couldn’t relate to most of these ragas. The mALavi was very beautiful, however.

The vruttam that came at the end of the concert was by far the highlight of the concert.

Neyveli Venkatesh’s accompaniment was loud. I have nothing more to say. If there was any artistry, it was sufficiently submerged in noise.

Varadarajan was great on the violin as he always is, and his responses were generally much better than Sanjay’s. His tAnam responses were nothing short of brilliant. However, in an effort to be faithful to the main artiste, his rAgam, too, came with all the flat notes and Hindusthani phrases.

Smt. Vedavalli and Sri. Sanjay effectively demonstrated in one day the ocean that lies between a quiet legend and a loud MASTER.

(Disclaimer: Just MY opinion.)

[ananthapuram]

Approximate Songlist:

01. evarE bOdana (varNam) – sahAna – aTa
02. marivEragati (S @ pallavi) – Ananda bhairavi – miSra cApu
03. tyAgarAja pAlayASumAm (R) – gowLai – Adi
04. vENugAna lOlunigala (R, N @ vigasita pankajaranalu, S) – kEdAragowLa – rUpakam
05. vA vElava – tAnarUpi – khaNDa cApu
06. dhAriNi (S @ pallavi, T) – shudda sAvEri - Adi
07. tAyai ezhai – bhairavi – Adi
08. rAgam tAnam pallavi – pUrvikalyANi – khaNDa tripuTa (samam + ½ eDuppu)
pallavi: kANAmal vINilE kAlam kazhittOm sEzhADar pOTRum tillai
rAgamAliga swaras in mALavi, shudda dhanyAsi, prIyadarSini, nAgavaLLi, jOg
09. kANa vENDum – suruTTi – miSra cApu
10. vruttam in kAmbOji, kAnaDa, mOhanam, and senchuruTTi followed by tiruppugazh (?)
11. tillAna – sindhu bhairavi – Adi – MDR
12. nI nAma rUpamulaku (mangaLam) – sowrASTRam – Adi

The concert started with a nice rendition of the sahAna varNam with the pUrvAngam sung in two speeds. As I’ve noted before, the varNam has some N-G jumps that give it an almost nArAyaNagowlai elegance. Sanjay then took up marivEragati, and it was awful. He didn’t bring any of the bhAvam of Ananda bhairavi and sang it in a rather aggressive manner with excessive vocal theatrics. But I have honestly been less than impressed with most vocal renditions of this krithi. To me, instrumentalists like MSG and TNK are able to convey the bhAvam of the composition much better. However, Sanjay’s kalpanaswaras were downright horrible – there was absolutely no gentleness and melody in what he was singing. In particular, patterns like SP,MGRS in the upper octave were crude and chewed up any remaining life in the presentation of this ragam. The gowLai that followed that was decent but I was still smarting from the Ananda bhairavi. It had a unique accent on the madhyamam in phrases like RGM,,,,RS, and the N3 conclusion was well done. Sanjay’s kEdAragowLa alapanai was fair but completely hackneyed, and he was delivering – or attempting in vain to deliver – ragas like Ananda bhairavi and kEdAragowLa when in an exuberant mood fit for...kadanakutUkalam? But the choice of ragas definitely was in stark contrast to his demeanour on stage. He picked the beautiful vENugAnalOluni and sang it with almost none of the softness with which TSK used to render this krithi (I picked TSK because my all time favourite rendition of this krithi is by him and MSG – what sweetness and gentleness there is in that recording!). Oh, but his singing of the word “kAvalanE” was really beautiful each time. The neraval was noteworthy for the second speed sequences that Sanjay seemed to be shouting and not singing. Again, the loud volume where I sitting may have amplified his exuberance manifold, but I’m not absolving him. The concert soon reached its absolute minimum with the dhArini main – the swaras were everlasting, loud, and frankly obnoxious. There was no musical value in what effectively reduced to a can-I-shout-louder-than-you-can-bang-the-drums competition between Sanjay and Neyveli Venkatesh. I call it a tie. The thani that followed rivalled Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan’s for loudest of the season. There may be a tie there as well, given the important allowance for TV’s thani being played in a much smaller hall.

I was contemplating leaving after the thani, but decided to get my money’s worth and stayed. The pUrvikalyANi RTP was good in patches. The rAgam flowed beautifully and Sanjay sang his heart out. However, he let his imagination get the better of him and some of the panchamam-less phrases smacked of hamsAnandi. Additionally, I was disappointed by his excessive Hindusthani-isation of a classical rAgam – plain notes came in plenty. Having listened to a brilliant mInAkSi mEmudam from TNK just two days before, I found the singing cheap rather than creative. The alapanai did have its moments, though, like that lovely stay at N3 while ascending to the tAra shadjam for the kArvai. The tAnam was very well executed, as well, but I generally love Sanjay’s tAnams anyhow. The tAnam was classical and brisk and didn’t have too many alapanai phrases. The pallavi was nice but the inevitable ragamaliga swaras were boring for the most part because I couldn’t relate to most of these ragas. The mALavi was very beautiful, however.

The vruttam that came at the end of the concert was by far the highlight of the concert.

Neyveli Venkatesh’s accompaniment was loud. I have nothing more to say. If there was any artistry, it was sufficiently submerged in noise.

Varadarajan was great on the violin as he always is, and his responses were generally much better than Sanjay’s. His tAnam responses were nothing short of brilliant. However, in an effort to be faithful to the main artiste, his rAgam, too, came with all the flat notes and Hindusthani phrases.

Smt. Vedavalli and Sri. Sanjay effectively demonstrated in one day the ocean that lies between a quiet legend and a loud MASTER.

(Disclaimer: Just MY opinion.)

For someone who doesn't the difference between purvikalyani and pantuvarali, you have some nerve to write a review. I suggest you get a review on your fundamentals done before you start criticizing musicians who probably a little more than you.

[sureshvv]

Please use quote feature judiciously. No need to quote entire post. Just adds clutter to your response.

OK.. Lets see how it's done...

For someone who doesn't the difference between purvikalyani and pantuvarali,

Are you trying to say that Sanjay sang the RTP in pantuvarali?

(Disclaimer: Just MY opinion.)

Hope you did not miss the above in your hurry to post.

[anonymityatlast]

For someone who doesn't the difference between purvikalyani and pantuvarali, you have some nerve to write a review.

I wasn't there at the concert, but indeed, the responsibility to bring out the difference is shared by the musician too.

[bilahari]

Thank you for clarifying, ananthapuram. Indeed, most of us sitting in my row thought it was PK all along.

And yes, I do have plenty of nerve.

[sureshvv]

I wasn't there at the concert, but indeed, the responsibility to bring out the difference is shared by the musician too.

Or not!

Primary focus is to present an interesting and enjoyable concert. May be he presented an elaborate conundrum to sharpen the audience concentration. Wish I had been there

[anonymityatlast]

Primary focus is to present an interesting and enjoyable concert. May be he presented an elaborate conundrum to sharpen the audience concentration

OK. You believe in relaxed standards for both musicians and reviewers (who admit it's just their opinion), which is fine. As long as there are no double standards, it's all right.

[behag]

personally, as i said before, i enjoyed the concert. and its true, it was quite unlike the previous day's concert at krishna gana sabha which was very gentle and melodious. this was full of fireworks and sparks - sanjay seemed excited and was trying to do something different which apparently didn't go down well in some quarters.

but a review is an opinion, and every one is entitled to have his own unless he actually has a malicious bias against an artiste. as far as i know from my limited time on the forum, bilahari is not that kind of reviewer!

[HarishankarK]

Smt. Vedavalli and Sri. Sanjay effectively demonstrated in one day the ocean that lies between a quiet legend and a loud MASTER.

(Disclaimer: Just MY opinion.)[/quote]

From whatever little i have heard of Sanjay's music have always felt that there is a lack of bhavam which is most important in our music.
When you listen to musicians like Sowmya, Suryaprakash, Vijay Siva, Gayathri Venkataraghavan etc (who are Sanjay's contemporaries), i cannot regard him as the Master. If having a huge reportoire of krithis alone makes one a Master, then maybe he could be. Again this is my opinion.

[Nick H]

Keep up the nerve, Bilahari!

It's amazing that people come here, to our music forum, to complain about the fact that we ...talk about music!

[narayan]

But was it Poorvikalyani or Pantuvarali? This cannot be ambiguous. I'm ok to debates about Poorvikalyani vs Gamakakriya and about what to call Pantuvarali, but not confusion between PK and PV. Can we get a third umpire or something and resolve this?!

[behag]

Smt. Vedavalli and Sri. Sanjay effectively demonstrated in one day the ocean that lies between a quiet legend and a loud MASTER.

(Disclaimer: Just MY opinion.)

i always felt that there is a lot of intensity and emotion in his music which is one reason why i like him. for lack of a better way of putting it he is not steeped in in a particular kind of religiosity ( either in speech or his music) and i think some people have problems dealing with a very modern musician.

he may give a few concerts that don't appeal to everyone, but he is certainly one of our own appealing and erudite musicians.

[sridrect]

I am not an expert, but I had noted it down as Pantuvarali and also had checked with a few other rasikas at the venue.

As regarding the comment posted on Bhavam, the person has admitted that he not listed to Sanjay much. There lies the problem. His Vazhi Maraithirrukudhu from the TILLAI CD moved me so much (that was the time I started listening to Sanjay 2004) that I googled and visited the temple TIRUPUNGUR (near Mayavaram).

Carnatic vocal musicians all have different styles. Someone made a long critical review about sound. All the music halls have very bad acoustics, except for Academy. If you define Sanjay as loud wait I until you hear AS and NM.

Some of the musicians who have been mentioned (in my opinion) have very thin voice, stick to sampradhayam and very methodical in singing.

As always this is just my opinion..

[bilahari]

Come, come, let's not crib about Sanjay. His vruttam in sahAna and tunbam nErgayil on Youtube are sufficient proof of his ability to emote. Let's move on - how about a report on the KGS concert, preferably by someone who can ID ragas better than me?

[prasanna]

I was quite sure that is was panthuvarali while listening to it.

[behag]

Come, come, let's not crib about Sanjay.

ha ha, aren't YOU the one who's cribbing?

[arasi]

We talk of 'off days' for artistes--knowing well that musicians can't deliver hundred percent every time they perform: voice, sound system, accompaniments, organizers, their mood that day and several other things play a part.
Now for the rasikAs, we have different preferences too.
Bilahari does say that he's a Sanjay fan. Every fan does not appreciate the same aspects of a performer's singing. Of course not. Being a fan myself, I've been to several of his concerts this year. Things which struck me about this year's concerts were: his voice was in fine shape (no throat concerns as he had last year). He's exploring the rAgAs even more now. He's not a beginner to sing pv as pk or the other way round. I am no expert, but I do feel that the way Sanjay approaches the rAgAs is that there is so much more in them than meets the eye. Many rAgAs are inexhaustible and how many years is it going to take for musicians to fully explore them? How many musicians do it wholeheartedly, anyway? Traditional singing is to be applauded but singing with a safety net (familiar krutis, rAgAs, not venturing deep into even traditional rAGAs) is something many performers like to stick to. That's the reason we rasikAs go to listen to different musicians who all have their own brand of singing.
Sanjay without bhAvam? That's somthing I cannot understand. To me, bhAvam comes from the depth of one's own living with music--which is not the same as with sweet singing voices (even the superficial ones we hear in films), with emotive rAgams and fine lyrics which may also appeal to us. Again, in my view, even when Sanjay fudges words, you do not cease hearing the bhAvam of the lyrics and of the rAgam.
Another interesting thing I felt this year was that each of his concerts that I went to had a dfferent texture to it. As for those who frown upon his taking up unknown rAgams for RTPs, they would have been happy because he stuck mostly mostly to traditional rAgams.
Bilahari,
Once again, you would have been very happy withthe other concerts I attended. We love your reviews, and if I were as young AND erudite as you are, I would perhaps have been a hot-headed damsel too
Being a tamizh songs buff, I went to the tamizhisai concert (with a traditional kAmbOdi RTP). The concert pleased me no end but another Sanjay fan I know did not appreciate it that much. Was it because for him telugu and sanskrit songs are a must to make a concert come live?
lOkO bhinna ruchi

[grsastrigal]

To make things lighter, let me have the following: See the humourous Sanjay ???!!!

Myself, Mah.Srinivasan and Ganesh Vishwanathan and Sanjay with his wife met in a function and there are few jokes (would come in hilarity !!!)

Once Mah.Vishwanatha Iyer saw SSI covering his head with a woolen blanket (kambili in Tamil) and asked the reason. SSI replied-
Tondaikkaga, Iam covering (to protect the throat) for which
MVI replied- "Namakkellam edu adu" (do we have that ??). In tamil, you
like this very much.

Mah Santhanam was singing Gangeyabhooshani ragam with Nagai in return.
After finishing ragam, he did not give Nagai in violin. Nagain asked the reason after that. Mah.S replied- when I sang, "ellorum ennannu puriyama muzhichchindu irunda", if I give you violin, "ava innum mosama poiruppa"
(pardon non-tamilians..)

[sridrect]

arasi --- You had hit the nail on the head. SAFETY net singing.

That is precisely my problem with all other singers except my MASTER. I am not an expert in CM but since 2004, ever since I attented his TILLAI concert for JAYA TV and listened to his TILLAI CD, there is only one style and one voice that rings in me.

The YouTube peices on PETRA THAI THANAI viruttam and THUNBHAM NERGAIYIL are so much soaked in Bhavam, emotion, bhakthi it is difficult to understand when someone says there is no bhavam.

They should try listening to Priya sisters singing PETRA THAI THANAI (YouTube) and see how safety net operates. Add to boot they sing from books with one eye on the paper in front. How will emotion come out, if you are totally focussed on the paper ????.

I am glad that I found my MASTER and his and ONLY his music gives me the bliss. So PERIOD................!!!

[sridrect]

The RTP indeed was PANTUVARALI !!!! 100% confirmed !!!

[sureshvv]

From whatever little i have heard of Sanjay's music have always felt that there is a lack of bhavam which is most important in our music.
When you listen to musicians like Sowmya, Suryaprakash, Vijay Siva, Gayathri Venkataraghavan etc (who are Sanjay's contemporaries), i cannot regard him as the Master. If having a huge reportoire of krithis alone makes one a Master, then maybe he could be. Again this is my opinion.

Cool... Keep listening and lets talk in a few years!

[barrakooka]

In the Raga Ranjani CD, Dr.Pinankapani said "you have to give highest quality of music to please the layman". Woohoo, I'm still in the layman category and probably thats why I dont find all music pleasing . So here goes my view.

I did not attend this concert but attended 4 other concerts of Sanjay this season, and also some of his music earlier. I felt that Sanjay does have a lot of bhavam, though not always. Sometimes when I listen to some song sung by Sanjay and then listen to the version of yesteryear masters, I have felt that Sanjay's rendition did not carry that much bhavam, but that was only for that song that particular time. Interestingly, I have felt the other way too . Sometimes Sanjay's rendition is much more pleasing to hear compared to other yesteryear masters render the same. I'm not able to exactly point out what missing in this version or that version, but then bhavam by itself is very subjective. I attended concerts of few other actively performing musicians this year (who are also much appreciated among rasikas), and people sitting next to me were appreciating the alapanai like anything but I was not able to appreciate it as the singer neither seemed to engage him/herself fully nor engage the audience fully. There are just a few popular ragams that I can identify, so I dont have anything to look out for in the raga alapanai technically. That way I find Sanjay and Malladi brothers too good.There have been cases where I felt a particular alapani or song by Sanjay had too many gimmicks that killed the alapani or song but still it gets reviewed here as a stellar one. That would have to do either with my taste or lack of gnanam.

One more thing I like about Sanjay is that I feel he gives importance to lyrics as well. Not all yesteryear vidwans seem to have have done that. Here goes a statement from Semmangudi.
"The older generation of musicians were very orthodox, and their singing touched people's hearts. Some of them may not have laid much emphasis on the sahitya and may have even mispronounced a word or two, but they had substance, weight and depth of music."

I cant talk about innovation or manodharmam in his music as I dont know about those concepts anyway, but his concerts usually seem to be more captivating than others.

Finally, with regards to mention of music academy that the sound system is excellent, I totally agree, but then I'm not able to enjoy even excellent concerts at academy. This is because audience there there seem to be talking constantly. This is also the case with a couple of other places I attended but then I thought so much musically inclined rasikas come to music academy that there'll be no disturbance, but here it seems to be worse. The best ticket seems to be the stage tickets, there'll not be much noise since the artist may get disturbed. In MCTM school, when I listened to sanjay's concert, someone in the front row seems to have made some noise that Nagai Muralidharan imm'ly turned back towards and they stopped doing that. When I did the same thing in music academy, they stared back at me and continued doing their important work lol. Enough of my rant.

[gardabha_gana]

I attended Sanjay's MA concert and Vedavalli's MA concert - and I loved them both for different reasons. Bilahari, I think it's unfair to compare the two - one is probably in the earlier part of his career and the other in the latter part. Sanjay can have bad days - and to be honest, Sanjay is one of the performers whom I didn't have problems identifying ragas at all - be it his PK (yes Poorvi Kalyani) , YK, Surutti or Bhairavi at MA or even his ragamalikas. I usually don't get the ragamalikas easily as I need time to digest a raga especially the non-big ones. Maybe he had an off day. I noticed arasi saying she is no expert which made me wonder who is an expert

[kunthalavarali]

I am surprised to read a review bitterly criticizing Sanjay's concert. Sanjay sang PV_RTP for an hour (long enough for identifying the raga!). In fact I never thought that PV could be sung so elaborately. When Sanjay stayed on nishadham for what looked like eternity and seamlessly moved to tara shadjamam Kalarasana went into raptures.

[vasanthakokilam]

I'm not able to enjoy even excellent concerts at academy. This is because audience there there seem to be talking constantly. This is also the case with a couple of other places I attended .... Enough of my rant.

Let me continue my related rant just a little bit. There was this person two seats from me at the MA ( not Sanjay concert ) who was nursing a major running nose situation. Imagine the sounds produced in various octaves at different kalapramanams in the management of that condition. It would not have bothered me that much if all he did was listen to the music but the entire time he was there, he was focused on solving Sudoku puzzles. Fortunately, he left mid-way through the concert.

There were a couple of other such incidents, but on the whole the audience behavior was tolerable.

[narayan]

The alapanai did have its moments, though, like that lovely stay at N3 while ascending to the tAra shadjam for the kArvai.

bilahari, whatever else it could have been, purvikalyani would not have permitted a 'lovely stay at N3' - not when ascending to shadjam. That should have decided it for you.

[bilahari]

Thanks, narayan. I have no fondness for PK and PV and generally avoid listening to them or switch off in concerts. I just looked up the scale for PK - that should have indeed made it obvious. I will have to buck up and learn to distinguish between PK and PV this new year!

[vasanthakokilam]

We probably need a separate thread for the PK vs PV distinction. We will split the posts as necessary. In the mean time, though there are enough differences in scale ( D2 vs D1 and lack of N3 in PK and distinct P D P S in PK ), why do they sound similar to those who do not know all these technicalities? Is that because they are they very similar rasA wise? Also, do they both have significant sancharams in the pUrvAngam? What immediate clues exist ( that are not based on swaras and prayogas ) to distinguish between the two?

[sureshvv]

bilahari, whatever else it could have been, purvikalyani would not have permitted a 'lovely stay at N3' - not when ascending to shadjam. That should have decided it for you.

Good catch

[behag]

noticed that the concert can now be downloaded at sangeethapriya

Album ID02-C0190