Sanjay Subrahmanyan @ kalakshetra, Dec 31

[kedharam]

Sri.Sanjay Subrahmanyan
Sri. Nagai Muralidaran -violin
Sri. Srimushnam Raja Rao - mrudangam
Sri. Venkataramanan -kanjira


Begada - Intha chalamu, varnam, veenai kuppaiyer
Reethi gowlai – janani ninnu vinA, N @ dikkevarammA jagamulOna gAna , S @ tAmasamu sEyakane brOvumu, Subbaraya shastri
Chandra jyothi – shashi vadana bhakta janAvana, R, T
Neelambari – Anandavalli, ST
Huseni – nEtrandhi nErathilE neerAdUm karai thannilE, R, S, subbarama aiyyar or ghanam Krishna iyer?
RTP: nattakurinji
Thanam in nattakurinji, shanmukhapriya, hamir kalyani, suba pantuvarali
Pallavi text: “cirandha engaLadhu nAttai kurinji enbAr” in adi
Thani
Desh – dAsara nindisa bEda, PD
Darbari, poothavaLE bhuvanam padhinAnkaiyum – abirami andadhi
Kulam tharum followed by Narayananai thudippai in komalangi
Misra kamaj I think – pAyum OLi nee enakku, bharathi

I will conclude my ramblings of the season with the best concert of 2010, for me:)

Janani ninnu vinA started like nearly static meditation followed by the lyrical longing of neraval at ‘dikkevarammA jagamulOna gAna’, making the composer’s ache tangible, weaving the phrases in a continuous way by expanding the ragam and fleshing out the melody…
Chandra jyothi - while taking refuge in Chandra jyothi, sanjay presented the core elements of the raga, lingered over the dissonant notes hovering above the melodic fabric with an elusive effortlessness overcoming the limitations of a restricted tonal space inherent in a vivadi rAgam before segueing into the saint’s work ‘shashi vadana bhakta janAvana’ with impeccable articulation maintaining the purity of the composer’s ideal……

In the unruffled ten minute fantasy in Swathi thirunal’s gentle cascading Anandavalli, with its slow-march gait, sanjay played with the lyrics capturing the music’s textual and rhythmic lilt by wrenching every bit of emotion from it with a burnished ardor… this work could not have uncurled in any other way followed by the padam, “nEtrandhi nErathilE” in huseni where every musical nuance came through clearly in his subdued impassioned plea tinged with anguish and a sense of passion that lurks beneath the composition’s surface with textural transparency capturing the aching lament of the nayika…

Nattakurinji – His exhaustive interpretation was contemplative in the lower register, with his middle register providing serious melody, glided to the peak delineating the exotic range of the raga’s emotive contour …a fascinating preface to the pulsating friction filled thanam … the assiduously regulated syllables of the thanam of constantly shifting rhythmic terrain with melody lending a strand of continuity came with fine articulation, intonation and rhythmic definition with moments of haunting solitude, where the melodic cells with resonance breezed out with fantasia like flightiness while traversing both slow and fast phrases with the slow phrasings coming out with a gravitational pull at a meditative pace and the fast phrasings with an unfaltering breath control sustaining an undercurrent of poignant tension between the rhythmic pulses, navigating the polyrhythmic density of the thanam with finesse with the melodies shanmukhapriya, hamIr kalyani, and suba pantuvarali rising above the dark rumblings of the syllables like a rainbow arch …
Pallavi, with melody enveloping the text, “nAttai kurinji enbAr cirandha engaLadhu” came with a primordial allure as he toyed with the text set to chatusra triputa thalam, by indulging in textural subtlety in a gingerly way using the melody as a springboard and with Sri. Muralidaran, Sri.Raja Rao and Sri.Venkataramanan , he engaged in an intimate musical dialogue with fluidity that crested with the percussion solo where Sri. Raja Rao’s and Sri. Venkataramanan melted into each other with an effortless ease.

Year 2010 concluded with sanjay's passionate portrayal of “pAyum OLi nee enakku”, with a folksy rusticity rewarded with a standing ovation…

[rshankar]

Kedharam - Thanks for that lovely review. Of all the concerts lists and reviews that have gone up over the season, this is the one that gives me a gut-wrenching sense of loss for not having been able to listen to it. Looks like Sri Sanjay also made some changes, albeit minor, to the 'sacrosanct' paddhati - singing a padam before the RTP! I really want to hear this version of nETRandi nErattilE....having seen some poignant bharatanATyam performances of this padam, I would like to 'see' Sri Sanjay's version! By the way, wasn't the pallavi a creation of the Alathur Brothers? I thought they sang it in nATTai, kurunji and nATTaikurinji...

[arasi]

Kedharam,
The concert was a lovely finale to the year for me as well. What you lyrically describe was exactly the mood that Sanjay created. That meditative quality was present throughout the concert. Yet, the momentum in his performance wasn't lost at all. The aesthetic quality in his singing was more obvious in Kalakshetra's 'far from the madding crowd' auditorium. Nagai played so well and Srimushnam! I heard him several times this season. He did not opt for the 'noise' mode at all this year. His playing sounded beautiful to my ears--and the khanjira! I can't imagine why someone (in another thread) speaks of this instrument indifferently
To me, it is closest to one of the primordial sounds.

A pity I missed meeting you this year too! Were you another one of those who came to the Rasikas Meet incognito?

[mahavishnu]

Nice review, Kedharam.
Arasi, I agree with you on Srimushnam Raja Rao's playing. The few times I saw him this season, he was "sowkhyam" personified.

He seems to be missing in action in the Cleveland schedule this year also. I wonder why, he was such a regular.

[arunk]

Alathur Brothers sang in fully in nATakurinji only (atleast I have a AIR concert where they have sung it that way). I think TNS may have done the other variant.

Arun

[ksrimech]

KVN has sung the same pallavi in nATakuranji only.

[kedharam]

arasi, yes, the partly enclosed hall provided an illusory sense of escape far far from the madding crowd:). No, I could not come for the meet. just had time to dart in and out of concerts due to some unexpected commitments. Next year, will try to make it for sure. incognito or not

rshankar, thanks.
Yes, this was one-of-a-kind concert. The venue perhaps explains his choice “nEtrandhi nErathilE”, in which he pranced flirtatiously with the phrases riddled with angst conveying a palpable sense of the composition’s pervasive restlessness…
The evening’s most creative exercise, the RTP, I have heard in the past by many masters. I am not very sure about it’s origin. Nonetheless his interpretation with a lush blend of romantic fervor and virtuous musicianship in enriching it’s antiquity by milking for its last ounce of melody and then some and with his like-minded partners matching his ingenuity gave his work its own fresh context. We grew up with this music and it’s amazing how it still is fresh and unique in its expression…

For some insight into origins of pallavis:
http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit08192002/musicarts1.asp

[arasi]

Kedharam,
Look forward to meeting you in December.
About the pallavi line, though the rAgam is called nATTaik kuRanji or n.kuRinji, in this context, it speaks of the kind of terrain (nilam) in tamizh--other examples, pAlai, mullai. Here, it is kuRinji: engaLadu nATTaik kuRinji enbAr.
It's a nice line for a pallavi, I admit. Of course, unlike in a song, a pallavi line has not been treated seriously by vocalists in the past (after all,the form is more about rAgam and tAnam to them. Yet, it's refreshing to hear a line like this. It was great to hear from tirukkuraL: kuzhal inidu yAzh inidu enbar from Sanjay once.
Since the words in a pallavi were not given importance, anything was acceptable (like the familiar kattarikkAi.....cry of the vegetable vendor!). Was the following TNS's innovation? ambikai, jagadambikai, vaRALido?! Grammatically a bit wanting (varAL should be varugirAL but how do you bring in the rAgA name then?!).
gOvindanaDi, mukundanaDi repeated umpteen times energetically, with the mrudangist banging at the aDi (nalla aDI!) every time ised to make me jump. So, when Sanjay started singing another aDi pallavi: kandanaDi, avan enakku sondamaDi in bahudAri, I was disconcerted. To my great relief, all of his 'aDI's were softly sung and I was surprised to realize how different it was, to have a flowing line for sAhityam, though a pallavi just is a few words strung together! So, when the major part of a concert turns out to be not only R and T but is enhanced by a fine phrase of a Pallavi, who is complaining!

[lanupama]

Thanks kedharam for the review. I too loved this concert and felt it was the best way to ring in the new year! The spell that Sanjay weaved with each of his pieces was so magical that by the time the strains of PAyum OLi faded away, I even forgot the Janani ninnu vina and Anandavalli. Hence I was looking for a review of this concert almost everyday on the forum just to relive the experience! Each item he presented was a gem, to be cherished. Hope Charsur comes out with a recording of this one. Sanjay's concerts with Nagai Muralidharan on the violin are always special, but with Srimushanam Rajarao on the mridangam, the ambience as you rightly put it, the concert was a simply superb experience.

I do not post very often (almost not at all) but read most of the reviews especially if I've attended the concert - helps in reliving the experience, sometimes in identification of a ragam or something special the artiste presented which I may not have caught. Thanks to all reviewers and regular commentators (?) for that!