Sanjay Subramanian-Music Academy-6.10.11

[grsastrigal]

Sanjay Subramanyan
Neyveli Venkateshi-Mridangam
Varadarajan-Violin
Venkatramanan-Ganjira
Gnjira vidwan, is the descendant of Chittoor family

Event:Sanjay Subrahmanyan has been chosen for the Indira Sivasailam Endowment Award this year. Vocalist Sudha Ragunathan was the the first recipient of this award, instituted by The Indira Sivasailam Endowment Fund in association with the Music Academy of Madras.

Sanjay, in his speech, lauded the support received from accompanying artists and rasikas and journalists. Good gesture.
Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman of TAFE and daughter of late Indira Sivasailam had presided over the function.
SRD Vaidynathan, Sanjay’s Guru was also present for the concert. Sanjay was moved by his presence on this Vijayadasami day and he expressed this in his speech.
The list goes like this:

Sabhapatikku- Abhogi- GKB
PollA puliyinum-and swaram in “pollA” MayamAlava Gowla- Papanasam Sivan
SahAna alApana for 7 min followed by “Vandanamu raghunandana”- Thyagarajar
Ahiri alApana for 3 min followed by “mAyammA”-Shyama Sastri
Ranjani rAgam for 5 min followed by “ranjani niranjani”-GNB- neraval in “sanchita pApamella” followed by swaram.
kAA vAA – varAli-Papanasam Sivan
Main-kAmboji followed “SubrahmanyAya namaste”-MD
“Vizhikkut tunai”-verse followed by “saravanabhavamenum”-Shanmugapriya-P.Sivan.
Chinnanjiru kiLiye-BharatiyAr-rAgamAlika
“PoothavaLe" verse from Abhirami Andhadhi in raag Darbari kAnada, Oorile kAni illai”-verse from pAsuram in Sindu bhairavi & Adum mayilAi-Thiru mayilai padhigam in behag-followed by kalpagambigai nee allavo-behag-P Sivan
VandarulvAi sundari manam- Behag- PattAmiramaiah
Mangalam-pavamAna & vAzhiya senthamizh.

Music academy podium was decorated with Green colour set in top and back and it was sort of “Go green”. Amazing to see so much of art work was carried out for an over 4 hours function by Sivasailam Trust. The invitation card itself showed the involvement of the team. High tea was served to all the visitors and there was a big crowd, being holiday, The hall was full at 5.30 itself and the concert started at 6.30 (After a long time 6.30 !!!!, in time)
Interestingly, a week back, Arun excello, where Sanjay performed, showing video presentation of their real estate projects before the concert and the rasikas got irritated and asked them to close the screening. Sort of Cinema theatre...news reel.....story.

No gimmicks, no tu toos, no Alattur type talakkattus, no complicated rAgas leaving the rasikas to debate- Sanjay presented another memorable concert. Few Somu “pudis” were observed in Kambodhi. Brisk Abhogi followed by fast “pollA”. He, as commented in his speech, took GNB composition and proved how he keeps GNB in high esteem.
kAmbodhi was a top class and master piece of MD (who will forget the Ariyakkudi-paramacharyAl conversation on this kriti) was rendered very well. But he finished abruptly for tani without swaram or neraval.
Violin – as senior vidwan told me once- “varadu” kku ellam “varudu” . “vArAdadhu enru onrum kidaiyadhu . kAlaiyum vAra mAttAn”. (varadarajan know everything, nothing like “unknown” and he will not let others down).
He closely followed Sanjay as “shadow” and proved him as one of the best vidwans today.

Tani is another class.

Tail piece: While Sanjay is here, his counterpart (!) TM Krishna in Jaffna and giving few concerts and was an article in “The Hindu”. The sabhas and music college nurturned by Maharajapuram Santhanam had “no takers” because of ethnic war.
When I read the article, my heart went to the jaffna rasikas who thronged to listen to TMK and showed how music is loved by them even under adverse circumstances.....

[Lakshman]

vandaruLvAi sundari manam is by Pattabhiramiah.

[sirsub11]

There is something about the Music Academy that engenders in the audience a sense of being completely enveloped, particularly if the music on offer is from the top drawer. The thread under discussion had a sense of occasion, with Sanjay being conferred the Indira Sivasailam Endowment Award. The decor may have gone slightly over the top, but it was overwhelming. The sound system was excellent.

Everything was well organised and professionally managed. The speeches in English by N.Murali and Mallika Srinivasan were appropriate in content and length. The former, while characterising Sanjay as a "superstar" of Carnatic music, likened him to Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid, and asked the audience to make up their own minds. Sanjay's reply was crisp and well thought out. Having acknowledged all his gurus by name, he also included his immediate family and friends and rasikas from everywhere. Having started in English, Sanjay smartly switched to Tamil, particularly with his guru SRD Vaidyanathan in the front row, which struck the right chord amongst the jam packed hall. Describing himself as an 'Academy boy', he seemed completely at ease while he spoke.

The concert itself was outstanding - grsastrigal has provided the song list. The tempo he maintained from start to finish was electrfying. The swarams in Mayamalava Gowlai and Ranjani were like a roller coaster ride. Sanjay sang a memorable Kambhoji alapana at the Academy in 1999. This one was not far behind. Varadarajan was just brilliant - nothing more to be said. Neyveli Venkatesh and Venkatramanan on percussion contributed hugely to the tempo I spoke about. Even the mangalam had a twist, with the traditional mangalam seguing into Vazhiya Senthamizh, capturing popular sentiment.

All in all, for me it was well worth the journey all the way from Bangalore to be at this event. Several others who did the same, thought so as well.

[grsastrigal]

Thanks - Sri sirsub11 for mentioning the Accompanying artists name- Corrected.
Lakhsman Sir- Will you please give me the lyrics of this PattAmiramaiah kriti. Is this kriti on Lord Muruga ? It was simple and very catchy.

[malavi]

Poothavale from abhirami andadi was in darbhari kanada and varadarajan s reply was excellent.for the first time heard a marvelous ranjani from sanjay in which he got a thunderous applause in the middle.on the whole the programme was an unforgettable experience for all.
When a floral decoration fell on the mike during the concert someone was saying " poomari pozhigiradu".
When one entered it was like going for a wedding reception. someone coming and asking us to have tea and snacks.while coming back ladies were given navaratri tamboolam and the basket was also in green and blue combination.Everything done in style and perfection.

[Lakshman]

vandaruLvAi sundari. rAgA: karnATakabehAg. Adi tALA.

P: vandaruLvAi sundari manam uvandu nI
A: andi pagal unranai ninaindu dinam vandikkirEn
C1: pADakam koluga tangap-padakkangaLil pAdasaram
kaND-arindAnandat-tODADiDa vEDikkaiyaip-pankajam
pOnra kaigaLil vanki kanakAngi mOdirangaLait-taritt-
ellA varangaLaik-koDuppadarkku
2: eTTu dikkilum iDaiyAip-paTTIDaiyil kaTTi ratna
meTTizhaitta oDDiyANattai vaTTamAga pOTT-enran mun
kAla kAlanAgiya shrI tAlavana lOlanukk-anu-
kUlam piDugannAyaki bAlanaip-pAlippadarkku

[sureshvv]

Sanjay might have sung this in behag. Did not sound like karnAtaka behag to my ears.

[grsastrigal]

Shri. malavi & Shri suresvv - Thanks, corrected.

Lakshman Sir - Thanks. This song of PattAbirammaiah seems weird because when it started, I thought, it is on some Goddess (Sundari). Last but one line "Shri. talavana lolan" . Who is This God ? . In the last line "brihannayaki balanai pAlippadarkku" (Sanajy sings as brihannayaki) - I thought it is Murugan.. The doubt, I had- who is the Goddess to protect/save Murugan ? (Why is there a need ? ). Could someone clear my (mis) understanding ?

[rshankar]

Sastrigal, the song is on dEvi. I agree that 'tALavana lOlar' is not clear, but she is described as someone who is friendly to him (anukUlam), and, I think, 'bAlanai' here refers to the composer - he is referring to himself as the son of the jaganmAtA, and is asking for her to come and protect him.

[arasi]

Ravi,
I think so too. There are some words which puzzle me.

My guess is:
pADagam kulunga
tangap padangaLil (golden feet) pAdasaram (anklet)
anukUlam .....?? bruhannAyaki

Wonder if his guru who graced the occasion taught this song to Sanjay.
As usual, the song list is varied and sumptuous.

Sirsub,
Bengaluru is much closer than where I live, to travel to Chennai to attend a special concert like this, and guess what, I also would have received the Vijaya daSami veTRilai pAkku to top it!

[kedharam]

“"Shri. talavana lolan" . Who is This God ?”

My understanding is Pattabhiramiah was from a town ‘Talavaneswaram’ also known as ‘Tiruppanandal’ and his compositions have the ‘Talavam’ mudra. This is one of his rare tamil composition.

[arasi]

Thanks, Kedharam, you are spot on!
Yes, tALa vanam is tiruppunandAL--and the Goddess there is bruhannAyaki (periya nAyaki), consort of aruNa jatESvarar (SenjaDaiyOn). Google helped!

tALa vanam--is it panai? So, a palmyra-palm grove?

[kvchellappa]

Tala is panai of courase. There is kakaataleeya nyaaya, which is 'kakka otkara panampazham vizhunthathu'.

[PUNARVASU]

There is another sanskrit 'rhyme' we learnt as children
kA twam bAlE
kAnchana mAlA
hastEkim tE
tALI patram
kA vA rEkhA
k,kha,g,gha.

tirppanandAL- 'pana'

[sureshvv]

you left out - "kasyaa putri, kanakalataayaa"

[arasi]

It's fun when you Sanskrit-oriented folks bring in verses for us.

Sureshvv,
Didn't realize you were well-versed in Sanskrit!

Punarvasu,
You're supposed to bring in more verses, in another thread of yours! I bet there are some delicious as 'nungu' sayings about the panai (palmyra) in Sanskrit. CML, for sure, or he will make up one of his own. You can post them in Punarvasu's thread or the KAvidaigaL thread. Even those who are hesitant about approaching the language can get familiar with sanskrit, without fear.

Sticking with the subject, it's heartening to hear vocalists sing more and more tamizh songs, particularly Bharathi's. Sanjay, while he includes songs by the Trinity and other composers in his concerts, brings in those by various tamizh composers, and does not forget the Bharathis (Subramania, Goplakrishna or SuddhAnanda).
For those of us who love song lists, Sanjay's concert lists are something to look forward to.
He often includes a dAsara pada in kannaDa, which makes the list even better.

[PUNARVASU]

sureshvv, thanks for pointing it out; in fact I was in a hurry to go out and after closing the comp; realised that I have left out a line.

[PUNARVASU]

arasi, yes, SS does take a lot of effort in planning the concerts.I really like his 'viruththam singing' in tamizh.
And about translating the 'subhashitAs', I have been busy with so many things and find it difficult to concentrate on the job. Probably I have to be better in organising things.Let me see.

[sureshvv]

I particularly did not care for the insinuation of a pasuram in the middle of verses sung in praise of Devi - seemed to create some confusing cross winds. Sanjay did this once before at the Bharat Sangeet Utsav last year and I charitably attributed it to the exigencies of catering to audience requests but this time I don't think that excuse would have been valid.

[arasi]

I see what you mean. Would it have been better if he had sung UrilEn kANi illai followed by a song on VishNu and had then moved on to pUththavaLE and ADum mayilAi, as intros to the song on Devi BruhannAyaki?
I'm all for viruttams (more than one), but the sequence makes a difference, I suppose.
The rAgams the singer was in a mood to sing might have decided the sequence in this concert.

[PUNARVASU]

I agree with sureshvv on this. AFAIK any viruththam singing is followed by a composition on the same deity(or vice versa) .Probably is is the mindset.Still I like it that way.

[rsrini080463]

Lakshman Sir / Other rasikas

Pl provide the lyrics of "Pollapuliyinum polla" krithi of Papanasam Sivan.

Thanks and Regards
Srini

[rajeshnat]

Review of this concert
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article2534305.ece