Sanjay - SRLKM - Samaja - Bangalore - 6th Feb

[gardabha_gana]

Vid. Sanjay Subrahmanyam
Vid. Avaneeswaram S.R. Vinu
Vid. Mannargudi Easwaran
Vid. Venkataramanan - Khanjari

1. Neranammithi - Kaanada - Varnam - Ata
2. Mallari - GambiraNatta - Khanda Triputa(?)
3. Parama Pavani - Atana - Adi (R, S)
4. Yenna Ganu - Pantu Varali - Rupakam (R, N)
Neraval @ Rama Rama Rama Yenutsu
5. Manam Vaitu arul Ta Sundari - Sankarabaranam - Adi (R, S, T)
6. Ninna Nambide - Mukhari - Adi (Sketch)
7. RTP - Kaanada
Tanam in Kaanada, Kambodhi, Janaranjani, Abheri
Pallavi - Sri Rama Ravi Kulabdhi Soma Sujana Manobdhi Rama - Khanda Jathi Triputa
8. Speech (Short and nice)
9. Modi Jeseve - Javali - Kamas - Adi
10. Vanna Maadangal Tiruvottiyur - Periya Azhwar Pasuram - Ragamalika - (Mohanam, Hamsanandi, Suruti) - Adi
11. Thumbam Neragayil - Desh- Adi
12. Dhanashree Tillana - Adi
13. Pavamana - Sowrashtram - Adi

Quick list. Well balanced excellent concert as usual from Sanjay. More later...

[squims]

I was there from the beginning of Kamavardhani violin aalaapani till the end of RTP. Was very enjoyable.

[mahavishnu]

Thanks for the song list.
#9 is probably mODi jEsEvElara by Pattabhiramayya. And yes 11 is in Desh (as tuned by Dhandapani Desigar).

[Lakshman]

# 5 is by Anai Ayya.

[Sundara Rajan]

#5 is more likely "manam vaitharuL" rather than mAnam. Lakshman may correct,if he has access to the lyrics.

[badari]

Complete list is here....

01 nera nammithinayya VarNa kAnada k Ata pUchi shrInivAsa iyengAr
02 mallAri gambhIranATa khaNDa tripuTa
03 aTANA Alapana followed by parama pAvani mAmava aTANa Adhi aNNAsAmi shAsthry
04 pantuvarALi Alapana followed by enna gAnu rAma bhajana kAmavarDhini rUpaka bhadhrAchala rAmadhAsa
05 shaNkarAbharaNa Alapana followed by manam vaittu aruL tA sundari varadAyaki shaNkarAbharaNa Adi Anai Ayya
followed by Tani
06 ninna nambide nIraja shyAma mukhAri purandara dhAsa
07 rAga kAnaDa,
tAna kAnaDa kAmbOdhi janaranjani AbhEri
pallavi kAnaDa khanDa tripuTa+1 beat eDupu 2kaLai
08 mODi jEsevElara nA idukada jAvaLi khamAs Adi Pattabhiramayya
09 Vanna madangal shuzh tirukkottiyur kAnaDa hamsAnandi suraTi Adi Periyazhvar
10 tumbam nErkayil dEsh Bharatidasan
11 gidu na dhiku thillAna dhanashrI Adhi swAthi thirunAL
12 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

[arasi]

9: vaNNa mADangaL sUzh thirukkOTTiyUr in mOhanam, hamsAnandi and suraTi

[gardabha_gana]

Thanks Badari for the corrections.

After a fairly long hiatus - this being my first concert this year in Blr - I decided to go to Sanjay's concert. I arrived 30 minutes early to find all seats "reserved" by neighbors with pamphlets, handkerchiefs etc. Luckily, one mami obliged me saying that the person for whom the reservation was done would not show up I was so scared that I would lose my seat - though it was in the back - I could not even go out and enjoy the bajji

It was refreshing to see someone other than Varadarajan/Neyveli Venkatesh accompanying Sanjay. Before I get flamed, I am a fan of the two. However, I echo a recent article in the Hindu that Sabhas no longer have a say in the accompanists I look forward to Sanjay's varnams - as he has a tendency to sing beautiful traditional rare varnams (even varnams have become rare these days), but when he started with the kaanada varnam - it was a temporary bummer, as he traditionally sang the RTP in Kaanada. He sang a beautiful mallari - rarely heard these days (nadaswarams are particularly rare in bangalore), probably owing to his Sembanarkoil connection. Nice to see a well planned concert, with beautiful raga selection. Sanjay fits in everything and with interesting formats - some songs with neraval w/o swaras (PV) and swaras w/o neraval (SB) I haven't heard Pantuvarali and SB back-to-back! RTP was electrifying. The only peeve I have is that there were no songs of the trinity :

Violin accompaniment was nice - was the volume high intentionally when he played solo ? The Tani was well appreciated by Sanjay and the audience (sorry I am a shoonyam in laya - maybe someday....) and overall a very satisfying concert. Guess the format was very different from one the day earlier.

[gardabha_gana]

arasi ma'm - didn't know you were there. Are you coming on Friday? Hopefully it will not be that crowded.

[arasi]

gardabha gana,
Missed seeing you yesterday. Badari too. Braindrain not in town? Friday, I'm afraid I can't make it...

Yes, the varNam was presented finely chiseled--as expected.Also, hearing the mallari after oh, such a long time was a surprise and was a dramatic opening for what was to come--a solid concert.The aTANa (parama pAvani) sparkled. The chiluka (parrot) repeating rAma nAma in neraval was a delight in ennagAnu rAma bhajana. The mukhAri sketch of a rAga followed by the dAsara pada, though short was very pleasing.
A pallavi starting with kAnaDA was true to tradition (varNam the same as rAgA for pallavi). The janaranjani and AbhEri and kAmbOdi (an eternal favorite) made it a top notch RTP for me. Had it been in SankarAbharaNam (which Sanjay also sang as a main so well) or in Bhairavi, it would have been too traditional for my taste perhaps??
Neela Ramgopal had whetted my appetite for a rare rAgA RTP by singing a fine RishabhapriyA earlier in the spring season. Perhaps I was looking for another such one from Sanjay. But that kAnaDa combo didn't disappoint at all.
AzhvArs left us with an ocean of beautiful lyrical poetry. vaNNa mADangaL and the verses which followed appeal to me no end in their rich visual imagery.
As for the Trinity songs, which Sanjay sings in almost all of his concerts, enna gAnu rAma bhajana is so T like, that as a child, I did think that it was his composition (not being aware of his mudhrA missing in the song!). I don't think Sanjay goes without including a few of the Trinity compositions in most concerts--but the point is, if you just choose to sing mostly their compositions, how are we going to hear other beautiful ones like that Anai Ayya's composition?
Also, perhaps in his two concerts a few days ago in Mumbai he sang several of T, MD and SS's krutis and needed a change?!

As for accompanists, Sanjay does have different instrumentalists. In last year's festival, it
was Nagai Muralidharan on the violin. Nagai Sriram, M.A.Sundaresan, Nagaraj, Manjunath, mysore Srikanth and Sanjeev also come to mind. Have heard Vinu several times in recent years and his playing has a lot of bhAvam.

Sanjay also has many different percussionists accompanying him.
Being laya SUnyam numero uno doesn't stop me from enjoying the playing of percussionists--in my own ignorant way Easwaran perhaps tops my list of mrudangam players. His dexterity and expert soft strokes please me no end because even the best among them falls prey to an occasional 'noise monging'.
I like Venkatraman's khanjari playing always, but yesterday he excelled, in my view.

All in all, since my indulgence in music is coming to a close with my stay in India almost done, here was a concert for me yesterday to take back home along with many others, as the bounty that God has been granting me in the form of life-sustaining music.

[annamalai]

However, I echo a recent article in the Hindu that Sabhas no longer have a say in the accompanists

Interesting quibble from sabhanayakas ! It is good to listen to artists with different accompaniments.

[braindrain]

Braindrain not in town?

In town and I was there too.. High above the ground, with a "Balcony Ticket" of the (under) privileged.

Re-living old college habits of bunking the office to attend concert ( one have to leave before 5 O' clock to reach just in time for concert), I managed to reach 5 min before the start. Previous day for TMK, I did scout for a seat at the regular auditorium, before deciding to go up the stairs. I was a bit late, and had to sit on the hard, cold steps for 95% of the duration, having to lift one side of my anatomy nearly 100 times to allow people to and fro. Yesterday, having reached 5 mins before, I did not venture into the main auditorium, but straight climbed up to find few seats vacant. Hence missed most of you.

[gardabha_gana]

braindrain - ah... I looked around for you. Your blog is not updated yet... look forward to your reporting.

[espras]

Arasi has referred to the percussion artists already but I do want to add my bit to it.

To me, one of the highlights of the concert was the scintillating talavadyam accompaniment provided by the cheerful Mannargudi Easwaran and the taciturn Venkataramanan.

ME just seems to revel in the joy and pleasure of playing the mrudangam. His close support and the embellishing way of playing appeared to spur Sanjay to greater heights. Every nuance was well anticipated. The camaraderie and the lighthearted rapport between them were very noticeable. And, it was heartening to see ME urging and encouraging Venkataramanan every so often to show more of his mettle on the khanjari.

As SRLKM’s Krishna Prasad noted, the RTP lasted a good fifty minutes, a feature that in not seen in many concerts these days.

Although any of the Trinity’s compositions did not find a place in the concert, Swathi Tirunal’s did, in the form of the Dhanashri tillana. Aptly, Prince Rama Varma was in attendance at the concert.

S. Prasanna.

[badari]

@ Arasi Mami: You have the previlage to be there on time and get an invitee seat which im not fortunate. I came in at 4.45 and occupied the 5th row of general public class

[arasi]

Badari,
I was there well before the concert started and socialized a bit too!

Fifth row in the 'general public class' as you put it would have been an enviable seat for me in earlier years
Let's put it this way: I have earned it now after so many years of arriving early and not finding a decent seat. This was as an invitee--by contributing (as most invitees do). The sabhA uses the contributions in sponsoring concerts. The businesses are not the sole contributors to musical events.

[venkatakailasam]

Shri. Sanjay Subramanyam-Mallari-GambheeraNatai...is here...

Post 70
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 3&start=50

[gardabha_gana]

http://kpjayan.wordpress.com/2013/02/07 ... na-samaja/

Here is braindrain's review

[gardabha_gana]

Have a safe trip back Arasi m'am. I really enjoyed easwaran sir's mridangam - am a big fan of his. He accompanies so well - plays so softly. Really enjoyed him accompanying Vid. Vedavalli in Nada Inbam this year. Remember him since childhood accompanying MLV! I just feel bad that I am unable to appreciate all the sabash-es (there were many of them). Wish I did - maybe some day....I really liked the SB song - never heard it before. He sang it so well. I was expecting Akshaya Linga, as it is not sung often (really like Vedavalli's rendition of it). When he started the Mukhari - I thought wow - maybe an RTP. No complaints about Kaanada

[squims]

As I mentioned earlier, I arrived almost 45 minutes late. I managed to sit on the stage, hidden behind the side boards. Was absolutely blissful to watch the interaction between all the artistes from so close.

When he started the Mukhari - I thought wow - maybe an RTP.

That's exactly what I thought as well. But I've been a bit obsessed with Kaanada in the past few weeks, and I thoroughly enjoyed the RTP.

I'll also second everyone else about Mannargudi Easwaran mama. He's one of my absolute favourites, and he didn't disappoint. I complained about a long thani during the Neela maami concert. This one was much longer. Almost 25 minutes I think, but it hardly felt like that. Was so mesmerised the whole time!

[arasi]

Agreed, and don't forget that the most likeable mrudangist in one among us at Rasikas.org! So is his brother Sam in Kiwiland who is doing well after his surgery some time ago (this I heard from his bro).

Yes, looked as though that MukhAri was the start of an RTP to me and I was eager too to hear it. And yes, that kAnaDa and company RTP was very agreeable, no doubt.

gardabha_gana,
Thanks for your good wishes. I wish I knew more about layA to fully understand the intricacies, but guess what. I enjoyed the thani and the rest of the percussion playing just as much as the experts!

Badari,
The rAgamAlikA started with mOhanam and not kAnaDa. May be you had the RTP on your mind when you typed it!

Jayan,
Good to read your review. Glad that you aren't abroad at the moment and could take in a few concerts of the spring festival.

Your review of Panthula Rama's concert at GS on your blog conveyed the content of the concert very well. I too liked that concert a lot. If it isn't too late, I would like to see it posted here at Rasikas.

[Sam Swaminathan]

"So is his brother Sam in Kiwiland who is doing well after his surgery some time ago (this I heard from his bro)"

Arasiji, thank you for your kind words. Yes, I am getting well, albeit slowly, very slowly. But getting there, I think, with God's grace and blessings of all my eldersand well wishers including yourself. I am so glad that every one likes Anna's playing. I am one of his biggest fans. I wish that Sanjay's katcheri was recorded and could be made availabe in one form or other!!

Have a safe trip back home (US?) and do make your presence felt in Rasikas forum regularly.

Regards

[mahavishnu]

Sam, glad to hear that you are better.
Prayers for your complete recovery!

[Ramam]

Sanjay's shankarabarana was more expansive than fitting to the song to follow. This was the main raaga. It was good and reminded me of TNS rendering the raaga at this venue.
The sound system electronics (mixer) used is NOT that belonging to Gayana Samaja.

[S.NAGESWARAN]

Dear Sam,

glad to hear that you are better.
Pray for your complete recovery!

Now you can read through all the letters leasuerly from the Rasikas world over
about Sri MSG [your manaseeka guru] in the three threads in the "General Discussions "

S.NAGESWARAN.
08.02.2013.

[PUNARVASU]

Shri Sam Swaminathan, glad to know that you are recovering. I pray to the Almighty that you are soon 'fit as a fiddle'' and fiddle with your fiddle.
All the best.

[Sam Swaminathan]

Sri Mahavishnu, Sri Nageswaran and Punavasu...thank you for your kind wishes and prayers. Nageswaran sir, I am reading all the reports in the three threads. Thank you to all who have made their valuable input to these threads. With kind regards

Sam

[rshankar]

Sam - great to have you back online...best wishes for a speedy recovery