Sanjay Subrahmanyan @ Atlanta

[kedharam]

Sanjay subrahmanyan
Vardarajan
Venkatesh

reethigowlai - vanajaksha , Veenai Kuppiyer
mohanam – bhavanuta, T
saveri – Sri Rajagopala, MD, R
kambhoji – Adiyenai katharuLvai, DD, N@Adiyenai katharuLvai angayarkaNNi, S
Shuba pantuvarali – enna rakshiso, PD
Gowri manohari – Sarasa sama mridu, ST, R, S
Thani
Hindolam – manusuloni, T
RTP Hamir kalyani
Pallavi – kAthiruppAn kamala kannan brindavanathE


The concert from the opening strains of varnam to the incisive rendition in kamas was an uncanny combination of experimental romanticism and classicism.
Sanjay opened the concert with the varnam in reethigowlai followed by bhava nuta with some impressive swarams. Mohanam is not my fav so happy it served as a warm up …
And Sri Rajagopala, it was… exuding MD richness swathed in sanjay’s interpretive haze allowing ample time for melodic phrases to breathe with unguarded emotionality…
He painted the vast aesthetic terrain of kambhoji with intensity, luxuriating in its colorings through expansive phrases like plucking notes out of thin air and Sri. Varadarajan continued the melody with fluidity. Next was the potent distillation of Dandapani desikar’s Adiyenai katharuLvai. Singing wistfully with an element of poetry exploiting the narrative sweep and embellishing the text at “AdiyEnai kAtharuLvAi angayarkaNNi” as he movingly unleashed impassioned phrases thus arriving at the essence of the composition and his nuances enhanced by Varadarajan’s and Venkatesh’s support displaying the perfectly honed partnership between them.
Then sanjay unrolled Enna rakshiso reckoning the yearning and the melancholy with a sense of contemplation hushing in the listeners…
Gowri manohari – Sanjay molded and shaped with an organic approach, like the opening of the layers of nesting doll, gracing it with virtuoso flourishes and Varadarajan’s solo was rich with brilliant touches. Next he tempered with Swathi thirunal’s, ‘Sarasa sama mridu’ in his inimitable style with pliant lyricism with his voice in the service of emotion followed by thani in which Venkatesh dispatched his rhythmic fluency with command.
RTP - Hamir kalyani
Savoring and ornamenting it with his carefully calibrated virtuosity with lustrous fervor showing a panoramic vista and Varadarajan countered with a meticulously nuanced rendition creating an opening to the haunting thanam. The blazing rhythmic lift off emerged from stasis with each intensely focused note taking shape in the subtle silences … sometimes subtle, often expansive with hurtling rhythmic energy in sahana and vagadeeshwari weaving a spell eliciting gasps of delight from the audience. Then he folded the text 'kAthiruppAn kamala kannan bridavanathE' in misra chapu talam into the melody with taut precision allowing the implicit longing to come through against the backdrop of poignancy, where every rhythmic detail came vibrantly making the text vivid, followed by swara ragamalika in ananda bhairavi, varali and durga with Varadarajan and Venkatesh acting like echo chambers … for the greater good:)
I will fill in the post-RTP list tomorrow.

[rajeshnat]

kedharam
Great writing , nice song list . Keep them coming.

[kedharam]

post RTP list:

Mannu pugazh – Kulasekhara Azhwar
Behag - Uppum karpooramum followed by Innamum oru thalam, marimutha pillai?
Kapi – kalilo, HMB
Mukthi alikkum – Navaroj, Gopalakrishna Bharathi
Manadhir kugandadu – sindu bhairavi, Thanjavur Sankar Iyer
Kamas – thiruvaLar mayilaiyin, composer? Papanasam Sivan?

[harimau]

post RTP list:
.....
Mandhirkugandadu – sindu bhairavi, Thanjavur Sankar Iyer
......

Yes, the song is "Mandirkuganthahu Raman Roopam".

Must be a Freudian slip due to leanings towards a certain political party! ) ) )

[kedharam]

Thanks. corrected:)
It was more of a WUI:), writing “under the influence” slip than a Freudian slip:)

[rshankar]

Yes, the song is "Mandirkuganthahu Raman Roopam".

Must be a Freudian slip due to leanings towards a certain political party! ) ) )

shouldn't it be
manadirkkugundadu - ? As far as the temple (mandir) goes, I don't suppose it can express a preference, like we mortals can...

[kunthalavarali]

kedharam,
you are right
Thiruvalar Mylaiyin iraivanin adi pani is a composition of PS and Innamum oru thalam is by Marimutha Pillai

[arasi]

kedharam,
If good music be your influence, write on!
mandir-s have mandis, and this one even brought out our mighty feline!

Harimau,
Good to hear from you after a spell

[rsrini080463]

The sindhubhairavi krithi is 'Manadhirku ugandadhu Murugal Roopam' by Thanjavur Sri. Sankara Iyer. Regards

[rsrini080463]

Error regretted 'Mandhirku ugandadhu Murugan Roopam'

[annamalai]

mohanam – bhavanuta, T
Mohanam is not my fav so happy it served as a warm up …

I am not a great fan of Mohanam, feels a bit soppy, but for this particular krithi, the legend has it that Bhavanutha is one of the " Mohanastram" of Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, and since most have not heard MVI in his prime, one of the best renditions of this krithi we have is by Sandhyavandanam Srinivasa Rao (disciple of MVI) along with Madras A. Kannan (Mridangam). What a rendition and fine mridangam accompaniment by Kannan, as DKJ would exclaim "rettai vedi".

[arasi]

Annamalai,
I am glad you mention Madras A.Kannan. I have heard his agreeable playing many times, eons ago. Isn't he in his nineties?

As for mOhanam, this mOhanamAna rAgam can get stale if not sung with a kind of reverence (for want of a better word) to all it's beauty. I think hearing several mOhanams in succession (as in a season) can also do this. Being such a popular rAgA too, it is taken up for tuning ever so often, from a school song to, you name it!

[kedharam]

Annamalai, my father used to echo your sentiments abt mohanam and MVI.
I think my hatred of mohanam started early - those days when we used to learn times tables set in ragams, for us it was mohanam, considered the fun way(?) to learn number patterns.
But then I melt at JagadIshvari krpai puri of Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai…may be my reverence for female empowerment:)So much for fav ragam/composition/composer/artiste:)

[arasi]

The torch bearers at Cleveland sang nArAyaNa divya nAmam of Sivan, and that's another gem in tamizh.

[annamalai]

I was reading this book Incurable Romantic on Lalgudi Jayaraman. It is interesting that LGJ mentions for the first concert that he accompanied GNB in 1949, mridangam was Madras A. Kannan.

PS: Sorry, I do not login every day !

[Sundara Rajan]

While Mohanam may not be my favorite rAga ( my favorite is karaharapriyA ), I cannot forget the Mohana raga played by flute Mali several decades ago, that still rings in my years. There is also a good recording of Mohana rAma by the VVV trio( violin, vENu, veeNa) that I often listen to.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Post # 3 and 13-kedaram --great review--keep them coming!!!

Re; your reference to Jagadeeswari(Mohanam) krithi by Tiruvarur Ramaswmay Pillai(TRP)--he also composed the Poorvikalyani krithi Ekkalathilum(a KVN favorite).,A few tidbits about TRP which you and many of the forumites may be aware of but I am known for redundancy!! So bear with me!!

TRP was one of the favorite disciples of Suddhamattalam Tambiappa Pillai of Tiruvarur. Thambiappa Pillai himself was one of Dikshitar's(MD) favorite disciples --MD composed his Navagriha krithis to alleviate Thambiappa Pilai's stomach ailment.
back to TRP--he did not have many disciples. Vazhuvur Sundara Pillai(VSP) was one such disciple--he is the father-in-law of DMK Chief MK and the father of the playback singer/principal of the Carnatic College of Music,Chennai Chidambaram S. Jayaraman. VSP's is believed to be a storehouse of MD krithis. It is a pity that there are not many disciples belonging to the family..TRP himself was very close to Sattanur panchanada iyer --the youngest disciple of MD-- Both Dhanammal and Tiruppamburam natarajasundaram Pillai(father of the Flautist Tiruppamburam Swaminatha Pilai) were disciples of Sattanur Panchanada Iyer--fondly referred to as Sattanur Ayya. As such TRP and the Dhanamal families interacted very well and we owe a great deal for the preservation of the MD krithis to these stalwarts.

It also speaks volumes for the diligence and foresight of the Great Dhanammal in 'unearthing" MD kritis or the Padams/Javalis of Dharmapuri Subbarayar,Kshetragnar et al. When one goes to such great lengths to accumulate and preserve such invaluable traditions,can anyone question the family's insistence to their disciples that they preserve the rich legacy rather than seek to "improvise" on it and distort it in the process?
Gosh!! How much have I strayed from a simple review of Sanjay's concert!! But then "sufferance is the badge of the rasikas tribe"(Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice--Shylock's lament)!!!

[cacm]

[quote="arasi"]Annamalai,
I am glad you mention Madras A.Kannan. I have heard his agreeable playing many times, eons ago. Isn't he in his nineties?

I have spent considerable time with him; In his nineties he is clear as a bell & is a treasure trove of info on the past century of CM esp the artists. You shd visit him-lives near M.A.-; Both the MMI Centenary Celebrations& Cleveland Aradhana were FORTUNATE to honour him a couple of years back....A GREAT SOUL
VKV

[kedharam]

MKR, thanks for your informative detour and historical perspective. Through our bookish knowledge we may know some facts. Nonetheless it makes a lovely reading when you connect the dots and put them in context. Thanks again.

A few years back cienu has provided the link of his mom’s ‘ekkalathilum unnai’, another TRP gem with beautiful swaraksharas.
JagadIshwari in mohanam - I have heard many times by MLV, when I used to haunt her with requests - the way she graced the melody indulging in the animated details of the beautiful swaraksharams and the citta swaram sahityam with a wondrous lilt… And then last year during the season I went for Hyderabad brothers concert. The moment he started mohanam I felt cheated. I mean here was the man who can churn out harikambhojis like nobody’s business going for mohanam…but what an unbelievable mohanam it was! Yep, it was an authentic Seshachari magic. I almost became a fan of mohanam. Well, almost:)
I had the same thought when Sanjay started mohanam - someone who can make dissonant notes of chala naatas endearingly beautiful going for mohanam! But then the meaning of the composition coupled with Sanjay’s musical brilliance that emerged with irresistible surges in the swarams with bristling rhythm and pulsing energy made it for me. Yep, he pretty much squeezed out the essence from the mohanam notes and it certainly stood on its own. And it was hard not to be swept along followed by life-affirming Sri Rajagopala and MM Desikar’s... and as they say the rest is history:)

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

kedaram: Thanks for your kind comments.Since ,my childhood I have always been curious to put every event,musical performance in a historical context--this led me to ask boldly of some of our musicians the questions that haunt me--some like SSI(Unakku Edukkada indha charchai ellam-pesama pattai kettuttu Po)-- a turn down but some like GNB will answer patiently--example--quoted in my late Father K.S,Mahadevan(Writings and reminiscences released in August 2013 on his Birth Centenary--if you are interested I would be glad to send you a copy--$10 plus $2 postage).This incident I have reported in my article on GNB(page 450). I asked him about the 4-scale raga phenomena popularised by BMK in the early fifties when BMK's star was in the ascendant and enjoying a meteoric rise) . He used Mohanam and Hamsadhwani as examples(mohanam has 1-3-5-8-10 and hamsadhwani 1-3-5-8-12 --Notice the identical 3 note interval between 5 and 8 (Andhara Ghandara and Panchama) in BOTH the ragas and also the longer 4 note interval between Panchama and kakali Nishada in Hamsadhwani.

The POINT he was trying to make was that it was not the absolute number of swaras(intervals) between the notes that made them aesthetically and melodically pleasing but how some pairs of notes lend themselves into a smooth and pleasing flight-- a factor that is lacking in 4 note ragas because the interval between some notes becomes too steep and it becomes an exercise in gymnastics and hence less scope for detailed elaboration.

Mohanam was one of GNB's favorites(as it was for LGJ)--GNB' used to sing Sree Rama Ramaneeya Manohara--Vasudevachars composition and vasudevachar himself is reported to have been so ecstatic that his composition could have this much of lilt and mlody. His own composition Sadapalaya is an example of how much he loved the raga.
Yes--my detours are prompted by my urge to link current events to a historical context or perspective. It does nothing to help develop one's good music discernment I admit but nevertheless helps --me at least--to understand
music and musicians' perspectives from their artistic pursuits.

Like her Guru MLV also was a staunch patron of modern compositions--she lent lot of weight for Tanjavur Sankara Iyer's compositions- like-Mandukku Ugandadu in Sindhubhairavi--she sang in the early eighties when Tanjavur Sankara Iyer's compositions had not gotten much traction. Yes her Jagadeeswari is a classic especially the swaraksharams in the Chittaswara as YOU rightly pointed out(If GNB had heard your description he would have said 'NEE PARAMA GYANASTHAN DA"( I presume you know tamil) !!!

keep giving us more reviews!!

[cacm]

Since MOHANAM is being discussed somewhat here I wish to share the ENTHUSIASM FOR MOHANAM by GNB, MMI, & SSI I noticed was very much based on THEIR LISTENING TO MAHARAJAPURAM VISWANATHA IYER. GNB was EXSTATIC, MMI& SSI took a MOFUSSIL BUS 90 MILES to not miss MVI'S MOHANAM and MMI was so enthralled that he mastered MANY of MVI'S MOHANAM MOVES to the extent that he went to Papanasam Sivan to FULLY UNDERSTAND SIVAN'S "KAPALI" & mastered MOHANAM to such an extent MVI called MMI "MOHANA MANI"; I still get goosebumps any time MMI RENDERS ANY MOHANAM KRITI EVEN A VARNAM LIKE NINNUKORI which TRM praised to the skies saying thats the perfect way to render it!....VKV :-BD :ymapplause:

[hnbhagavan]

Listen to MDR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDgv9-8dixs

[kedharam]

Yep, cacm, MMI kapAli, he owns it. Period.
Thanks hnbhagavan for the inimitable MDR mohanam.

MKR, thanks for your nuggets of wisdom.
Talking abt mohanam, you missed to mention GNB’s Bhuvanathraya sammOhanakara sasthAram by my heartthrob SK:):):)
Interestingly MLV famously used to start her concerts in the late 70s and 80s with the Poochi’s varnam in mohanam, ninnu kori followed by one of the Pancharathnams. Yep, Pancharathna krithi used to be her warm up! That kind of lilt she had in her voice for those daunting pieces I now feel in Pantula Rama’s.
“'NEE PARAMA GYANASTHAN DA"
The suffix “DA” i can relate to:) The rest....
Thanks folks, I concede, am a mohanam convert now:)

Here is Sanjay's Sri ramA ramani:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M-k6I6A ... C1959BCC13

[kapali]

With the discussions veering round to Mohanam, I would like to mention MMI's rendering of Nanupalimpa carries with it a unique poignancy to the mohanam ragam itself and has lifted my moods especially when I heard him recite it in the Ramanavami festivals. Of course I also get goosebumps whenever MMI renders any time mohanam.

[arasi]

kapAli, in particular!

Kedharam,
A mOhanam (rAgA and nArAyaNa divya nAmam) in Sanjay's London concert in 2006 is my pick. As I listened to Sri RamA that you had given link to, I found the two clips on the side panel. I prefer these any day. Thanks to you, I listened to them after a spell. I would say the tone of that concert (you can get a few other clips too) is similar to that of the Boston concert early this month.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Folks: Correction to my post#20--I had attributed the Mohanam Krithi Ra ra rajeevalochana to Vasudevachar. I was WRONG-- It is Pallavi Gopala Iyer's composition. I had also mixed up Vasudevachar's praise for GNB singing Brocheva with this.
Apologies--I should have checked Kedaram's song list FIRST!!!

[annamalai]

I think Sri Ramani Manohara is a pallavi gopala iyer krithi; Ra Rajeeva lochana is a Vasudevachar composition (but not heard GNB sing this krithi).

MLV has sung a lilting Mohanam - Dayarani Dayarani Dasarathi Rama. BTW, I have heard MVI also used to sing Dayarani Dayarani brilliantly, no recording available ( Santhanam has sung it in a radio concert, but very different from MLV's version).

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Annamalai;You are right--I have not heard GNB singing RaRa Rajeevalochana either- As I stated in my post I had mixed up Vasudevachar's praise of GNB singing his composition Brocheva,saying "he could not imagine his own composition having such magnificent presentation". In a similar vein Papanasam Sivan is reported to have remarked to DKJ that DKP/DKJ's singing of his krithis was equally uplifting.

Re; Dayarani TRS also used to sing this song--I first heard him in Bombay in the early sixties under the auspices of the Mysore Association--as I recall MLV's and TRS's versions were more or less the same .

[PUNARVASU]

[quote="Ramasubramanian M.K"]Annamalai;You are right-- As I stated in my post I had mixed up Vasudevachar's praise of GNB singing his composition Brocheva,saying "he could not imagine his own composition having such magnificent presentation".
Shri Mysore Vasudevachar was supposed to have remarked about MS AMMA's rendering of 'brochevarevaru' by saying that he felt like a poor father who got his daughter married into a rich family and saw her when she came to his house bedecked in all the finest jewellery.