Sanjay Subrahmanyan @ Toronto

[kedharam]

Sanjay Subrahmanyan
Varadarajan
Venkatesh

Sahana – Evaremi bodhana, Patnam Subramania Iyer
Nattai – pallAndu pallAndu, Periazhwar
Bilahari – toli janmamuna jEyu duDuku, R, N@ rAgi pairula centa ramyamau vari molaka rAjillu nErcu naTarA, S,T
Begada – shrI mAta, MD, R
Manavathi – evaritho, T
Thodi – endu dAginADO, R, N@ alanADu kanakakashipu niNDAru, S
Thani
Kalyani – pArengum pArthAlum, composer?
RTP chandrakauns
Pallavi – manadhil Urudhi vEndUm vAkkinilE inimai vEndum, tisra triputa
Ragamalika - vishvEshvar darshan, ST
Tilang – Ramakrishna, PD
Manada mazhuvada followed by Isan anbar in kapi, PS
Desh – thunbam nergayil, Bharathidasan
Behag – reena madanutha, ST
Kamas –akhila chara chara followed by thiruvalar mayilayin, PS

A spirited opening varnam, an imposing evocation of MD, sublime Thyagaraja creations, a masterly account of thodi, technically compelling RTP with Bharathi’s uplifting anthem, a wrenching portrayal of Bharathi dasan - this was music of tradition and ideas, music inspired by masters and yet a vibrant personal style that is utterly original.

Highlights –
Sanjay opened the concert with a polished rendering of the varnam in sahana. Then he hit his stride with the stately pallAndu pallAndu of Periazhwar that has enjoyed a recent renaissance with a wonderful brio exposing the poetic explorations.

Bilahari - Sanjay offered an alluring interpretation of bilahari adding new shades to it’s palette revealing the familiar as novel with breathless abandon and Varadarajan extended the mood by expanding the melody illuminating the sonic intricacies. Then with palpable involvement, he explored the lilting ‘toli janmamuna jEyu duDuku’ entwining the reflective phrase, ‘rAgi pairula centa ramyamau vari molaka rAjillu nErcu naTarA’, veering between anguish and pathos in an intimate tango and making the profundity of the composition to come thru.

Begada – Shri mAta, playing with authority at the beauty of the composition eliciting the gravity of MD elements that runs through with great fidelity and without expressive indulgence and Venkatesh and Varadarajan partnered beautifully and played with utmost subtlety. Sanjay’s command over the composition is masterly in this piece seldom heard hereabouts followed by MLV masterpiece, evaritho in manavathi.

Thodi - As I was wondering which ragam is at the mercy of his muse, Sanjay wielding his voice with affecting power started to knead thodi with outright abandon, enliven the tried and true with fresh notes with a flowing austerity and consummate virtuosity punctuated by bursts of applause as each note lingered over lost to time and space and Varadarajan was a graceful partner skillfully mirroring Sanjay’s phrasings setting the scene for ‘endu daginadho’, a composition that abounds with lyricism and is hailed as one of his most ingenious work. Moved onto neraval at ‘alanADu kanakakashipu niNDAru’, with impressive technical skill and tonal shading in deepening the composition’s lyrical intensity by indulging in the immediacy of words, supported by Varadarajan’s and Venkatesh’s unforced and nuanced playing in bringing depth to its groove, culminating with swarams with crystalline ease. This phase was complemented by Venkatesh’s thani with crafty rhythmic riffs showing off his dexterity drawing in the listeners.

RTP
Chandrakauns unfurled with a resonant tone and pushing the limits of possibility by injecting nuances of inflection and fine articulation of each note drawing much of their exotic flavor from the ustadi codes with seamless integration of genres, giving the amalgam a nocturnal hue and Varadarajan’s strings dug into the melody lending quiet pathos in the reply.
Then his 15 minutes or so of introspective journey started in the form of thanam - the unnerving fragments of syllables over which snippets of melody unfolded with a nocturnal hush with genteel precision and Varadarajan brought an equally appealing warmth in his playing.

Pallavi – Sanjay sketched the Bharathi’s secular phrase “manadhil urudhi vEndUm vAkkinilE inimai vEndum” with technicality and musicality in equal measure with virtuosic flair in tisra triputa and with the collaborative energy of Varadarajan and Venkatesh, interweaving and bouncing off of one another combining the poetic and the philosophical conveying it’s ethos. Then he strung together ananda bhairavi, nalinakanthi, sindhubhairavi and the team traversed them from languid introspection to fevered intensity as the text came out as a chiseled declamation.

Viruttam - In the slowly treading invocation of sorts, Sanjay created a broad palette of melodies in kambhoji, saveri, mohanam, nattakurinji and kapi ebbing and flowing amid the soaring lyrical phrases of mAnAda mazhuvAda, Nataraja pattu that filled out and swelled thus turning the composer’s musings into eternal truths and you lap it up no matter your convictions - a Sanjay hallmark
And then the cathartic turn in the concert –
Bharathidasan’s ‘thunbam nergayil’, came as a wary reflection on longing with his vocal artistry steeped in conveying all of the aches with impassioned lyricism evoking stirrings of yearning and giving the imploring subtext a heft…
And behag, tilang, kamas with light-footed grace brought the concert to an exciting close eliciting a roaring applause.

[kunthalavarali]

pArengum pArthAlum is by Ganam Krishnayyar

[Lakshman]

Thanks for the super review kedharam. Sanjay was singing for himself and and not for us.
The RTP was a last minute request by a friend and Sanjay was so gracious to oblige.
pArengum pArttAlum is by Ghanam Krishna Iyer.
This is the first time I have ever heard all the stanzas of the song vishvEshvar darshan kar.

[kedharam]

Thanks kunthalavarali. He was under my radar, was not sure:)

Lakshmanji, amen to all your sentiments.
Can't sleep, still reeling under the influence of his bilahari, begada, manavathi,kalyani, thodi ....
The last time I heard toli janmamuna was in 1984 season by the She god, MLV:)
I was expecting Sree chAmuNDaeShwari pAlayamAm of Mysore Vasudevacharya and I would have been happy with that. But this one ... didn't expect. I was jumping with joy at each of his sangathi. All I can say is good things happen to those who wait. Well, make it great things happen to those who wait:):):)
VishvEshvar stanzas are set to tune by Sanjay and Murali sir I think.
I remember him singing one more piece in surutti. Do you recall? I will go thru my notes too.

[kunthalavarali]

Edukku ithanai mOdi, the Surutti (tamil) padam is by Marimutha Pillai. The ST composition vishvEshvar darshan kar was sung in sindhubhairavi, pahAdi and kosalam

[rshankar]

Edukkittanai mODi tAn umakka yendan mIdayyA came alive with vazhuvUrAr's choreography and Smt. Kamala's danicng...it's a beautiful composition, and beautiful nindA stuti

[rajeshnat]

Lji /Kedharam
Tx for your review . I particularly like the combo of detailed todi main followed by Chandrakauns RTP. It must have been a cameo and it is worth it. Toronto always rocks and kedharam goes out of the way for sanjay and i enjoy that.The parengum pArthalum is a maharajapuram vishwanatha iyer/Santhanam number?

How long was the concert exclusive of any speech(if any)?.

[arasi]

Lakshman,
When 'he was singing for himself', it reached all of you in the audience, it seems!

Kedharam shares his experience, and thanks for all that it brings us--the concert in a nutshell, all its rasAs intact.

Still, I wish I were there--more so because I could have met you, Pasupathy and other rasikAs...

What were the rAgAs in viSvESvar darSan? I forget. The old sindhu bhairavi tuning for this song wasn't very appealing to me. This version is much better. It is a fine ST song, when all its verses are sung.

[kedharam]

Thanks, rshankar and kunthalavarali for the info on the surutti piece.
I have been binging on that padam. I missed a part of the lyrics in my notes. Thanks for the link again.

rajeshnat, my dad used to say that it is from MVI family. Not 100% sure.
The concert was for 4 full hours.

arasi, the ragams are sindubhairavi, pahadi and kosalam

[vasanthakokilam]

>All I can say is good things happen to those who wait. Well, make it great things happen to those who wait:):):)

And for those who travel

I recall MLV's 'toli janmamuna ' as well, from a concert recording

Thanks for the review Kedharam.

[kedharam]

Oh, the joy of being old I can scream from the top of my roof, “I heard it live” and who cares abt being a balding and blinding man 

So sorry VK, simply couldn’t resist 

[vasanthakokilam]

Ah..where is that jealousy and envy emoticon

In spite of sharing with you in that joy it just occurred to me that I have never heard MSS, MLV or DKP live.

[kedharam]

Well, you have the youth going for you Where is that jealousy emoticon when I need it At the end of the day things even out as Seinfeld says

Can’t believe I am taunting our hero like this
 


[arasi]

Bald I am not, getting blind I am, and I can't get on the roof (how do you manage that?).

I am glad the jealousy emoticon is not easy to find. Make it unavailable, I would say. Not just the emoticon but the feelings which go with it Also, it takes all the joy out of our lives. Isn't it true?

[karthit]

Thanks to Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Varadarajan Santhanam and Neyveli B Venkatesh for an absolutely exhilarating, delightful and memorable 4 hour concert at Toronto as a fitting finale for the Tyagaraja festival here, after 6 long years!! And that has been almost how long since I wrote my observations for any concert on rasikas as well except for a few of Abhishek!

The Chief Guest for the concluding event was none other than the Consul General Of India in Canada, Mr. Akhilesh Mishra!! He gave an interesting speech initially and the organizers then mentioned that he would be there for 30 min or so for the concert and would have to leave for another event. Interestingly, he actually left only during the Thani!!! Before leaving he specifically had words of great appreciation to convey to the artists. Later the organizers announced that he had mentioned before leaving that he enjoyed the music so much that even though his assistant was constantly texting him that he was late for the next event, he did not feel like getting up from the concert! Not to forget that he is a North Indian and would probably not have had much exposure to Carnatic music before. I think that summarizes everything about the concert!!!!

Talking about the concert, to begin, Sanjay's voice was in top form. When he started the Divya Prabandham in Nattai was not sure if it was the right second piece for a concert. But the glory of Nattai was so beautifully depicted in this piece, that it has been constantly ringing in my ears!!! The ending phrase "Paanchajanyamum Pallaandu" was a sheer delight.

Bilahari was brief but flawless and the Tyagaraja krithi Tholijanma was sheer joy!

Begada is one of Sanjay's very powerful "weapons", case in point being the 1999 Charsur concert album with Mysore Nagaraj and Karaikudi Mani and many more. This Begada rendition was more complete than ever, showcasing such melodious phrases and those hardly explored sweet spots!!

The krithi rendered in Manavathi, one of Tyagaraja's masterpieces, left me in an absolute daze!! Perfect tempo, a meditative raga, sruti suddham and crisp pronunciation of powerful lyrics, just couldn't ask for anything more!!

Thodi was really really the highlight of the day!!! This is my 25th year of listening to Sanjay and I have no idea how many Thodis I have heard of his but this one was very special. Alapanas need not be long for one to feel it was a good rendition, just a few min of showing the richest aspects of the raga is more than enough. Singing across 3 octaves, holding onto higher Shadjamam for several seconds, etching the contour of the raga very graciously, tapping those "gold spots", he just made it a blissful Thodi experience. It was a raga delineation filled with continuos moments of brilliance. The response on the violin was simply extraordinary.
The swara sancharas were also very entertaining with aksharas being split in all combinations!

Chandrakauns is one those ragas which evokes strong emotions and it was a blessing to hear an RTP in that raga. The pallavi lyrics are soaked rich with meaning. Just an absolutely perfect blend.

Rest of the concert was also highly enjoyable including the last piece on Lord Kapali!

Last but not the least, every piece sounded so good because Neyveli Venkatesh and Varadarajan played so synchronously with the vocalist to emphasize the right parts at the right moments!! This is a brilliant team!!!

[kedharam]

“The Chief Guest for the concluding event was none other than the Consul General Of India in Canada, Mr. Akhilesh Mishra!! He gave an interesting speech initially”

Please pardon my ignorance, some of us had no idea who this gentleman was. He lectured for 15 minutes abt Canadian visa regulation, number of work permits being issued and how they will increase in future. Irrelevant info for the specific group congregated and to the artistes. This happened while the artistes were seated on the stage. We were cringing.

“Interestingly, he actually left only during the Thani!!!”

He left just when Venkatesh was abt to start thani
I rest my case as the less said the better
I didn’t want to dwell on this frivolous annoyance in my original post as I was trumped by the magnificent journey into the sublime …

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Kedharam, 1. Your expression- 'knead Todi' - just delighted me! 2. 'Parengum parthalum' was an 'old hit' of Maha. Viswanatha Iyer. He often dealt it in detail with R,N,S. 3. Viswesvara wth all charanas is a rarity in concerts.

[kedharam]

Sivaramakrishnan, thanks for affirming the fact that 'pArengum pArthAlum' is MVI property. 