Sanjay at Shanmukhananda, Mumbai - May 12, 2007

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 13 May 2007, 08:48

Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyan - Vocal
Sri S. Varadarajan - Violin
Tanjavur Sri Ramdas - Mridangam
Tripunithura Sri V. Vasan - Ghatam
Sri Raghu - Tambura

Shanmukhananda Fine Arts Society, Mumbai - May 12, 2007

1. neranammiti [varNam] - kAnaDA - khaNDa aTa

2. shri kAnCi nAyikE - asAvEri - rUpaka

3. brOva samayamidE - gaurimanOhari - Adi [R,S]

4. lOkAvanaCaturA - bEgaDA - Adi [2] [R]

5. rAmanukku mannan muDi - hindOLam - Adi [started from anupallavi 'pAmaramE unakku']

6. bAlagOpAla pAlayAshumAm - bhairavi - Adi [2] [R,N at 'vainika gAyaka', S,T]

7. kA guhA - kOsalam - rUpaka [R sketch]

8. rAgam. tAnam.pallavi - karnATaka dEvagAndhAri - miSra CApu - 'vELLai tAmarai pUvil iruppAl, vINai sheyyum oliyil iruppAL' - rAgamAlikA swarams in varALi, nAgaswarAvaLi, sALagabhairavi. hamsAnandi

9. ADum CidambaramO - bEhAg - Adi

10. pagaivanukkaruLvAy - rAgamAlikA [mAND, jONpuri, bhImpLAs] - Adi [tisra gati]

11. orumaiyuDan [viruttam] - kAmbhOji, dhanyAsi, mOhanam, kApi

12. shaNmukhanE shiva shaNmukhanE - kApi - rUpaka

13. nijagAdasA yadunandanA - sindhubhairavi - adi [R sketch]

14. nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram -adi

Sri Sanjay delivered a cracker of a concert. Great focus, nice song selection and lovely pace were the highlights of this delectable performance.

The first two pieces were rendered well and set the stage for a beautiful gaurimanOhari. It's a difficult rAgA to handle - kIravANi and kharaharapriyA have to watch from the sidelines while the melodic identity of gaurimanOhari is established and Sanjay did an awesome job especially in the tAra sthAyi. By this time his throat had opened up and he was visibly enjoying himself. The senior vidwan Sri Vasan was egging him on and expressing his appreciation throughout the concert, and the rapport between then was wonderful to watch. A relatively scratchy violin reply preceded a brisk and powerful rendition of Garbhapurivasar's gem. A few quick rounds of sarvalaghu swarams were affixed to the pallavi line.

Sanjay comes to the concert stage and makes a sort of deal with the audience: check your musical prejudices, likes and dislikes at the door and I'll take you on a unique ride through my imagination. More often than not, it'll work splendidly, sometimes it will fall flat, but seldom will it be uninteresting. This was exemplified by his bEgaDA yesterday - his manOdharma ranged far and wide to produce an AlApanA of deep brilliance - it was truly original and even the few mis-steps that he made were while trying sanCAras so outrageously difficult that they would never even twinkle faintly in lesser musical minds. Varadarajan's bowing had settled down to it's usual mellifluous tone and his reply was equally assertive. The tyAgarAjA gem followed in a medium tempo and swarams were wisely eschewed.

A quick hindOLam set the stage for a starkly beautiful bhairavi AlApanA. Lovely kArvais and the extended tAra sthAyi exploration were the highlights. Sruti alignment and dependence on gamakas rather than excessive briga sangatis were the hallmark. Varadarajan had moved from uncertain earlier in the concert to unstoppable now. He played a gem of an AlApanA to appreciation from his fellow vidwans. bAlagOpala was rendered nicely with a no-frills niraval at 'vainika gAyaka' and swarams that focused more on the vilamba kAlA.

The tani from the veteran vidwans was short, simple and elegant. It focused mainly on the chaturAsra and tisra gatis. I was hearing Sri Ramdas for the first time and he did full justice to the Mani Iyer tradition. While his fingering doesn't look especially elegant, the effect it produces is top-class and the nAdam of his instrument is lovely. The veteran Sri Vasan is 'service with a smile' personified. Just having him on the stage must be an honor for any vidwan and he did a wonderful job during the tani.

The kOsalam piece was sung well and provided a welcome pratimadhyama interlude before a beautifully rendered karnATaka dEvagAndhAri. While Sanjay's AlApanA was exuberant and classical, it was blown away by Varadarajan who by this time was at the top of his game. Lip curled, brow furrowed, eyes narrowed, he gave it his all. Sanjay watched with a bemused and appreciative smile, while [predictably] plotting his revenge in the tAnam. He proved his mettle as one of the best in the business in this department - his essay was deep and rich in both technique and musical content. The pace slowly accelerated - a leisurely amble setting the mood, a brisk canter through the madhya sthAyi and a brigA-filled gallOp in the upper reaches. Stunning stuff.

The pallavi was a sedate and simple affair. The setup of the pallavi was as follows:

misra CApu [7 beats] - eduppu 1 aksharam before samam

vEL - 2; Lai - 1; tA - 2; ma - 1; rai - 2; pU - 2; vil - 2; i - 1.5; ru - 1.5; ppAL [arudi] - 5
vI - 2; Nai - 1; shey - 2; yum - 2; o - 1; li - 1; yil - 1; i - 1; ru - 1; ppAL - 3

Sanjay sang nice swaras for different combinations of the pallavi line i.e. at veLLai tAmarai in 1/2 speed, 1st speed and 2nd speed - the same for vINai sheyyum. The rAgamAlikA swarams were nice with sALagabhairavi being especially good.

The post-pallavi pieces were well rendered with Sanjay's viruttam singing continuing to develop brilliantly. The kAmbhOji and dhanyAsi portions of the viruttam were of soaring beauty. Could someone post the lyrics and meaning of this viruttam? The kApi piece was also rare and was sung very well.

A creative, dedicated and satisfying performance from the entire team.

meena · Post by **meena** » 13 May 2007, 09:02

ramalinga adigal tiruvartupa's :

Orumaiyudan Ninadu thirumalaradi ninaikindra
Uthamar tham uravuvendum
Ull ondru vaithu puram ondru pesuvaar
Uravu kalavaamai vendum

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 May 2007, 20:11

Prashant,
Bravo! What a review (and you would say, what a concert!). From your last line: creative, dedicated satisfying--one can expect that of Sanjay. Ditto is your review.
I am glad Ramdas gets due credit here. It took me a long time to realize how good he was. A low key player and barely talked about. Varadarajan, as good as he is, can get a bit lethargic here and there in a concert. During the season, I would put it down to 'too many engagements'. Now, I wonder if he nourishes himself well to maintain his energy level! Other than that, he is very good, indeed! Vasan, as you say, is both a presence and super performance.
Thanks for the review. You almost took us to Mumbai!

ram · Post by **ram** » 13 May 2007, 23:32

prashant,

Thanks for such a nice review. Must have been a great concert to listen to !!!! Hope Sri Sanjay performs for us Chennai-vaasis soon.

grsastrigal · Post by **grsastrigal** » 14 May 2007, 14:24

Karntaka devagandhari = Aberi. Right ? Has anyone rendered rtp in KD before ?

Is it compulsory to sing RTP in Shanmugananda ?

Normally, Vidwans who come to Mumbai will have 2-3 more concerts in Chembur Fine Arts, BARC, Ghatkopar or Westeran Mumbai. Any more reviews. ?

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 14 May 2007, 14:26

Thank you arasi and ram for your kind words. For a good concert, one is always motivated to go the extra mile and write a comprehensive review. This was definitely the case here.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 14 May 2007, 14:31

ram wrote:prashant,

Thanks for such a nice review. Must have been a great concert to listen to !!!! Hope Sri Sanjay performs for us Chennai-vaasis soon.

ram, i m to believe, there is nothing for us in madras even during next month.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 14 May 2007, 14:32

prashant, ur review as usual is too good.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 14 May 2007, 14:38

AbhEri and karnATaka dEvagAndhAri are different. AbhEri uses D1 while karnATaka dEvagAndhAri uses D2. nagumOmu is in AbhEri but the present-day version sung by most people today has been corrupted to karnATaka dEvagAndhAri. bhajarE mAnasa of vAsudEvACAr is in karnATaka dEvagAndhAri.

Dikshitar has as usual left no ambiguity by embedding rAgamudras. vINAbhEri is in AbhEri; panCAshaTpITharUpiNi and kAyArOhaNEsham are in dEvagAndhAram [his nomenclature for what we call karnATaka dEvagAndhAri now].

Yes, an RTP is mandatory at Shanmukhananda as far as I know. I cannot recall attending a concert at SFAS that did not feature an RTP. This is a good rule in my opinion, and is followed strictly by several Mumbai sabhas including Chembur Fine Arts and Bhakta Rasika Ranjani Sabha.

I understand Sanjay sang yesterday at Bhandup Fine Arts, but I wasn't able to attend due to family commitments.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 14 May 2007, 14:49

Prashant
Excellent review. How long was the concert. ?

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 14 May 2007, 14:52

About 3 and a half hours.

mahesh33 · Post by **mahesh33** » 17 May 2007, 06:16

Prashant,

Nice review, as always! I have a question abt Devagandhari...
it is generally said swarams should not be sung in this raga, since it
ends up sounding like Arabhi.

is this a rule? I am not too familiar with this raga/

here's a couple violinists playing swarams for devagandhari?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl2akQ2vfrE

am I rite? Does anybody know who these violinists r?

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 17 May 2007, 07:12

mahesh33 wrote:here's a couple violinists playing swarams for devagandhari?

Sounds like Suddha danyASi

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 17 May 2007, 08:20

I don't think there's any rule, Mahesh. dEvagAndhAri is difficult to treat even in AlApanA, swarams are even more difficult because it's a purely gamakA / phrase-based rAgA. But it can be done. I remember when I was in Chennai once learning from Smt. Vedavalli, she used to make us sing swarams in such rAgAs [dEvagandhAri, suruTTi, husEni etc] and illustrate beautifully after our hackneyed efforts

gravikiran · Post by **gravikiran** » 17 May 2007, 11:04

i guess, like everything else in music, it all depends on how you handle it.
i think slow speed swaras in such rakthi ragas would sound great - when sung with gamakas and pretty much like a structured swara-based alapana.
a classic example would be the way semmangudi mama would sing slow speed swaras in ragas like yadukulakambhoji, dwijavanthi or devagandhari.

V_ANNASAMY · Post by **V_ANNASAMY** » 17 May 2007, 11:56

For dEvagAndhAri raag, usages of slow and flat sancharAs would explicitly show the rAga lakshanA.

The kriti ksheera sAgara - anu pallavi (vaaraNa rAjuni).. the saint poet might have kept in mind the fact Lord Vishnu took lot of time to rescue the gajEndra & rescuing draupati also was taken a longer time... a reason for choosing a slow phase raag for this kriti. Again dEvagAndhAri is a forte of Sri TyAgaraja, having made many kritis in that.

The concept goes well for GKB kriti 'ennEramum' (prolonged stay).

sanchAras like daneedapa (padapamama)magaree, would distinguish from Aarabhi.

It is said that singing tAna is a bit difficult in dEvagAndhAri.

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 17 May 2007, 13:04

V_ANNASAMY wrote:It is said that singing tAna is a bit difficult in dEvagAndhAri.

Devagandhari is not suited to singing tanam though Smt. vasundhara RAjagopalan sang an RTP in this ragam at MA last season. Though the alapanai, neraval and swarams were well executed (durita kaalam swaram singing is exceptionally tough for such a ragam) , the tanam didnt go well and sounded contrived and repetitive.
-bhaktha