VenkataNagarajan@BGS (in NGS MIni) On Apr 15th,2022

Review the latest concerts you have listened to.
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rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

VenkataNagarajan@BGS (in NGS MIni) On Apr 15th,2022

Post by rajeshnat »

VenkataNagarajan@BGS (in NGS MIni) On Apr 15th,2022
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Vocal: Venkata Nagarajan - Student of Late Ambujam Vedantham , Now a student of both Sanjay Subrahmanyan and S Varadarajan(as per my talk , i did not know that Varadu is also his guru)
Violin : M Vijay - Student of S Varadarajan
Mrudangam : Ambur Padmanabhan - student of Shri TV Gopalakrishnan
Tambura : Radel Shruthi

Concert Type : Nirvana - Non Ticketed concert. No concert to follow
Day/Duration : Fridday/ 18: 30 to 20 :30 pm
Hall : NGS Mini Hall
Sabha : brahma gana sabha

01A. Slokham -vandE guru - sahana - ???
01B. varnam - evarEmi bOdhana - sahana - Patnam

02. Sobillu saptaswara (S)- jaganmohini - T
5 mins swaras
03. Cetasri Balakrishnam - dwijAvanti - MD

04. kalyAna gOpAlam (R N S) - pantuvarali - NT
7 mins alapana and 6 mins violin return
Neraval in bhava teemera gAna BhAnu bhaktha kAmadEnu for 5 mins
Swaras for 6 mins

05A . mArubalka (R S T) - shreeranjani - T
10 mins alapana and 9 mins violin return
Swaras for 10 mins
05B. Tani for 7 mins

06A. Viruththam - Veyuru thOli pangan - hindOlam - Koloru thirupathigam +
Oorile Kani illa -kapi - Divyaprabhandam
06B. AadugirAn annul paaduginrAn - kapi - Sudhananda bharathi
07. Pavamana - mangalam

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: VenkataNagarajan@BGS (in NGS MIni) On Apr 15th,2022

Post by rajeshnat »

Sabhas like Brahma gana Sabha generally only feature in dec season in sivagami petachi auditorium. About 5 to 6 years back, they have another venue in Velachery. As I Walked i,n the Sabha patron ,the every encouraging and wonderful Balu was there . It is also a joy also to be at NGS Mini hall after many years. Atleast a decade back most of my visits were only in NGS Mini hall. I prefer not to disturb with too much of glare and excesss sound setup that only eats out the concert time, to that extent NGS Mini is a great hall . NGS Mini is now refurbished , great upholstery with extraordinary speakers of Bose Speaker brand . As usual the same crib is there with me ,whether BGS or NGS it is just 2 hours exact concert

I have sat with Venkatanagarajan in the audience , heard one or two uploads . But this is the first concert of his that i am hearing him live. Certainly a memorable opener for me . As I just entered on time I could also see V V Suresh who should add more to this review . We sat together for a brief time till sahana ,then I preferred to go sit elsewhere so that I am connected only with CM from jaganmohini.

Sahana start in slokham was a small stream - Srirangam Venkatanagarajan with his booming sri reengaram voice did bring in rich tapestry of raga Bhaavam of sahana . Unlike say Sree vatapi of Sivan this sahana Patnam varnam is bit like taking chances to express more with aggression . Venkat Nagarajan sang beautifully and gave a great start . Hey it is #2 drop time either take a long krithi or preferably go with a dash of swaras of the most popular vaggeyakka. The singer took up the sobillu sapthaswara and what a dash of swaras , certainly the shade of GNB speed and nayana pidi was there . Then the slow moving Dikshitar kirithi of ceta Sri Balakrishnan came out very well.

I was wondering at that point no prati yet , let him go with prati submain as i prefer suddhamadhyamam main and as I was thinking why can’t I hear panturvarali or kamavardhini. The singer read my brain wave and out came a fantastic rendition of a rare Narayana theerthar krithi in kamavardhini/panturvarali. I know Sanjay sings this song and I am not Sure if some one else has popularised before (may be SKR, KSK or GNB I don’t know just a guess). He was singing with such high energy, bit reminding me there with his shaven face like Sriram Gangadharan.

Then after a submain , GNB got jettisoned and out came the SSI avatar .What a raga is shree Ranjani , this ragam and this krithi challenges its melakartha parent so much . Maarubalka and a dash of swaras was well done , the neraval was rationed out as it is a 2 hour concert. Then the last missing Carnatic vocal Trinity MMI came in with a veyuru tholi pangan. Lovely hindolam with fantastic oomph then jumping From navargraha padigam to Divya prabandham in the designer ragam of viruththam which Is kaapi was well done . Lovely filler of suddhananda Bharathi in kaapi was well done, he did not sag even till end.

M Vijay is cautious and precise . Lovely melody and press , if there is some thing that he has to watch out is his proportion of violin return is bit too long . The big hero for the Day was the mridangam artist . I neither knew his name or seen him , he is Ambur Padmanabhan , a frail physique but his Mrudu angam was really top notch . Exceptional clarity and goes quite well with the speed of venkatanagarajan. I did not pay attention in tani as the AC was bit too cold , I had to be woken up by the one and only VEyuru tholi pangan.

Venkatnagarajan is bit thumping too hard and it is bit intrusive and he need not give always a long violin rerturn for every swara end for every krithi, he can politely grab it back .

Overall a very good to excellent concert for 2 hours and 5 mins

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: VenkataNagarajan@BGS (in NGS MIni) On Apr 15th,2022

Post by arasi »

Rajesh,
That was quite a detailed, two part review about Dr. Venkata Nagarajan whom I have heard every season ever since he was a teenager. I recall a concert outdoors close to the beach (?), the ground all wet sand, a few chairs scattered on it, with a few dim lights! Then in the heart of the Season city in a tiny hall (room?) which had a dozen densely packed chairs. As years rolled by, at Mylapore Fine Arts. At the Academy, advancing there from junior to sub-junior slots.

Why all this preamble? All through this evolution over the years, his studies didn't seem to in any way hamper his devotion or application to music. His grandfather was a great influence in his development as an adult and musician--his mother too, of course.
From a shy, shut-eyed musical youth, he is blossoming into a full-fledged singer. A powerful voice and intensity marks his singing. As you can imagine, he makes me proud as someone who has followed his growth as a musician from a young age.

Vijay is someone I really like among young violinists. His being Varadu's student makes it even more special for me. He has equanimity on stage. His lengthy playing you mention might have been because Venkata Nagarajan wanted him to play at length? Possible. The mridangist is a new name for me. Ambur Padmanabhan is TVG's student you say. So, a nicely blending
trio, school-wise and all.
Hoping to hear the concert streamed. Meanwhile, the best to all the the three young musicians :)

Wonder what vvsuresh's impressions are...

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