'Bolt' Sanjay Subrahmanyan - SIMA Los Angeles, CA 24.Oct.20

fiddler · Post by **fiddler** » 25 Oct 2009, 21:30

Bolt Sanjay - Varadarajan - Venkatesh.
SIMA Los Angeles, CA 24.Oct.2009

If you had watched Usain Bolt run the 100m dash in the olympics, you would have noticed that the second place holder was not even in the frame. It just tells how far ahead of the league he was. Sanjay Subrahmanyan is no different. He's the Bolt of Carnatic Music leaving everyone else out of the frame !

List of songs wouldn't do justice to the concert experience neither will the highlights. Everything from start to finish had finesse & grace.

I'll let someone post the song list. If no one does, I'll do it.

Adding Review/List:

Let me try to review the flawless concert.

Sanjay began the recital with the Nilambari Ata Thalam Varnam (Neevanti Deivamu) in two speeds. Vande Sada Padmanabham (Navarasa Kaanada) of Swati Tirunal was padded with brilliant sancharas and amazing patterns of swarams living up to the term "Kalapana" swaram"Â¦wow what an imagination ! By this time, the audience was left in a trance. Ritigaula ragam was presented with a coquettish touch and St.Thyagaraja's Nannu Vidachi was presented al-dente .

Sanjay then went on to court Kalyani ragam. It's difficult to say if Sanjay was presenting Kalyani or Kalyani was presenting herself via Sanjay. This splice caused exotic displacement of wavelets of the air : music extraordinaire !. Well Kalyani is not done yet"Â¦there's more"Â¦Sanjay went on to present St.Thyagaraja's "Sive Pahimam" with revetting nerevel at "Charaa Charamayi" with beguiling swarams.

There's Madhyamavati and Madhyamavati. Its the later. I wonder how anyone can try to write in words the quintessence of ragam rendering. "Saravanabhava Guhane" was presented with authentic Sanjay signature filled with "jaaru" (e.g: the line "parindaruL purindiDavidil vErevariDum muraiyiDuvEn") and "brigas". Purandaradasa's "Enna Rakshiso" in Subhapantuvarali was laden with emotion. Then came the flagship song : Oho kalame in Sahana.

Next on cards was Abheri RTP in Misra Chapu "Vellai Thamarai Poovil Iruppal Veenai Seyyum Oliyil Iruppal" with ragamalika swarams. Subrahmanya Bharathi's "Nenneye Rati enduru" was as romantic as the lyrics could convey. Thunbam Nergayil in Desh was rendered in style. Tamizh virutham in Durbari Kaanada, Mohanam followed with "Narayanai Thudipai" in Komalangi.

After all this, came the heartbreaker: Mangalam.

The review wouldn't be complete without mentioning Venkatesh & Varadarajan. Varadarajan was Sanjay's shadow. Great figures have great shadows. Varadarajan was just as good as Sanjay. The difference was just in chords : Vocal chords Vs Violin chords. Varadarajan's fast replies and ragam playing displayed a high level of skill & gnanam. Venkatesh provided the right kalapramanam for every song. It would be a gross injustice to mention just the Thaniavarthanam. He alongside, Sanjay & Varadarajan was on the go right from start to finish. His job was tougher than usual as there was no upavadyam to share the work. On the whole a BRILLIANT TEAM WORK !

There was a 5 minute STANDING OVATION for Mr.Bolt & Team !

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 25 Oct 2009, 21:48

Fiddler
Some time before in one review I called patri satish kumar as usain bolt. Looking forward to hear the song list

suma · Post by **suma** » 25 Oct 2009, 22:34

he is going to perform in chicago next saturday. looking forward for it.
last year was fun watching him and his mridangist play around with kalpanaswarams

mridangam.karthic · Post by **mridangam.karthic** » 26 Oct 2009, 04:16

he'll be in toronto on november 29th first concert in like 4 years !!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 26 Oct 2009, 08:18

List, please, fiddler!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 26 Oct 2009, 09:13

Bilahari,
Thought you would have made it to this one. What a miss! No review from you.

Fiddler,
Was there an RTP?

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 26 Oct 2009, 09:34

Arasi, LA is too far to drive up, especially with midterms going on now. I expect to be kicking myself when I see the list and read the report

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 26 Oct 2009, 15:24

fiddler has now edited the first post and added the review(thanks fiddler, keep them coming for others too in LA)

shruthi6 · Post by **shruthi6** » 26 Oct 2009, 17:46

Fiddler, Any reviews on the accompaniments.........

raj-123 · Post by **raj-123** » 26 Oct 2009, 20:38

I attended SIFA concert at San Jose. Though I am not qualified to review and I am sure there will be a separate thread, concert was superb. A full 4 hour concert with no interruptions or speech. Rageshri RTP amazing. Crowd kept him going for more, at one point Sanjay said - Antha security kathave poota nikkiran.. The security guard is waiting to shut the door

Then an organiser told him, Naraya time irukku sir. There is plenty of time! It was jam packet, they oversold the tickets. Rasikas were sitting on the dias on either sides, and balcony and ground floor was full to its capacity.

A special of the concert was his parents, both dad and mom were attending the concert in San Jose and was mentioned in the end. How the parents would have felt!

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 26 Oct 2009, 20:48

raj-123 wrote: A special of the concert was his parents, both dad and mom were attending the concert in San Jose and was mentioned in the end. How the parents would have felt!

How nice to hear this. That must have been really special!

gowri narayanan · Post by **gowri narayanan** » 26 Oct 2009, 21:54

fiddler,excellent write up.
"how the parents would have felt": 'eenRa pozhudu periduvakkum than maganai saanROn enak keTTa thai'

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 26 Oct 2009, 23:28

Raj123,
Punarvasu's song list says the RTP was in kApi (with rAgEsri in the ragamAlikA).

Dilettante · Post by **Dilettante** » 11 Nov 2009, 11:45

I have listened to two renditions of Sive Pahimam from Sanjay and am mesmerized by the Krithi. Madurai Somu's nereval seems to be in Kaverejottera teera vasini and is very good too. Have any others sung this krithi?

The nereval by Sanjay in Charachara mayi is absolutely brilliant and the energy involved reminds me of Ni pada Pankajamu in Birana Brova by SSI.