Sanjay Subramanyam- Veena S.Balachander's remembrance

[grsastrigal]

Sanjay Subramanyam-Vocal
Varadarajan-Violin
Neyveli Venkatesh- Mridangam

To Remember the day of Birth Anniversary of irrepressible genius Sri.S.Balanchander. That was the day when he was born (1927) This was arranged by his family. With Yessel’s support, one can arrange a concert even in Flight.

Venue-Sastri Hall-Luz
Date- 18th Jan 2013.

vanajAskhi- kalyAni
sAma gAnapriyan-Gowlai- (S)- Ramalinga adigalAr.
bEgadA- nAdOpAsana-Thyagarajar
rAgam-Ritigowla- janani ninuvinA- Subbaraya Sastri (N)(S)
rAgam- Ahiri- dIna rakshaka ninnu dinamunu-PonniaH pillai-(s)
tAanaroopi-rAgam-for 3 minutes followed by Koteeswar Iyer Kriti- vA velavA vA
kAmbodhi- Main- oH rangasayEE- Thyagarajar- (s)
Tani
kantA maNi Aduthu adai kandu piNi vAdudu- kAnadA- Gopala Krishna bharathi.
uppum kaRpRamum- innamum oru talam- mArumuthA pillai.
UrilE kAni illai- bharathiyAr- ninnayE rathi enru- BagEshree-
rAmakrishna- Dasar.
Mangalam

Sanjay gave another stellar performance here. Almost 3 hour concert had all the ingredients including tAnaroopi- a beautiful rAga immortalized by veena maestro. But he stressed "r" in "dhikkevaRamma". Once I heard TMK singing "koluvamaRagadha". may be.. "Great men sing alike".

I did not take down the song list. Anything missing, please fill up.

Unfortunately, Sastri hall is too small for Sanjay’s concert. SB family might have selected a bigger place than this for the concert. Thinking the possible place, even nAda inbam has got the same capacity. May be tatvalOka bigger than this. Sanjay has come to a level and even if we arrange a concert in Chepauk Stadium, it will be full. To “capsule” him in a sastril hall needs to be seriously “thought” by any organizers.

It was nice to meet Mrs.S.Balanchader and grandson and of course, great "Yessel"

There are old people standing and listening even till the end of concert shows the respect and interest they show to their beloved Sanjay.
Sanjay never disappointed the rasikas. He is rasikAs’ singer. Even Tani on that day was superb. Neyveli, the city of lignite, produces lot of mridangists, Neyveli narayanan, skandasubramanyan. And venkatesh always an able ally for sanjay. It has also produced bhAgavathars who excelled in nAma sankirtanams.

Varadarajan can rechristen his name as Sanjay dAsan. His kAmbodhi return stood out the best of the concert.

Overall another superb performance.

[rshankar]

Lji, can you post the lyrics of the GKB kRti? I am not sure I've heard it before.
Thank you.

[arasi]

Nor have I, Ravi...

Sastrigal,
Thanks for your review about a concert by Sanjay (though he gave many concerts during the season, the reviews were far and few). I so looked forward to them, and for the song lists since I missed several of his concerts and of others too. It was a short season for me.

I was also wondering about the capacity of Shastry Hall when I read about this concert in Sanjay's blog. He has written nostalgically about the place.

Sanjay who is interested in many branches of arts, gave a concert several months ago in Petachi Hall at author Devan's centenary celebrations. Forumite Pasupathy (another fan of Devan) was also a speaker on that day and has written about the event in the Languages Section. Sanjay started the concert with ST's dEva dEva, he says. A big fan of Devan myself, it was a miss for me.
Pasupathy had also put up an excellent bEgaDa from that concert (from Sanjay's youtube clip).

Another forumite, Vikram Sampath wrote an excellent book about SB a few years ago. Balachandar was a hero of my childhood days. Wish I had attended this concert!

Thinking of birthdays, Sanjay's is just a day away. Wishing him many years of happiness in life and with his music :ymapplause:

[vasanthakokilam]

>Sanjay never disappointed the rasikas. He is rasikAs’ singer.

Wait a second, I thought 'singing to the gallery' is bad. ( just kidding )

Thanks for the review grs.

I see the GKB song in this list: http://music.karthiksankar.com/referenc ... a-bharati/
though written down differently ( ga vs ka etc.) Search for kanada.

[arasi]

VK,
The harsh winter this year has made you a bit home-bound and you have been reading much about what is going around about the state of CM of late, I guess!

Also, rasikAs are not groundlings, and we better not underestimate them either. We might not have known Shakespeare if they weren't around!

After all, you and I are rasikas and also belong to Rasikas.org (whatever our levels may be, as listeners)!

[vasanthakokilam]

Arasi, Yup, yup, all those Mine was more a light-hearted dig at those who mock singing to the gallery as a vice.

[arasi]

Of course, that I knew!

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

GrSastrigal: DITTO!!!! I could not stay till the end --left after the Thani--the loss is entirely SANJAY's!!--Just Kidding!!
Of the 2 Sanjay performnces I heard this season--the other one being MA,this was the best for a no. of reasons(primarily the audience who braved standing for 2 hours @ the sastry Hall--Sanjay sang his heart out(as he always does).

Right from the Kalyani Ata Tala Varnam,the kutcheri got "Kalai"(a cliched expression used by elders during my gowing years--almost a century ago!!!), SANJAY kept the audience enthralled with Bhavam and azhutham.The rapid-fire sequence of songs(a la Ariyakudi who never let the Violinist check the sruthi in between songs!!) demonstrated that he was fully in charge of the concert taking the listeners with him in his stride.Sanjay can take a hackneyed varnam or Krithi and-- imbue it with his own stamp of originality and improvisation(wherever there was a chance!) "jolting" the listener with a pidi or prayogam that you may not have heard before--we look forward to that kind of tickle of our aural senses and he nevr fails us!! The Janani kriti was rendered with the bhavam that SSI used to bring out the beauty of the composition--throout the concert I felt that he respected tradition but did not inhibit his penchant for improvisation nor impair the melody,in the process. The Ponniah Pillai krithi in Ahiri was rendered with sensitivity that Ahiri demands--I really wonder HOW does he seek out teachers to unearth such gems which many of our erstwhile stalwarts who have all had closer association with the likes of Ponniah Pillai--have not been able to!!! He is certainly pushing the frontiers instead of settling for the stead and stodgy fare that is associated with tradition. Likewise the Koteeswara Iyer krithi in Dhanarupi(we all know Koteeswara Iyer has composed in all the 72 melakartas but we know only the late S.Rajam had unearhed them and brought to light. Sanjay is a true learner,--it is commendable that for one who has not had the benefit of formal gurukula Vasam or the opportunity to "hitch on" to Senior Musicians he manages to bring forth compositions of latter-day composers.
The kambodhi(O rangasayee) was rendered with the majesticity(one needs to know only 2 kritis in Kambodhi--O Rangasayee and Dikshitar's Sree Subramanya Namaste) to get the whole gamut of the raga--Sanjay in his alapana,krithi rendering,neraval and swaram did ample justice to the piece.

I missed the "tail" of the program(Sanjay's loss!!!).
Altogether to me it was a fulfilling performance!! It is always a delight to hear him. As they say in Sports Circles in the USA he is a "sure-fire-first-ballot-Hall of Famer" !!
Varadarajan(one of my favorite Violinists of his generation--heard his solo the prvious day @ Raga Sudha) was simply brilliant and blens nicely with Snjay's imgination matching him note for note---sukham and sowkhyam are embedded in his playing and cetainly no slouch in matching Sanjay's Laya forays!!
As for Neyveli Venkatesan,he is talented no doubt but needs to play with a little bit of resraint(in Sastry Hall to have 2 mikes forthe meetu-chapu and one for the Thoppi--to me seems too much--I was seated on the side in the front with one of the speakers close--this may have caused my discomfiture--one good thing I noticed about him he made his theermanams at the end of the krithi short and snappy(unlike several mridangists I noted during the season who needed atleast 3 rounds after the vocalist had finished his krithi!! Ofcourse one needs to have a nitpick and this is mine!!

[sureshvv]

Creativity is the creation of variety from a finite set of building blocks. Sanjay created magic this day. And he made it fun. Especially the swara prasthara for Kambodhi where he presented the terminating refrain phrase with so much variety including silence

Couple amendments to the list:

1. Chalamelara, Marga hindolam, Thyagaraja before the kambodhi main
2. Viruttam sung in bagheshree was "Theertha karayinile"

[arasi]

MKR,
An inspired piece of a review from you!
Well-said: he is certainly pushing the frontiers instead of settling for the stead and stodgy fare that is associated with tradition...he kept the audience enthralled with bhAvam and azhutam...the kAmbOdi was rendered with majesticity to get the whole gamut of the rAgA...

So, you are still in India?

Hoping to catch the master (as one of the fans calls him) here in Bengaluru soon.
Was hoping to hear a kAmbOdi, but I'm not so sure he will sing it as main here, but an yadukula kAmbOdi or bEgaDa will be as pleasing. Also, whatever rAgAs he chooses to sing in a particular concert pleases because he gives unreservedly of his repertoire, and I luck out with a song or two I haven't heard before.

Hoping to hear him soon...

[arasi]

Sureshvv,
And mArgahindOLam and bhArathi in bhAgESri too!

You say: creativity is the creation of variety from a finite set of building blocks...
How very true!

[MV]

MKR,
An inspired piece of a review from you!
.

Yes, inspired review indeed. I like 'Sanjay's loss best! I guess he lost out on hearing your musings here :-*

[ram]

Lji, can you post the lyrics of the GKB kRti? I am not sure I've heard it before.
Thank you.

Ravi,

This is based on how I have heard Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan sing it. Lji or others might be able to correct in case there are any errors in how I heard it.

gaNTA maNi ADudu
adai kaNDu piNivADudu

mukti maNi tEDudu ... jIvan ... mukti maNi tEDudu
nADudu kUDudu (gaNTA)

paravasam Agudu pAvangaL pOgudu
janana maraNAdigaL mOhamum tIrndadu (gaNTA)

[kvchellappa]

Here it is in Tamizh, from http://www.shaivam.org/siddhanta/sta_gkb.htm#kanta_mani:

கண்டாமணியாடுது...

ராகம் : கரகரப்ரியா
தாளம் : ரூபகம்

பல்லவி

கண்டாமணியாடுது கண்டு பிணிவாடுது

சரணம்

முத்தி மணிதேடுது நாடுது கூடுது [கண்டா]

பரவச மாகுது பாவங்கள் போகுது [கண்டா]

சனன மரணாதிகள் மோகமுந் தீர்ந்தது [கண்டா]

[arasi]

Thanks, Chellappa.

Here's the transliteration:

ghaNTA maNi ADudu kaNDu piNi vADudu

mukthi maNi thEDudu nADudu kUDudu (ghaNTA maNi)

paravaSamAgudu pAvangaL pOgudu (ghaNTA maNi)

Janana maraNadigaL mOhamum thIRndadu (ghaNTA)

So, there are at least two rAgAs in which the song is sung: kharaharapriya and kAnada.

[arasi]

Ram, not only did I miss your post (just noticed it)
But also missed seeing you anywhere in Chennai

[rshankar]

Thank you, Ram, Arasi and Chellappa.

Is the maNi (bell) a refernce to the bell on the neck (kaNTha) of nandi perhaps?

[arasi]

Or, is it tautologous?

ghanTA=maNi--the temple bell? vIra maNIyinOSai?


After UrilEn kANiyillai, was Bharathi's ninnaiyE rathi enRu sung in bhAgESri or rAgESri?

[sureshvv]

Or, is it tautologous?

ghanTA=maNi

Or may be onomatopoeic

Sorry couldn't resist!

[arasi]

clanging, jingling

[Pasupathy]

Or, is it tautologous?

ghanTA=maNi--the temple bell? vIra maNIyinOSai?

This song is by 'Nandhanar' just after reaching Chidambaram border. Hence, it can be taken to mean the temple bell.

Generally the meaning ( from Tamil Lexicon ) is:

கண்டாமணி kaṇṭā-maṇi
, n. < ghaṇṭāmaṇi. 1. Large bell; பெருமணி. சேமக்கலம் . 2. Bell tied to the neck of an elephant; யானைக் கழுத்திற் கட்டும் மணி. (W.) 3. Tinkling ankle-rings worn by distinguished warriors; வீரக்கழல்.

[mahavishnu]

ghanTA and maNi both refer to a bell of some kind. Isn't that a bit redundant like saying AC current?
Unless maNi is used as a transferred epithet in this case...

[arasi]

Mahavishnu,

Isn't repetition sometimes an effective tool in poetry to emphasize something?
A dramatic moment it is of Nandan nearing the temple as he hears majestic sounds...the temple bell sounding to welcome him as it were.

Repetition of the meaning of the word gives weight to the ringing of the bell here. The very word ghaNTA has so much weight and GKB starts the line with that word. We can imagine how without it, maNi ADudu would have sounded quite tame!

[mahavishnu]

I see it now, Arasi.

I remember hearing this song so much in my childhood, especially in the discourses by Balakrishna Sastrigal.

There are so many maNis in my family that my grandfather would break out into this song when one of them turned up. I should thank Sanjay for helping resurrect this rare(r) GKB composition; although I believe he has sung this on earlier occasions also.

Was this song ever sung by the great Desigar?

[vasanthakokilam]

There are so many maNis in my family that my grandfather would break out into this song when one of them turned up.

I am sure you have gotten that song of endearment from your grandfather!

[sureshvv]

He also sang kalilo, a muthiah bhagavatar composition in kapi post main.

May be Ghanta mani is a type of bell that rings on the hour. Just speculating

[arasi]

Ah, possible (in the hourly sense). In a temple, more at pUjA hours?
Anyhow, Nandan waiting for the darSan is a dramatic moment, so, ghaNTA maNi gives momentum to the story of his unforgettable darSan.

So, which one was the bhArathi song? In which rAgA?

[sureshvv]

So, which one was the bhArathi song? In which rAgA?

Theertha karayinile sung as viruttham followed by ninnaye rathi enru - in Bagheshree

[rsrini080463]

Very rarely sung song of Shri.GKB. Just to add here 'Ghanta' also means Temple bell (Mani) in Telugu.

Thanks