Heaven isn’t different :) I am sure people who attended Vid. Sanjay Subramaniam's concert yesterday at Gayan Samaj would agree with me.
If there is anything called "bliss", "blissful harmony", then it is this!
Do I talk about the soulful madhyamavathi or Sanjay's ever mukhari or the elaborate simhendramadhyamam? Do I talk about his spontaneity in swara prasthara or his creativity in the ragaalapana? His varieties in thanam or the sahitya handling in neraval? Each time I come out of Sanjay's concert, I exclaim that that’s the best ever and so did I yesterday too.
Each piece was unique. Every piece was a master piece.
The concert took off with atta tala varnam, guess that was in kedaragowla. Can’t understand where does he dig deep to get such rare collections. The second piece surprised the crowd. A crisp varali in place of usual natai or hamsadwani, "eti janmamidi". It was crisp and deft yet deep. Varali was followed by a slightly elaborate Marga hindolam."Chalamelara saketharama" – a definite brand for this raga was executed with a detailed alapana and swara kalpana margining the nuances of the raga skillfully. I could hear the crowd murmuring "saramathi" during the alapana of marga hindolam; I would definitely say it was more because of non-expectation of marga hindolam at this juncture, and in this elaborate fashion that even the learned folks were little off-key. Sanjay convoluted on a raga which people don’t even use as a concert filler these days. Kudos Sanjay!
“Bagu meera” in shankarabharanam was lucid and evocative. Shankarabharanam -the old-world charm was handled in its entirety. Mukhari succeeded this. “Shivakama sundari” – I have always associated Mukhari with Sanjay, even after hearing mukhari from several other veterans. No elaborations, no extravaganza, simple krithi rendition; it was out of the world, Sublime!
A detailed madhyamavathi followed this. “Palinchu kamakshi” - What an expansive alapana, a majestic neraval at “kanthamagu peru pondhithivi karunyamoorthivai jagamu kapadina talli” and a vibrant swara prasthara. Madyamavathi was aesthetically rendered, no modern day gimmicks, the traditional raga was given its best due.
Swathi Tirunal’s celebrated krithi in kuntalavarali “Bhogindra shayinam” came next. The Devanagari piece had the needed sahitya shuddhathe(clean pronunciation and rendition).
Next came the main section - RTP in Simhendramadyama . He handled a detailed alaapana, not leaving any bit unturned; Simhendramadhyama raga on its own is quite captivating; Sanjay added to the aesthetics of it giving it his stamp, unexpected brugas, with his head nodding swiftly to match up the pace of his singing. It was a sight to capture, a musical feast to hold on to! Thanam was masterly, reflecting the conventional tanam varieties; Shankha thanam needs a special mention here; Words fall short to explain. By the time he started with Pallavi, in misra chapu the auditorium was completely energized. There was a smell and spell of simhendramadhyama in the ether all around. There was a skillful portrayal of khanda nadai . His manodharma saw no bounds; it seemed as if the notes were dancing to his command. The Pallavi was set to ragamalika. Sahana, mohanam and anandabhairavi were handled briefly; natakuranji, hindolam, kedara, kapi , behag and suruti though gave a swift peek, left an aesthetic presence.
There were few walk-outs during the tani-avarthanam phase, but this no little diluted the pace and the vibrance of tani. Vid Neyveli Venkatesh and Vid Guruprasanna complimented each other gracefully throughout the tani and displayed their mastery over their instruments; Through the reminder of the concert, the layam blended seamlessly with the compositions. There were a plenty of offerings by the violinist Vid Varadarajan in addition to an attentive support to the main artiste. His swara kalpana in madhyamavathi stood apart; manodharma and krithi handling were commendable.
Dasara nindisabeda in Desh and Vishweswar darshankar in sindhubhairavi pleasantly decorated the thukudas section.
Its 15-16 hrs past the concert now and I am still in a state of trance. Sanjay took us through a musical dimension. The audience sat dumbfounded for whole 3 hrs or more.The concert showed remarkable maturity and poise. There was speed when needed, but nothing was compromised for it.
A genuine sensation, a power packed performance , total mastery, a rage of finesse..... Yesterday was a witness to all these!
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"Chalamelara saketharama" – a definite brand for this raga was executed with a detailed alapana and swara kalpana margining the nuances of the raga skillfully. I could hear the crowd murmuring "saramathi" during the alapana of marga hindolam; I would definitely say it was more because of non-expectation of marga hindolam at this juncture, and in this elaborate fashion that even the learned folks were little off-key.
- my mom commented that this is a swaying statement which could be misread as doubting Sanjay's Marga hindolam rendition. To clear the air, I meant to say, people are acquainted more with saramathi in concerts, which is the raga closest to marga hindolam and with a restiveness to identify the raga first, landed on saramathi and announced to their immediate neighbors; More 'coz they(we) have forgotten marga hindolam for a while now and an alaapana in this raga is the least expected.
I must say, this is a very nice review. You have covered everything. And yes, its past some 21 odd hours, our heads are nodding for his rendering. We are not back to our normal gestures..
Could not comprehend more than half of it :-) as I am a lay man to Music, aadre adhbuthavagi ittu antha gotaggate.
@Sharath : without getting half of what is written, if you have managed to read this blog post, kudos to ur patience :). Yes, adbhuthavagittu :)
Probably I should create a new label "Strictly music" anta :)
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