Aparna’s Blog

Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s Concert
At Rasika Fine Arts on 4th January, 2009

Accompanists:
Nagai Muralidharan – Violin
Mannargudi Easwaran – Mridangam
K.V.Gopalakrishnan – Khanjira

Concert Duration: 2 hrs 5 min
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I watched Margazhi Raagam today To begin with, it’s not everyday that you get to watch a ‘movie’ in a theatre where the majority of the audience comprises of Maamas and Maamis.

Coming to the ‘movie’, the camera and lighting and of course, the audio are, needless to say, excellent. I liked the stage setting too. I didn’t like Bombay Jayashri’s part that much. Her singing, though quite good, was nowhere close to how it was in her Music Academy concert. Or so I felt. Graceful is the word that I would associate with Jayashri when I see her sing. Eyes closed and lost in the music is how she appears. But since I didn’t find anything that great about her singing, the visuals didn’t matter much to me. But, I just loved TMK’s part. I liked his part visually too since he is more expressive while singing and those have been captured so well on the camera.

Every moment of TMK’s singing in this is superb! I felt so happy listening to TMK after a long time (or so it feels like, since Sanjay is all I am listening to most of the times!)! Watching this movie today has compensated for no Sanjay’s or TMK’s concert happening today.

P.S.: I didn’t want to know before watching the movie, what was sung by TMK and Bombay Jayashri in that. So, am not posting the songs list here now. If you want me to post, do let me know.

Wishing you all a very happy new year!! May this year and all the years to come, be filled with loads and loads of happiness!

A major part of the first half of 2008 saw me being down with boredom. And then, there was this bloggers’ block. The no. of unfinished posts lying in my drafts written during that period stands testimony to that. These apart, though 2008 was better than 2007, still quite a few things which I wish had not happened, happened. But hey, now is not the time to dwell on all those. There are lots of moments to cherish and a lot of other things thinking about which makes me so happy.
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When I came to know that T.M.Krishna’s concert at Music Academy was on the same day as Aruna Sairam’s, the first thought that came to my mind was, ‘Will I even get a ticket for TMK’s concert?’ Having heard many say that people queue up outside Music Academy as early as 5:30 in the morning (!!), I knew it was going to be difficult to get a ticket. When I asked the person at the ticket counter a few days before the concert, he too confirmed the same. So, on the day of the concert, at 5 am sharp, my dad and sister went to Music Academy to find there were already 3 of them waiting. Seems a lady came as early as 4:30 itself! By the time I went there at 6:30 or so, the place was already full. How popular Aruna Sairam is!

Music Academy has to really be commended for making excellent arrangements for those who had come to buy the tickets. Neatly-arranged chairs for those coming in and ensuring that people are seated in the order in which they came, serving coffees at around 6 o’ clock for those waiting, issuing tokens at around 7 am with the number of tickets (the no. of tickets were restricted to 3 per head on that day initially) and the price of the tickets written on it, opening the ticket counter at 8:20 and calling out the token nos. in order and issuing the tickets – the whole thing was very well-organized.

I guess my sister and I must have been the only ones who didn’t go for Aruna Sairam’s concert despite having tickets. We did go for the last 35 minutes of her concert to find that the auditorium was packed to the full-capacity and the only place where we could sit was the steps in between two bays!

Two excellent concerts on consecutive days – one of Sanjay Subrahmanyan and one of T.M.Krishna - What more can a fan of Sanjay and TMK ask for?
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Accompaniments:
H.N.Bhaskar – Violin
J.Vaidyanathan - Mridangam
S.Karthick - Ghatam

Where & When? – The Music Academy on 26th December

Concert Duration: 2.5 hrs
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