Nagai Sriram – Violin
Tanjavur Murugabhoopathy – Mridangam
Perukkavu P L Sudheer – Ghatam

1. Chala (varnam) – Kedaram – Ata
2. Nee Bhakti Bhagyasudha – Sriranjani – Swarams at Nee Bhakti
3. KonDal vaNNanai – Yadukula Kambhoji – Alapana
4. Chintayamaam – Bhairavi – neraval at anga soundarya vijitha vadanam, swarams at Utthunga Kamaneeya Vrusha Turangam
5. Gangeyavasanadhara – Hamir Kalyani – Alapana – swarams at Gangeya – Tani Avartanam
6. Chittam Irangadhadhennaiyya – Sahana
7. Saramati RTP – Kandanai vandanai sei maname thandhaiyaai thaayaai vandharuLum – kaNDa jati tripuTa – Swarams in Neelambari, Reetigowlai, Chalanattai, Sindhubhairavi

The concert started with the not-so-often heard varnam in Kedaram. While the song nee Bhakti Bhagyasudha itself was very beautiful, the kalpana swarams in Sriranjani which started off with a very leisurely pace short swarams and slowly moved on with increasing tempo and ran through multiple cycles complemented the song very well.

A very beautiful, unhurried Yadukula Kambhoji alapana was followed by konDal vaNNanai.

A wholesome rendition of the Panchabhuta kriti, Chintayamaam in Bhairavi with a neraval at anga soundarya brought out the bhava and the beauty that Dikshitar’s kritis have. The icing on the cake was the fast swarams at Utthunga Kamaneeya Vrusha Turangam. What a brilliant rendition this entire piece turned out to be!

With a contrasting feel and all beauty personified was the raaga that followed Bhairavi – Hamir Kalyani. Sanjay was in no hurry and sang a leisurely alapana exploring the raaga in all its beauty. The soothing feel of Hamir Kalyani was fully brought out. The violin too matched the Alapana. Gangeyavasanadhara is a classic song by Sanjay and the kalpana swarams further added on to the beauty of the composition. The swarams ended with several rounds of classic Sanjay-style brigha-filled swarams.

This season Sanjay has been having different percussionists for each concert and each one has been having nice Tani Avartanams in different styles.

The evergreen composition in Sahana, Chittam Irangadhadhennaiyya, was an absolute joy to listen to as always.

Then came the much-awaited part of the Kutcheri – RTP. The mesmerizing Saramati was the chosen raagam. As Sanjay explored the raagam in-depth traversing its notes with an ease and effortlessness that comes with expertise, experience and knowledge, I lost myself in the moving crescendos that this raagam is filled with.

Ask anyone for their list of favourite, happy raagams and you are sure to find Neelambari, Reetigowlai in their list. Completely contrasting to Saramati when it comes to the blissful bhava these raagams evoke, the RTP moved on to blissful mode in swarams in those. Some brilliant swarams changed the blissful mode to a meditative mode in Chalanattai and SindhubSanjay Subrahmanyan at Vani Mahal on 22-12-2017

Nagai Sriram – Violin
Tanjavur Murugabhoopathy – Mridangam
Perukkavu P L Sudheer – Ghatam

1. Chala (varnam) – Kedaram – Ata
2. Nee Bhakti Bhagyasudha – Sriranjani – Swarams at Nee Bhakti
3. KonDal vaNNanai – Yadukula Kambhoji – Alapana
4. Chintayamaam – Bhairavi – neraval at anga soundarya vijitha vadanam, swarams at Utthunga Kamaneeya Vrusha Turangam
5. Gangeyavasanadhara – Hamir Kalyani – Alapana – swarams at Gangeya – Tani Avartanam
6. Chittam Irangadhadhennaiyya – Sahana
7. Saramati RTP – Kandanai vandanai sei maname thandhaiyaai thaayaai vandharuLum – kaNDa jati tripuTa – Swarams in Neelambari, Reetigowlai, Chalanattai, Sindhubhairavi

The concert started with the not-so-often heard varnam in Kedaram. While the song nee Bhakti Bhagyasudha itself was very beautiful, the kalpana swarams in Sriranjani which started off with a very leisurely pace short swarams and slowly moved on with increasing tempo and ran through multiple cycles complemented the song very well.

A very beautiful, unhurried Yadukula Kambhoji alapana was followed by konDal vaNNanai.

A wholesome rendition of the Panchabhuta kriti, Chintayamaam in Bhairavi with a neraval at anga soundarya brought out the bhava and the beauty that Dikshitar’s kritis have. The icing on the cake was the fast swarams at Utthunga Kamaneeya Vrusha Turangam. What a brilliant rendition this entire piece turned out to be!

With a contrasting feel and all beauty personified was the raaga that followed Bhairavi – Hamir Kalyani. Sanjay was in no hurry and sang a leisurely alapana exploring the raaga in all its beauty. The soothing feel of Hamir Kalyani was fully brought out. The violin too matched the Alapana. Gangeyavasanadhara is a classic song by Sanjay and the kalpana swarams further added on to the beauty of the composition. The swarams ended with several rounds of classic Sanjay-style brigha-filled swarams.

This season Sanjay has been having different percussionists for each concert and each one has been having nice Tani Avartanams in different styles.

The evergreen composition in Sahana, Chittam Irangadhadhennaiyya, was an absolute joy to listen to as always.

Then came the much-awaited part of the Kutcheri – RTP. The mesmerizing Saramati was the chosen raagam. As Sanjay explored the raagam in-depth traversing its notes with an ease and effortlessness that comes with expertise, experience and knowledge, I lost myself in the moving crescendos that this raagam is filled with.

Ask anyone for their list of favourite, happy raagams and you are sure to find Neelambari, Reetigowlai in their list. Completely contrasting to Saramati when it comes to the blissful bhava these raagams evoke, the RTP moved on to blissful mode in swarams in those. Some brilliant swarams in Chalanattai and Sindhubhairavi changed the blissful mode to meditative and brought the RTP to a close.

I left the concert during Sindhubhairavi swarams with the Saramati still echoing in my mind.

As always, sitting back and listening to Sanjay effortlessly create masterpieces out of everything he sings turned out to be such an enriching and fulfilling experience!

Check Sanjay’s blog. Can’t wait for December! 

Concert on 27th February at Hanuman Temple, Alamelumangapuram, Mylapore

The last thing on my mind was going for a kutcheri, but when I came to know that Sanjay’s concert was to happen at a venue which is just a 5-minute drive from home, I thought I would try listening to it for 15-20 minutes at least.

But, nowadays, Sahana is keeping all of us at home so busy and she is the only one who has got all our attention, that all of us totally forgot about the concert! I suddenly remembered about it at 7:45 pm and rushed to the temple where the concert was happening. The concert was to start at 6:15 pm and it is only a 2-hour concert there generally. So I knew that I would be there just in time for tani Avartanam. And that was exactly what happened. Sanjay was finishing Mohanam swarams and Tanjavur Murugabhoopathy started the tani.

Post tani, the concert lasted for 20 minutes and the 20 minutes turned out to be a surprise. Sanjay started singing the viruttam ‘jAnAti rAma’ in blissful Kedaragowlai. Kedaragowlai was followed by Varunapriya and another rAgam having rain in its name – Amritavarshini. You generally don’t get to hear lovely sketches of these rAgAs in the tukkada section. Trust Sanjay to make even the last part of a concert special! Jonpuri was the last rAgam of the viruttam. As he included the tune of eppo varuvAro in the Jonpuri part, the audience’s enjoyment was evident. He followed it up with the song Dasharata suta, which I don’t think I have heard before. Varadarajan’s playing matched Sanjay’s singing throughout, as always.

Sanjay then sang mAvalla kAda in Maand and concluded the concert with Mangalam.

20 min or 3 hrs, duration doesn’t matter. Sanjay’s concerts are always satisfying even if you listen to it only for a few minutes!

P.S.: Can someone who attended the concert give me the full song list? Thanks in advance!

On 26th December at Rani Seethai Hall (Kalarasana)

Accompanists:
S.Varadarajan – Violin
Neyveli Venkatesh – Mridangam
K.V. Gopalakrishnan – Khanjira

Concert Duration: 3 hrs 20 min

List of Songs:
1. evvarE (varNam) – sahAnA – aTa
2. marivErE – Anandabhairavi – swarams at marivErE
3. tyAgaraja pAlayASumAm – gowLai – AlApana
4. vENugAna – kEdAragowLai – AlApana; neraval and swarams at vikasita
5. vA vElavA – tAnarUpi – khanDa cApu
6. dhArini – suddha saveri – adi – swarams at dhAriNi
tani Avartanam
7. tAyE EzhaipAl – bhairavi – Adi – rAgA outline
8. rAgam tAnam pallavi – pantuvarALi
kANAmal vITTilE kAlam kazhippOmE sEnADar pORRum tillaiyai – khaNDa jAti tripuTa 2 kaLai
swarams in mALavi, suddha danyAsi, priyadarshiNi, nAgavalli, jOg
9. kANa vENDum – suruTTi – misra cApu
10. kanduga (viruttam – verses of Thaiyumanavar) – kAmbhOji, kAnaDA, mOhanam, senchuruTTi angai koDumalar – rAgamAlikA (senchuruTTi, nAdanAmakriyA) – misra jampai
11. tillAnA – sindhu bhairavi – Adi – MDR – rAgA outline
12. nI nAma rUpamulaku – sowrASTram
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On 25th December, 2010 at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha

Accompanists:
S.Varadarajan – Violin
Patri Satish Kumar – Mridangam
Bangalore Rajasekar – Morsing

Concert Duration: 2.5 hrs

List of Songs:
1. varNam – hamsadhwani – Adi
2. karikaLAbha mukham – sAvEri – rAgA outline
3. sarasa sAmadana – kApinArAyaNi – Adi – AlApana; neraval and swarams at hitamu mATalentO
4. ennEramum (with extra caraNams pancAkSara, sIla maruvum) – dEvagAndhAri – brief AlApana
5. kaligiyuNTE – kIravANi – Adi – AlApana; swarams at bAguga
tani Avartanam
6. telisi rAma – pUrNacandrikA – swarams at rAma ani
7. RTP – hamsadhwani
pallavi: bagavan mudaRRe ulagu Adi – Adi
8. karpUram – khamAs – khanDa cApu
9. nI nAma rUpamulaku – sowrASTram
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On 23rd December at The Music Academy

Accompanists:
S.Varadarajan – Violin
Guruvayur Dorai – Mridangam
Trichy K. Murali – Ghatam

Concert Duration: 2.5 hrs

List of Songs:
1. sariyO nI seyyum (varNam) – bEgAdA – adi – rAgA outline
2. vinAyakA vigna nASakA – vegavAhini – rUpakam – swarams at vinAyakA
3. ninnu sEvincina – yadukula kAmbhOji – misra cApu – AlApana
4. appA nAn – pUrvi kalyANi – khaNDa cApu – AlApana; neraval at tappEdu nAn seiyinum nI poruttal vENDum
5. mahA tripurasundari – bhairavi – rUpakam – AlApana; neraval at amba kamanIya maku bangAruvamma kApADuTakipudu samayamamma; swarams at kApADuTakipudu
6. Emani – vIravasantam – Adi
7. rAgam tAnam pallavi – suruTTi
Pallavi: jAlamE seivadazhagAgumA vadivelA en mEl – Adi (2 kaLai)
pallavi in hamIr kalyANi, sahAnA, shaNmukhapriyA
tani Avartanam
8. Srtva guNAt (Slokam) followed by bansi wAlE – mOhanam – Adi
9. nI nAma rUpamulaku – sowrASTram
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On 22nd December, 2010 at Balamandir German Hall (The Indian Fine Arts Society)

Accompanists:
V.Sanjeev – Violin
Neyveli Venkatesh – Mridangam

Concert Duration: 2 hrs 15 min

List of Songs:
1. siva lOka – mAyAmaLavagowLai – rUpakam – rAgA outline; swarams at siva lOka
2. evarikai – dEvamanOhari – misra cApu
3. kAru bAru – mukhAri – Adi – AlApana
4. tiruvaDi saraNam – kAmbhOji – Adi – neraval at aDuttu vanda ennai
5. nAgagAndhAri – nAgagAndhAri – Adi – brief AlApana
6. RTP – bhahudhAri
Pallavi: kandanaDi avar enakku sondamaDi vaLLi manALanaDi – Adi 2 kaLai
swarams in varALi, yAgapriyA, hamsAnandi
tani Avartanam
7. pAyum oLi (viruttam followed by the song) – miSra khamAj – Eka
8. nI nAma rUpamulaku – sowrASTram
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On 20th December, 2010 at Narada Gana Sabha

Accompanists:
S.Varadarajan – Violin
Neyveli Venkatesh – Mridangam
S.Karthick – Ghatam

Concert Duration: 2.5 hrs

List of Songs:
1. maguva (varNam) – nArayaNagowLai – aTa
2. sAmagIta – gowLai – Adi – swarams at sAmagIta
3. rAga ratna – rItigowLai – rUpakam – AlApana; neraval and swarams at pADe kIrtanamu
4. ennaDu – kalAvati – Adi
5. buddhi rAdu – SankarAbharaNam – misra cApu – AlApana; swarams at bhaktula, amrita, vAgamrita
6. RTP – hindOLam
pallavi: Ananda naTana prakASam citsabhESam AshrayAmi – Adi 2 kaLai
pallavi in Anandabhairavi, hamsAnandi, kEdAram
swarams in hindOLam alone
tani Avartanam
7. pAril uyarnda (viruttam) – kAmbhOji, danyAsi, sahAnA, paTdIp
en tAi vAzhenum – paTdIp – Adi
8. kANi nilam – rAgamAlikA (hamsadhwani, bhAgESri, sindhubhairavi) – Adi
9. nI nAma rUpamulaku – sowrASTram
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On 19th December at Vani Mahal (Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha)

Accompanists:
S.Varadarajan – Violin
Srimushnam Raja Rao – Mridangam
Trichy Murali – Ghatam

Concert Duration: 3 hrs

List of Songs:
1. ErA nApai (varNam) – tODi – Adi
2. sUryamUrtE – sowrASTram – catuSra jati druva
3. enduku nirdaya – harikAmbhOji – Adi – AlApana; neraval at parama pAvana, uduta bhakti, dharalO (and other caraNams too?)
4. kandA vandaruL – AbhEri – Adi – swarams at kandA
5. ennEramum (with extra caraNams pancAkSara, sIla maruvum) – dEvagAndhAri – Adi
6. rAgam tAnam pallavi – tODi
Pallavi: nelatA marulu koTti rAni pai cala sadA?? – Adi (4 kaLai) changed to Adi (2 kaLai)
tani Avartanam
swarams in tODi, bilahari, kAnaDA, hamsAnandi, ?, sahAnA, ranjani, kApi, hindOLam, hamIr kalyANi, bEgadA, Anandabhairavi, valaji, shaNmukhapriya, sArangA, janaranjani, Arabhi, hamsadhwani, mAyAmaLavagowlai, behAg, bhAgESri, rEvati, bowLi?, calanATTai, naLinakAnti, bhahudhAri, suruTTi
(rAgam – 35 minutes, tAnam – 15 min, pallavi – 15 min, swarams in 2 kaLai – 10 min, tani – 20 min, rAgamalikA – 10 min)
7. khamAs – kaDaikkaN pArvai – Adi – rAgA outline
8. mAtaDa bAradEnO – khamAs – misra cApu
9. tillAnA – khamAs – Adi
10. nI nAma rUpamulaku – sowrASTram
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