I went to a concert of T.M.Krishna yesterday, after a long time. Do I even have to say how it was? đ This being the only concert of his this month in Madras, it’s going to be a long wait before another TMK’s concert! Sigh!
Today, I got the recording of a concert of Sanjay Subrahmanyan held on 30th July, 2002 at SVN Music Academy, Bangalore. It had a 1-hour 5-minutes RTP in Kharaharapriya sung by Sanjay! What more can you ask for! In the RTP, he has sung the Pallavi ‘rAma nI samAna’ in raagas Kanada, Salaka Bhairavi, Darbar and Siva Ranjani. It’s too good! Sanjay had sung Raga Sudha Rasa in that concert. A 4-minute alapana of Andolika followed by the song is awesome! Can’t stop listening to it! (I am listening to T.M.Krishna’s and Sanjay’s Raga Sudha Rasa alternately now!) I am yet to listen to other songs in that.
Incidentally, today has been a day full of Kharaharapriya!
I listened to Chakkani Raja sung by Sri Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, then, another 1-hour RTP in Kharaharapriya sung by Vedavalli and above all, the song I am learning now is Chakkani Raja! đ
I finally had to stop listening to A.R.Rahman’s songs yesterday since I had to go to Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s concert at Nayaki Sabha. Sanjay started the concert with varnam in my favourite raaga Sahana! đ
Accompanists:
Violin: M.R.Gopinath
Mridangam: Guruvayoor Dorai
Ghatam: T.V.Vasan
List of songs:
1. Varnam – Sahana
2. Raa Rama Inti – Asaveri
3. Ninnu Vina – Reetigowlai
4. Ellaam Sivan Seyal – Vasanta
5. Ennadoo – Kalavati
6. Evari Maata – Kambhoji
7. Maatrariyaadha – Surutti
8. Theril Erinaan – Kalyani
9. Nijagaadasa – Sindhu Bhairavi
10. Pittham TheLiya – Senchurutti(?)
11. Mangalam – Sowrashtram
I think this is the first time I am hearing Sanjay sing Reetigowlai. The raaga alapana and the song with swarams lasted some 15 minutes and I would say for this alone yesterday’s concert was worth attending! The next one, Ellaam Sivan Seyal in vasanta with a raaga alapana, neraval & swarams at the line ‘Anjael anjael endre achchatthai pOkkidum’, was too good. Sanjay had chosen Kambhoji for the main piece for the last concert of his that I went to and again Kambhoji in yesterday’s concert too. One thing that I observed in most of Sanjay’s concerts is that most of the times he does not do neraval for the main piece and this concert was no different. Nijagaadasa and Ennadoo are some of the songs that Sanjay sings often. Coming to Tani Avartanam, when two veterans are playing the Tani will of course be excellent!
On the whole, yet another excellent concert of Sanjay as usual!
I got this album (released by Rajalakshmi Audio last year) of T.M.Krishna last month. This has Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Krithis on Lord Rama. Check out the website of Rajalakshmi Audio for the list of krithis in this album. This has many not-so-often-heard raagas like mAhuri, kOkilAravam, rAma kali. T.M.Krishna has sung all the krithis with so much bhava! R.K.Shriramkumar plays the violin in this album, K. Arun Prakash the mridangam and V. Anirudh Athreya the kanjira. Everyone knows what a great combo TMK, Shriramkumar and Arun Prakash make. I would rate it as one of the best albums of T.M.Krishna till date!
The first song that I got hooked onto in this album is santAna rAmaswAminam in raagam Hindolavasantam. Every time I start listening to it, I listen to it atleast for a couple of times before moving onto the next song. The Nottu swarams in sankarAbharanam are very nice to listen to (rAmachandram is my current favourite Nottuswaram). I have only one complaint with this album: It would have been nice if T.M.Krishna had sung raaga alapanas for raagas like Hindolavasantam, nArAyanagowlai, mAhuri etc.
This one is a must-buy for all the T.M.Krishna and Dikshitar Kritis fans! If you haven’t got it yet, get it soon!
I went to a concert of T.M.Krishna after more than a month. The concert was at Nageshwara Rao Park, Mylapore, held as part of the ‘Chennai Sangamam’, a cultural festival aimed at highlighting Chennai’s cultural ethos (as ‘The Hindu’, had called it), that started yesterday. Though it was only a 1-hour concert, T.M.Krishna made sure everyone enjoyed every moment of it!
Accompanists:
Amritha Murali – Violin
Manoj Siva – Mridangam
Umashankar – Ghatam
Songs list:
1. Thoadudaiya – GambhIraNattai
2. Kaalai Thooki – Yadhukula Kambhoji
3. Aazhi Mazhai KaNNa – Varali
4. Nattakurunji RTP – (A quickie RTP – Surprise of the concert!)
5. Chinnanchiru KiLiye – Raagamalika
6. Suttum Vizhi – Raagamalika
7. Senthamizh Naadenum – ? (don’t remember)
8. Irakkam Varaamal – Behag
9. Eppo Varuvaaro – Jonpuri
10. Vaazhiya Senthamizh – Madhyamavati
Highlight of the concert:
Of course, the Nattakurunji RTP! I least expected him to sing a RTP in this concert. Though it was a quickie, Nattakurunji being my favourite raaga, I just loved it! He sang the pallavi ‘nAttakurunji enbaar engaLadhu sirandha’ in two other raagas too (Mohanam and the other one I forgot đ (HamirKalyani?)).
Then, the way he sang Chinnanchiru kiLiye with bhava was too good. After that, someone asked him to sing Suttum Vizhi and he said he was not sure whether he remembered the lyrics! When the girl said that she knew it, he asked her to sit in front of him and tell him if he forgets the lyrics somewhere! If I am not mistaken, it was after the line, ‘vaalai kumariyadi’ that TMK sang ha-ha-ha-ha in a beautiful way instead of the word ‘kaNNama’ twice, before singing the word ! Irakkam Varaamal is yet another song that I like hearing T.M.Krishna sing.
On the whole, the concert was excellent as any concert of T.M.Krishna will be. By the way, it was a nice to hear the concert sitting in the park, surrounded by trees with a surprisingly cool breeze blowing.
Though there are many raagas that I like very much (In fact, there is nothing like a raaga that I donât like), nothing gives me as much pleasure as listening to Sahana. I can say without any doubt that nobody can stop themselves from falling in love with Sahana. Itâs such a beautiful raaga!
Sample this:
(The song âIndha Veenaikkuâ from K.Balachandarâs old TV serial âRayil Snehamâ)
I remembered this song all of a sudden a couple of days back and what better site than youtube to search for it. You think of some song and you are sure to find it in youtube most of the times. By the way, I later searched for âIndha Veenaikkuâ in Google and found that many bloggers had written about this one and Sahana in 2005/06. I donât know how I missed reading those at that time.
Coming back to Sahana, incidentally Sanjay Subrahmanyan too has said in his interviews that Sahana is his favourite raaga. No wonder then, that he sings Sahana in many of his concerts, if not an entire song atleast a Viruttam or when singing a ragamalika in Raagam-Taanam-Pallavi. The same is the case with T.M.Krishna. Of course, I havenât heard him say anywhere that Sahana is his favourite. But, he too sings Sahana in most of his concerts.
Even A.R.Rahman spoke at the Carnatic Chills audio release about an absolutely amazing Sahana played by Ganesh & Kumaresh that he listened to somewhere. I heard them play Sri Vathapi Ganapathi recently. Amazing of course, it was!
Some Carnatic songs in Sahana that are my favourites:
Chittam Irangadha by Sanjay Subrahmanyan â You can listen to it here:
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/carnatic_vocal/s/
album.2322/artist.107/
Ee Vasudha by Sanjay or T.M.Krishna (I have heard them both sing it in concerts) – You can listen to this song played by Guitar Prasanna here:
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/carnatic_instrumental/s/
album.113/artist.184/
Rama Ika Nannu â You can find it here sung by Sanjay:
http://www.sangeethapriya.org/Downloads/sanjay/toronto/
sanjaytoronto.html
Tillai Ambalatthaanai – Sanjay has sung this song in his album titled ‘Tillai’. A 21-minute song in Sahana! Pure bliss! I especially love the fast-paced swarams that he sings at around 17.oo minutes in this song.
Oho Kaalame by Sanjay â This composition by Vedanayakam Pillai is the one that Sanjay Subrahmanyan is, I should say, promoting nowadays.
Then, there are the songs Sri Vathapi Ganapathi, Vandanamu and Giripai.
Talking about film songs in Sahana, nothing can beat the old song, Paartthaen Siritthaen. All the lines end with words ending with âthaenâ in this song. Lovely!
Then, there is one of Rahmanâs best compositions, âAzhage Sugamaâ from Paarthaale Paravasam. I thought this one is in Sahana. But, someone told me that it is in Dwijavanti. Can someone please tell me if this one is in Sahana/Dwijavanti?
P.S.: Even if you are someone who doesnât listen to classical music, I want you to listen to atleast one song that I have listed here. I am sure you will like it. After all, though it helps to have knowledge of Carnatic music to appreciate it, it is not a must that you should know it to enjoy it that too when listening to a raaga like Sahana.
The show which was supposed to start at 7.00 pm started only at 8 and concluded at around 9.45.
1. Navaragamalika Varnam
Played by Carnatic musicians Embar Kannan (Violin) and U.P.Raju (Mandolin) along with Poongulam Subramaniam on the Mridangam, Ghatam S.Karthick on the Ghatam and one more person on the khanjira.
2. A piece of music named Ecstasy
Played by the same team along with musicians from the Global Rhythms.
3. Jeff Queen of Global Rhythms played some percussion instrument.
Pat Hernly from Global Rhythms who compered the whole show called the one played by Jeff as American music.
4. Raagam Taanam Pallavi in raaga Revathy
This was not like the usual RTP in Carnatic Music concerts. The ‘Konakkol’ by Pat Hernly was awesome.
5. Srinivas Krishnan sang a medley of some raagas used by A.R.Rahman in his compositions with a few words from the songs which are based on the raaga that he was singing. The songs included Lukka Chuppi (the line ‘Kya bataoon Maa’), Yeh Tara Woh Tara (the humming in the beginning of the song and the line ‘Bood Boond’), Oru Deivam Thanda Poove, Ghanan Ghanan and Mangal Mangal
6. An Italian piece of music played in Saxaphone by a member of Global Rhythms.
7. James Sparling of Global Rhythms played some percussion instrument.
8. Pat of Global Rhythms called this one as a tribute to Mridangam/Tani Avartanam. This one was amazing! The percussion artistes from Global Rhythms as well as Poongulam Subramaniam and Ghatam S.Karthick played this one.
9. Again a Carnatic music composition, Shobillu in Jaganmohini raaga.
10. A.R.Rahman’s Shakalaka Baby (Bombay Dreams’ version)
11. A.R.Rahman’s Thaiyya Thaiyya sung by Rahman’s sister Rehana and Palghat Sriram with Srinivas Krishnan also joining once in a while.
12. A.R.Rahman’s Dol Dol.
On the whole, the show was pretty good. But I somehow didn’t enjoy it that much. This is one show that made me feel I wouldn’t have missed much even if I had not attended it.
Dear Next-Seat-Maama/Maami,
I know that you are a highly knowledgeable person as far as Classical music is concerned and you know all the songs/raagas that the musician is singing / playing. But, should that make you sing the song or the raaga alapana along with the musician? I have come to the concert to hear the artistes on the stage perform. Not to hear your voice. You may be a good singer. But, if you want to show-off your singing skills, this is not the place for you. Why is it that in almost all the concerts that I go to, I find someone like you sitting next to me/behind me? I am not able to enjoy the performance of the musician completely as your singing keeps distracting me.
– Kaadhil Panjudan,
Aparna
P.S: I wrote it in this way after getting inspired by Prabhu’s writings.
I listened to ‘Bliss Factor’ from Guitar Prasanna’s album ‘Be the Change’ for the first time only day before yesterday. I liked it in the first listening itself. But, yesterday when I listened to it again, I became totally crazy about it and listened to it continuously for about 15 times! I love Shaliniâs singing in this one especially when she sings the swarams âR R G M P MâŚâ. I just canât stop myself from listening to it! Even before starting from home today morning, I listened to it for some 4 times. Those who have not listened to it, please do.
I went to Sanjay’s concert today at Anjaneya Temple, Alamelumangapuram. Sanjay was accompanied by Varadarajan on the violin and Arun Prakash on the Mridangam. Look at the combination. Do I need to even say how the concert was! Here’s the list of songs:
1. Ninnu joochi – Sowrashtram
2. Bala Kanakamaya – Atana
3. Tolijanma – Bilahari
4. Raama neene – Narayani
5. Kaa Vaa Vaa – Varali
6. Maa Janaki
7. Bantu Reeti – Hamsanadam
8. Kori Sevimpa – Karaharapriya (Main piece)
9. Manadirkkugadadu – Sindhubhairavi
10. Maavalla Gadamma – Mand
11. Mangalam – Sowrashtram