Aparna’s Blog

I absolutely loved this talk by Chitra Madhavan. This was conducted as part of the Madras Week celebrations. Being someone who has visited lots of temples in Madras and who loves visiting temples and admiring the sculptures and architectures there, I had decided to attend this talk the day I saw the events lined up for celebrating Madras Week.

For this interesting talk that lasted for about an hour, Chitra had chosen some 20 temples in Chennai. Along with ‘some lesser known temples of Madras’, ‘some lesser known details about some famous temples’ were also a part of this lecture. With relevant photos being shown in the power point presentation, she spoke about the different architectural styles that these temples have, the era to which they belonged to, the inscriptions at these temples and some of the temple sculptures, among other things.
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Sanjay Subrahmanyan - Vocal
Nagai Muralidharan - Violin
Guruvayoor Dorai - Mridangam
Neyveli Venkatesh - Khanjira

Where & When? - Krishna Gana Sabha on 17th August

Concert duration: 2hrs 45 min

Songs List:
1. Varnam - Nattakurunji
2. Raa rama inti - Asaveri - Swarams at raa rama
3. Entarani - Harikambhoji - neraval & swarams at sheshudu
4. ambarame - Kalyani - Alapana, swarams at sempor kazhaladi
5. Nagagandhari - Nagagandhari - Alapana
6. innum paramugam yaeno - Begada
7. Parvati nayaka - Bowli - Alapana, Swarams at Parvati nayaka - Tani avartanam
8. RTP - Nattakurunji - Pallavi: manadhil urudhi vaendum vaakkinil inimai vaendum - Triputa, Misra chapu - Swarams in Subhapantuvarali Kumudakriya
9. kaaNi nilam vaendum - Ragamalika (Hamsadhwani, ?, Sindhu Bhairavi)
10. nijagadasa - Sindhu Bhairavi
11. idhuvo tillai - Sindhu Bhairavi
12. Mangalam - Sowrashtram
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I switched on the computer to write about Sanjay’s amazing concert yesterday in which he sang the Nattakurunji varnam and an awesome Nattakurunji RTP among other pieces. As I started typing the list of songs, I started listening to his Nattakurunji varnam on repeat mode. Lost in the magic of Nattakurunji, I stopped the typing and started listening to more of his Nattakurunji - two different recordings of Jagadeesha and Vazhi Maraitthirukkudhe. Listening to Vazhi Maraitthirukkudhe made me want to listen to Ananda natana prakasham. Listening to it on repeat mode, I started browsing through Sanjay’s recordings that I have. After listening to a beautiful RTP in Hamirkalyani, I am now listening to the brilliant Bhageshri RTP. I have not been doing anything other than listening to Sanjay’s recordings non-stop for more than 5 hours now and still yeh dil maange more! Am at a loss of words to describe the effect that Sanjay’s music has on me. Sanjay is the best!

I was watching some video of the youngest fan of ARR in youtube (Thanks to Siva for sharing it ) when I saw this (click on the link to listen) high quality recording of the Spirit of Unity concert theme (All my old readers might remember that I had posted the not-so-good quality recordings of the Spirit of Unity concert theme last year). I have been listening to it for the past 30 min & I still can’t stop listening to it! I was down with headache since the morning today and guess what? It’s has now disappeared. That’s the magic of Rahman’s music!

Accompanists:
R.K.Shriramkumar – Violin
T.V.Vasan – Mridangam
Anirudh Athreya – Khanjira

Where & When? – CLT, IIT Madras on 11th August

Songs list (partial):
1. Varnam – Kalyani – Adi – Swarams
2. Vinata suta – Jayantasena – Swarams at mata badha
3. ninnu sevinchina – Yadukula kambhoji – Alapana, neraval at Kanakangi
4. Brovaradha sri – Varunapriya – Raaga outline
5. Upacharamulanu – Bhairavi – Alapana, neraval & swarams at kapata nataka
6. Veenabheri – Abheri (the supposedly correct Abheri ) – Raaga outline
7. Raagam Taanam Pallavi – Nattai (had to leave just as the tanam started)
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Watched it yesterday. Didn’t expect it to be my kind of movie and that was exactly how it was. kaNgaL iraNDaal/Reetigowlai as BGM for some of the scenes was nice.

Sanjay Subrahmanyan - Vocal
S.Varadarajan – Violin
Tanjavur Ramdoss – Mridangam
K.V.Gopalakrishnan - Khanjira

Where & When? – Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium (Kalpa Druma Arts & Artists Festival) on 9th August

Concert Duration: 2.5 hrs

Songs List:
1. chalamu seya - Hindolam
2. Yochana - Darbar - Swarams at Yochana
3. Dehi tavapada - Sahana - Alapana
4. Akshayalinga vibho - Sankarabharanam - Alapana, neraval & swarams at Badari vanamula nayikAsahita (Elaborate piece)
5. Sivakama Sundari - Mukhari (Started with the anupallavi, bhavaroga)
6. ardhanAreeswaram - Kumudakriya - Alapana, Swarams
7. Saravanabhava - Madhyamavati - Alapana, Swarams at Saravanabhava - Tani Avartanam
8. oorile kaaNi (viruttam) followed by Karpooram naarumo - Khamas
9. Ghanta maNi - Kanada - Raaga outline
10. aaDum mayilaai (viruttam) followed by Kalpakambikai - Behag
11. Maavalla gadhama - Maand
12. orumai uDan - Kapi
13. Mangalam - Sowrashtram
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