Sanjay’s Concerts!!!

On 23rd June at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (Organized by Shri Maharajapuram Rasikas Trust)

Just like last year, this year too I missed 3 consecutive concerts of Sanjay and the last concert of Sanjay that I went for was in January! And what made attending this concert all the more exciting was that I came to know about this concert just a couple of hours before the concert was to start!!

Accompanists:
Nagai Muralidharan – Violin
Srimushnam Raja Rao – Mridangam

Concert Duration: 2 hrs 15 min

List of Songs:
1. Raghunayaka – Hamsadhwani – Adi – Swarams at Raghunayaka
2. Sri Kanchi Nayike – Asaveri – Rupakam
3. Sari Neeke – Kanada – Adi – Alapana
4. Buddhi Raadu – Sankarabharanam – Misra Chapu – Alapana; Swarams at bhaktula vaagamrita, bhaktula & vaagamrita, amrita, amrita & bhaktula
5. Kayarohanesham – Abheri – Rupakam
6. Vararagalaya – Chenchukambhoji – Adi
7. Saravana Bhava Guhane – Madhyamavati – Adi – Alapana; Swarams at Saravana Bhava
Tani Avartanam
8. Paarengum – Kalyani – Adi – Brief Alapana
9. SrtvA gunAt (Shlokam) – Kedaragowlai, Darbari Kanada, Mohanam
Bansi Vaale – Mohanam – Adi
10. Tillana – Sindhu Bhairavi – Adi
11. Mangalam – Sowrashtram

The first couple of songs, though good, didn’t really fascinate me enough. It was from the Kanada Alapana that I started enjoying the concert. The alapana, which reminded me so much of the Kanada in Sanjay’s Sivan CD, was nice. A phrase in the alapana was reminiscent of a line from the old Tamil film song Mullai Malar Maele.

But it was the Sankarabharanam that I liked even more. I have recently developed a liking for Sankarabharanam. I loved the song Buddhi Raadu. This was the first time that I was hearing it. I liked Srimushnam Raja Rao’s playing for this song.

Vararagalaya has been on my playlist for the last several months ever since I got hooked onto GNB’s singing and that made me enjoy this song even more.

Since the Sankarabharanam itself was pretty elaborate, I was hoping that there would be an RTP. After reading about Sanjay’s 3 pallavi Todi RTP at Bangalore, I was hoping that he would sing it here. But the Madhyamavati more than made up for an RTP not being sung. I was very happy that a delightful raagam like Madhyamavati was the main. The 10 minute long alapana was filled with so many beautiful phrases. The only grouse was that there was no neraval for it and for that matter, no neraval in the entire concert itself.

After Paarengum, which is one of my not-so-favourite songs, the concert only got even better with the shlokam Shrtva gunAt. It was just on the previous day of the concert that I was listening to Sanjay’s orumaiyuDan which I had downloaded from Charsur website a couple of days before. That had a beautiful Kedaragowlai and Bhageshri which got me instantly hooked to it. This made listening to Sanjay sing yet another delightful Kedaragowlai in this concert all the more special!

The Darbari Kanada, which is a Sanjay-Nagai Muralidharan specialty, was as mesmerizing as it always is! In a concert at Hanuman Temple, Alamelumangapuram (Mylapore) in January this year, Sanjay sang the same shloka Shrtva guNAt in Darbari Kanada and followed it up with a simple yet beautiful song, nI ninaindAl, in the same raagam. Listening to the same shlokam in the same raagam once again, brought back memories of that concert.

Mohanam in the end too was nice and so was Bansi Vaale.

The concert ended with MDR’s tillana in Sindhu Bhairavi, which I guess Sanjay is singing after quite some time, since in the recent times he seemed to be singing Thanjavur S.Kalyanaraman’s Sindhu Bhairavi tillana more often. The Sindhu Bhairavi, as always, was so haunting that I was left wishing that the concert didn’t have to end so soon!

If the 2 hrs 15 min long concert itself made me feel the concert was ending so soon, imagine how I would have felt when I had to leave an excellent Sanjay’s concert midway! But then the packaging of Sanjay’s concert has always been so perfect that irrespective of the duration, the satisfaction one derives from his concert remains the same. And that is what makes leaving a concert midway so difficult. Read on to find out more about the next concert of Sanjay that I went for.

On 18th July at Sri Ganapati Sachidanada Ashram, Velachery

My sister was here on a vacation during this concert. Having missed the last December Season itself, she was excited that she was going to listen to a Sanjay’s concert live after a very long time. But then she had a flight to catch on that day and that meant that the maximum time that we could be there in the concert that was to start at 6:30 pm was an hour or so.

Accompanists:
S.Varadarajan – Violin
Patri Satish Kumar – Mridangam

List of Songs:
1. Evvare (Varnam) – Sahana – Ata
2. Maru Balku – Mohanam – Swarams at Maru Balku
3. Ini Oru Kanam – Sri Ranjani – Alapana – Rupakam
4. Amba Nilambari – Nilambari – Adi
5. Ne Pogade Kunte – Varali – Kanda Chapu – Alapana; Neraval & Swarams at Neeraja Nayana Sri Tyagaraja
6. Soundararajam – Brindavana Saranga – Rupakam – Raaga Outline
7. Vakulabharanam Alapana

This concert had me totally immersed into it right from the opening varnam itself. I loved the Nilambari and Varali pieces. Varali doesn’t feature as often in Sanjay’s concert as in TMK’s. Varadarajan and Patri were excellent as always. We had decided that we would leave exactly at 7:30 pm, which is when the Varali piece ended. But the moment he started Brindavana Saranga, we couldn’t bring ourselves to leave and waited till the song ended. I really liked Sanjay’s rendition of Soundararajam much more than the last time I had heard him sing it in some concert.

By the time he started Vakulabharanam Alapana, we had no option but to leave. We thought he would have sung Saadu Tadaa. But then it seems he had sung an RTP!! What a bad miss! 🙁

I really wish Sanjay updates his concert schedule in his blog. We came to know about this concert only from ‘The Hindu’  that morning. If only Sanjay had updated his schedule in his blog, my sister would have planned her trip accordingly! Sigh!

8 thoughts on “Sanjay’s Concerts!!!

  1. Manasa

    Dear All,

    Thanks for the info. I missed Sri Ganapati Sachidanada Ashram concert.I was searching for the list. Once again thanks for the same.

    Reply
  2. Aparna

    SS,
    Thanks for the link. Stephen’s playing was, of course, awesome! Didn’t like the singer’s singing.

    Prasanna,
    Belated thanks. Next one is on Sep 4th 🙂

    Manasa,
    Welcome to my blog!

    The kid,
    I like all types of music as long as I enjoy it.

    adiya,
    A comment from you! What a surprise!

    Reply
  3. Pingback: Aparna’s Blog » Sanjay’s Narada Gana Sabha Concert

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