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

This was one of those concerts that are topnotch right from the first song till mangaLam. Be it the AlApanas, neraval and swarams or the song renditions, everything seemed to be perfect!

The concert started with siva lOka, maybe because the concert was on the day of ArudrA darsanam? 🙂 The elaborate mukhAri AlApana was too good.

If Sanjay’s singing of the pallavi ‘tirvaDi saraNam enRingu nAn nimbi vandEn dEvA’ itself is bliss (the way he sings devA! Aha!), imagine how a detailed neraval in it would be! This kAmbhOji neraval was the first really elaborate neraval by Sanjay this Season. His kAmbhOji neravals are always delightful, be it for ‘aDuttu vanda ennai’ in tiruvaDi saraNam or for the ‘viri prapancam’ in ADum deivam.

Every minute of the bhahudhAri RTP was awesome with the rAgamAlikA swarams in rAgAs that are contrasting to the mood of bhahudhAri giving it a nice finish.

pAyum oLi has become a regular in Sanjay’s concerts these days, but it was in this concert that I really enjoyed it for the first time.

I have never been able to enjoy Sanjeev’s playing that much. Had different accompanists been a part of this concert, the concert would definitely have gone on to become even more memorable.

But, nevertheless, this was one of the most satisfying concerts of the season for me. How I wish the concert hadn’t been for such a short duration!