Reflections

Sanjay's concert at Parthasarathy Sabha on 30/12 was a real delight. Though I have heard a lot about Sanjay, this is the first time I heard him LIVE. Sanjay definitely  has a unique style and his expression and exploration of ragas really stand out. I found the selection of songs also to be really attractive. There was one song for each of the Trinity and then there were 2 Bharathiyar songs. If "Karuna Jooda nammina" in Shri ragam was soothing, the  lovely lullaby "Chetashri Balakrishnam Bhajare" in ragam Dwijavanthi was simply amazing. "Manam vaitharul Thaaye" in Sankarabharam was a fulfilling main song. While "Sollavallayo Kiliye" in Ritigowla was still resonating in your ears, "Ethanai Kodi Inbam Vaithai" another Bharathiyar song left you really speechless. The RTP which was Rendered To Perfection, was again unique. I thought I had atleast 2 different ragams, the aalapane seemed to be Hamsanandhi but the pallavi at the end was...

It was Abishek Raghuram singing at Parthasarathy Sabha today. I googled to find out that he is a child prodigy with a good music lineage and has been rising in popularity of late. After the opening Varnam passed, the next song went like 'Virulavu o kedha'. It took me a while to get used to Abishek. The way he was swaying between the violinst and mridangist, who by the way where atleast 5 ft apart, like he was possessed, with his convulsions and contortions, I really thought he was in serious trouble and needed a bunch of keys right away. The audience was also finding it very difficult, as half the time it looked like he was speaking to the Violinist or the Mridangist. The audio guy for his part didn't know what volume to give him. At the end of the second song, it was figured out that he needed more than one microphone and he was given the same! The crowd was so much that the sabha guys had put additional chairs all over the place and moving out of one's seat to the r...

My second concert of the day was by Sikkil Gurucharan at Parthasarathy Sabha. From a veteran in the morning to a youngster who is just 30, I was somehow seeing two ends of the spectrum on the same day. With Umayalpuram Sivaraman on mridangam, T.V.K.Ramanujacharyulu on Violin and Giridhar Udupa on Ghatam, it was a high profile team accompanying Gurucharan. After the second song, Gurucharan announced that the theme he had chosen was popular raagas but less popular krithis. Based on Dr.Sivaraman's request , he had chosen a song on Sri Thyagaraja in the raga Kalyani to start off. The song goes like "Sri Madaathi Thyagaraja guru". After a quick "Vidajaaldura", the main song was set in Thodi, "Amba nannu Brovave". The renditions of Kalyani and Thodi were really power packed.  Dr.Sivaraman really has some magic about him. The Tani as part of the main song was exemplary, so much so that for a change, the crowd that usually leaves when the Tani starts, wai...

After the exquisite lunch on Friday, I had no two thoughts about where to go when I decided to have lunch outside on Sunday 23/12. When I walked into Vidhya Bharathi Kalyana Mahal, I thought I heard a very familiar voice on the speakers. I was in for a shock when I peeped in because I thought for a moment that I saw the late Maharajapuram Santhanam singing. Then I told myself it must be one of his sons at sat down. After listening to an elaborate "Bhayami Raghuramam" by Maharajapuram Ramachandran, which took me back in time, I walked straight to the canteen.  After a few minutes I realized that I had got caught between two extremes. The guy on the left was repeating every thing and took a long time to move out of Sambar rice. The elderly gentleman on the right however was more a sanyasi who was shooing away everything. This had a real frustrating effect on the waiters and I had to put my foot down to prevent getting impacted and I did just that. MM did not disappoint. It...

It was Christmas special today at Music Academy. The Violin trio of T.N.Krishnan with Sriram and Viji Krishnan at 9:15 am. I had missed their concert and Parthasarathy Sabha and marked this one as a must attend.    I had set the alarm in mobile but unfortunately didn't notice that it was for 7:30 pm!  I woke up around 8:45 am and had to really rush. By the time I reached the academy it was 9:25 am but the parking was full and I had to rally around to St.Ebbas school, which cost me another 15 mins. I found my way to the balcony at 9:45 am, as the hall below was full. I found the same seat I had sat in at Shreya Ghoshal's concert a few months back. First row corner seat with a good view and enough space to stretch my long legs. The first song was one of the Panchratna Krithis, "Endharo Mahanu bhavulu". There was an elaborate main song which I liked but failed to recognize. The maestro then spoke and he wished the audience a merry christmas and a happy new year. He eve...

I reached a bit early for the Priya sisters concert on Sunday evening, with the idea of listening to Carnatica Brothers and I was glad that I did. They were just starting their main song, which turned out to be Abheri yet again and it was indeed "Bhajare Maansam" two days in a row. This was my first Priya Sisters concert though I remember hearing them briefly on TV several years back. After the "Nera Nammi" varnam, and "Pancha maathanga mukha Ganapathi" which I later learnt from google is a regular at Priya sisters concerts, came two pleasing Tamil songs "Maalmuruga Shanmuga" and  "Arivaar yaar unnai arivaar yaar". The highlight of the evening, Tygaraja's "Enthara neethana", happens to be one of my favourites and it was presented to perfection and in detail, with niraval and swaram placed at "Seshudu shivunuki". The RTP which went like "Gowri manohari karunai puri", reminded me of the main song presen...

Thanks to our cook at home who didn't turn up due to some personal reasons, I had to eat out today. Having managed Breakfast with an Oats bar, I was feeling really hungry after the morning concert. Lunch was at Gnanmibga at NGS. Gnanambiga is supposed to be the best Sabha place for tiffin but somehow I ended up at the wrong time. Most of the different items were not available at the time I went. Having decided to take tiffin, I ended up eating Onion Rava dosa and Idiyappam. They were tasty but nothing to really write about. Dinner was at Parthasarathy Sabha. I decided to go for new items out and out. Chocolate dosa was first. It was a ghee roast laced with chocolate sauce. To be frank I had expected more innovation and more chocolate sauce but it was still tasty, made even tastier by "Kaadhal enum theevinile" sounding at a distance. The other item chosen was Double decker idly. This was a colourful set of idlies stuffed with Chutneys on one side. The taste was good an...