Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s oeuvre for Rajalakshmi Fine Arts’ September Season was unique, but the style, traditional. Right from Patnam Subramania Iyer’s Ata tala pada varnam, ‘Dhaari Theliyaga Vachi,’ to the mangalam, he kept offering both rare kritis and a few popular ones, lending them his signature.
After ‘Pallaandu Pallaandu’ by Periyazhwar, he set out on an elaborate delineation of Ramapriya and followed it up with ‘Korina Varamosagumayya, Kodhandapani’ by Patnam Subramania Iyer. ‘Naadaadina Maata’ in Janaranjani proved a typical example of Tyagaraja’s fondness for proverbs. (‘Thalaku Vachina Baadha Thalapaakagu Jethu’ – ‘Thalaikku Vandhadhu Thalaippaagaiyodu Pochchu’). Niraval and swaraprastharas saw the vocalist and the violinist vying with each other. Neyveli Venkatesh on the mridangam and Anirudh Athreya on the ganjira added laya, unobtrusively.
During the delineation of Sankarabharanam, Sanjay’s ability to hold his breath and linger on was amazing. ‘Muthukkumarayyane’ by Ramaswamy Sivan was rendered at great speed. ‘Shaantamu Lekaa Sowkhyamu Laedhu’ in Sama followed softly. Swati Tirunal’s ‘Jaya Jaya Padmanabha Muraare’ in Manirangu was appropriate, as a festival for Ananta Padmanabha Swamy was celebrated on that day. His rendition of Hindolam with a delightful tanam for the RTP with the pallavi, ‘Maayaa Vaamanane, Madhusudhaa, Neeyarulvaay’ culminated in a heart-warming thani. His virutham, beginning with ‘Kulam Tharum,’ was a class apart.
As part of the festival, Rajalakshmi Fine Arts honoured Cleveland Sundaram with the ‘Prakrithi’ award and Sanjay with the ‘Isai Mani Makutam.’ Sundaram’s wife received the award on his behalf. While felicitating Sanjay, M. Krishnan of Sri Krishna Sweets described him as the U.Ve.Saa. of Carnatic music, for his tireless efforts to ferret out new compositions and popularise them. Sanjay modestly replied that a lot of rare compositions were available in print. One had to just look for them.
Over the years, Sikkil Gurucharan has added depth to his voice and maturity to his music. He began with the varnam, ‘Sarasooda,’ in Saveri. Kanthamani ragam is not usually taken up for elaboration but Gurucharan took it up and brought out the sweet pathos of the raga before presenting ‘Paalinthuvo Paalimpavo’ by Tyagaraja. ‘Paahimaam Brihannaayike, Lokanaayike’ (Swati Tirunal) in Husseini was another rare delight. His delineation of Madhyamavati (‘Saravana Bhava Guhane’) was an apt sample of ‘sowkhya bhava.’ Niraval for the line, ‘Annaiyodu Thandhai Nee,’ along with K.V. Prasad’s mridangam was thoroughly enjoyable. This was followed by a lovely rendition of Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar, ‘Raghunaatha Ninnu’ in Swara Ranjani. It reminded one of ‘Raghuvamsa Sudhaambudhi’ by Patnam Subramania Iyer.
The RTP in Purvikalyani with the pallavi, ‘Aanandha Natanam Aadinaar,’ was sumptuous. Gurucharan concluded with Guru Surajananda’s composition , ‘Kandhanin Azhagil Bhaktar Mayakkam’ and a thillana. V. Sanjeev’s violin was smooth and soaked in raga bhava.
Ghatam S. Karthick ’s versatility came to the fore through his informative and enjoyable presentation, ‘Sums(K)rhythm’. Those who only knew him as an ace ghatam artist got to see him as a composer, an interesting speaker and an effective coordinator. The ensemble presented a lot of calculations (sums) and rhythm with K (Karthick) at the centre. The talented team comprised S. Karthick (ghatam, hymns, slokas, konnakkol and vocal), Palakkad Sriram (keyboard, flute, vocal and konnakkol), Prapancham Ravindran (mridangam), Anirudh Athreya (ganjira), Payyanoor Govinda Prasad (morsing), Thirukkannapuram Sowrirajan (thavil), N. Kesavan ( Chennda, Sudha madhalam and edakka), Praveen Sparsh ( Wave drum, Cajan, percussion) and Rajagopalan (Ghatasingari, udukkai, nagara, bells, conch, salangai and other effects).
Defining ‘layam’ as ‘that which makes one lose oneself in,’ (layikka Seyvadhu), Karthick pointed out that according to Kanchi Mahaperiyava, the basic sounds, ‘tat, dhit, tam, nam’ are from ‘Tat Dhi:, Tam Nama:’, the quintessence of the Gayathri Mantram. The team began with Karthick’s composition in Jog, ‘Samskritha Bhashini,’ following a delightful alapana by Sriram. Another composition in Sanskrit, ‘Charukesi, Sarasija Lochani,’ and the Tamil song set to the tune of ‘ Mudhaakaraatha Modhakam’ — ‘Muzhu Muthar Kadavulin’, were lively.
‘Haara Nupura Devi Navaratna Malika,’ a nine-verse prayer composed by Adi Sankara on Goddess Lalithambika of Thirumeeyachur, was the centrepiece, with all the instrumentalists coming together towards the end. The audience also got a feel of how each one sounded, as the instrumentalists played individually too. Karthick concluded with a folk song, ‘Mazhai Thandha Saamikku Vanakkam Sonnom,’ another of his compositions.
In his chatty style, Karthick let the audience into interesting anecdotes and information, for example, the story about ‘Charana Sringa Rahita Stotram’. Known as ‘Shambhu Natanam’ this stotram is bliss to listen to.
Trichur Brothers - Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar - opened their concert with Balamurali Krishna’s varnam ‘Omkaara Pranava.’ After ‘Gajaananayutham’ in Vegavahini by Dikshitar, Srikrishna Mohan rendered Sahana for ‘Jaya Jaya Raghuraamaa’ by Swati Tirunal. ‘Sinamadaiyaadhe’ by Dhandapani Desikar in Bahudari was pleasing and thought-provoking. ‘Subrahmanyena Rakshitoham’ was presented with a detailed alapana and scintillating swaraprastharas. The duo gave a fine sample of Ghanam Krishnayyar’s padams with ‘Thiruvotriyur Thyagarajan Chidvilaasa Naadhanadi.’
‘Sripathe Nee Chinthana’ in Nagaswaravali was brisk and energetic. The resonating Charukesi was taken up for the RTP, thanks to the excellent depiction of the vocalists and the violinist V.V. Ravi. The raga leapt out like a glistening cascade through his fingers. The pallavi, ‘Marakada Manimaya Vilasitha Raamayyaa,’ lingered on even after it was over. The duo paid their respects to Bharatiar, whose death anniversary was observed on that day, with ‘Chinnanjiru Kiliye.’ Trichur R. Mohan and G Suresh (ghatam) gave an entertaining thani.
