There was another reason to laud Sanjay Subramanyam; besides the typical brilliance of his singing, it was for his choice of Kanakangi. (The raga seems to be in the air, this Season.)
After having been banished into obscurity for many years, the first Melakarta raga made its appearance once again. (Earlier, B. Kannan took it up for elaborate treatment at Bharat Kalachar.)
Sanjay's Kanakangi had the stamp of his mastery over the art, though one felt the vivadi note, ‘ga', could have been a little restrained. Suddhananda Bharati's ‘Ullam Urugi Urugi' was the composition chosen. It was a bit disappointing that he did not sing swaras.
Accomplished artists such as Sanjay must popularise ragas that have faded into oblivion and swara singing is an indispensable element of that process.
This concert was a lot more sober than is typical of the artist, especially when compared with his previous recital at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. When the vocalist is in full flow, he completely loses himself and his imagination is akin to a ping-pong ball hurled with considerable force in a small, closed room.
At the KGS show, his Sankarabharanam was like that — amazing in imagination, but short of aesthetics. In contrast, the Purvikalyani at Tamil Isai was enjoyable. Sanjay chose Ramalinga Swamigal's Tiruvarutpa piece ‘Appa Naan Vendudal Ketarul', (a verse that one has heard Balamuralikrishna sing in Vagadeeswari.) The only exception in Sanjay's singing here was the choice of the point for niraval and swaras – ‘Tappaedum Naan Seyyinum,' which is not a very emotive line. The pallavi line or say ‘Suddha Siva Margam' would have been a better choice.
The main offering was RTP in Kharaharapriya. Here, Sanjay was back with his ‘ping-pong ball alapana' but the tanam was superb. For pallavi, the singer took up a Tiruvalluvar Kural, ‘Kuzhal Inidu, Yaazh Inidu Enbar.'
Violinist S. Varadarajan was not quite himself. His Kanakangi essay came out as though he were playing the reference notes, rather than exploring the space between them. His Purvikalyani and Kharaharapriya alapanas too were just to-the-point. However, brilliance came to the fore in the play of Kharaharapriya swaras.
