Stupendous Sanjay enthrals audience

‘Sangeetha Chakravarthi’ Sanjay Subramanyam’s concert was one to be cherished for a long time. He raised the bar on the opening day of six-day cultural event organised by SICA at Ravindra Bharati, which was inaugurated by Governor ESL Narasimham

Sanjay Subramanyam needs no introduction. The renowned Carnatic vocalist has enthralled music connoisseurs far and wide and he opened the six-day cultural fest by South Indian Cultural Association (SICA) at Ravindra Bharathi on Sunday. Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh ESL Narasimhan inaugurated the festivities by lighting the lamp. Team SICA felicitated Sanjay and conferred the title ‘Sangeeta Chakravarthi’ for his contribution to the field of music.

Sanjay Subramanyan is the most sought artiste and in a career spanning over two decades he won many prestigious awards. A chartered accountant by profession, Sanjay was initiated into music at age of eight. Groomed by reputed gurus like V Lakshminarayana, Rukmini Rajagopalan and SRD Vaidyanathan, Sanjay has developed his own inimitable style. Renowned for singing eka raga krithis, his music is characterised by a strong and powerful voice.

Sanjay opened his concert with Nata raga Alwar Pasaram. It was rendered briskly with a pleasing note. He then took famous Athana raga krithi of Thyagaraja “Elaa Nee Daya Raadu” beginning with Anupallavi charanam “Balakanakamaya Chela”. It was a treat, when he rendered the charanams “Raaraa Devaadideva”, “Mahaanubhavaa”, “Rajeevanethra” and “Raghuvara Putra”.

This was followed by another best of Thyagaraja in Sama Raga, “Santhamu Leka Soukhyamu Ledu”. Here, he made an emotive appeal besides embellishing anupallavi and other charanams. He then selected a jewel piece of Deekshitar, “Sree Ramachandro Rakshathu Maam” (Sriranjani) and rendered it so emotively that audience could visualise various scenes of Ramayana such as Yaga Rakshna, Guha and Dhanurbhanga episodes. He then rendered a Tamil song “Muddukumaraa” (Kuranji).

Sanjay took RTP (Ragam, Taanam and Pallavi) in Simhendramadhyamam raga. He gave an extensive raagalapana. He chose “Maya Vamannaney Madhusudana Neelarulaayeh”, as pallavi and rendered it well in raagamalika, choosing ragas Begada, Poorvi Kalyani and Abheri.

A krithi on Lord Krishna by Swathi Thirunal, “Banseevaleay Vinmala Moha” (Mohana) was infused with Hindusthani (Pahadi rag) flavour and Sanjay amused the audience with his mesmerisiting rendition of Kalindi and Muraliravam. Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar’s krithi in Kapi “Kaliloh Harinamasmaranamokaatey” was another pleasing rendition. Sanjay concluded with a Yamunakalyani krithi.

Throughout his concert Sanjay rendered ragaalapana and swarakalpana to the extent the krithi demands, which has to be learnt by upcoming artistes.

S Varadarajan (violin), Nyvelli Venkatesh (mridangam) and Venkata Ramanan (kanjira) gave excellent instrumental support. In ragaalapana, while accompanying the artiste, Varadarajan showed his expertise. Venkatesh’s touch was gentle and he kept the serenity intact. Venkata Ramanan, great grandson of Chittoor Subramanya Pillai displayed his superb Kanjira skills. Thaniavarthanam by Venkatesh and Venkata Ramanan was masterful. They played Chaturasra jathi, Triputa thalam and Khanda gathi in perfect harmony.