N Vijay Siva - concert by CMANA in NJ – April 14, 2024

[Sankar Narayanan]

Sri Vijay Siva gave a fulfilling concert for CMANA in New Jersey on 4-14-2024. He was accompanied by Trivandrum Dr N Sampath on the violin, Palakkad Hari Narayanan on the mridangam; vocal support was provided by Vijaya Siva’s senior disciples - S.R. Vikneswaran, Niranjan Krishna, Swetha Ramachandran.

The discerning NJ audience was treated to an orthodox and vintage (‘prAcheenam’) concert. Like a quantum physicist, Vijay Siva transported us back in time for almost three-and-half hours. At the conclusion with a tiruppugazh + mangaLam, we reluctantly returned back to the present!

Song List:
1. nIlAyatAkSI nIvE jagatsAkSI - paraju – Tisra triputa - syAmA sAstri
2. sAmaja varadA nIku sari evvarayya rAmA – shuddhasAvEri – rUpakam - pooci srInivAsa aiyyangAr ; N, S @ anupallavi line – “kAma janaka shubha phaladA karuNAlavAla”
3. mAmava mInAkshi rAja mAtangi – varALi – misrachApu – MD; R; N, S @ “SyAmE Sankari digvijaya pratApini”
4. ennEramum undan (‘எந்நேரமும் உந்தன்’) – dEvaghAndAri – Adi 2 kaLai – GKB; R sketch
5. parASakti manuparAdA nApai parAkElanammA – sAvEri – Adi – T ; N @ anupallavi line ‘purANi dharmasamvardani shrIpurAdhIshvari rAjashEkhari’
6. cinna nADE nA ceyi baTTitivE – kalAnidhi – Adi – T
7. koniyADina nApai kOpamu sEyamEra – kAmbhOji – Adi - vINA kuppaiyyar ; elaborate R; S @ ninnu mincina daivamu (no N); thani
8. RTP - gowri manOhari; Pallavi line – “yamunA dIra vihArA sundarEswarA || gOpikA manOharA” (‘யமுனா தீர விகாரா சுந்தரேஸ்வரா || கோபிகா மனோகரா’) ; - Adi 2 kaLai ; ragamalika swarams in naLinakAnti, kAnadA, danyAsi
9. sakala graha bala nInE sarasijAkSa – atANA – kandachApu – PD
10. ‘Asai muham marandu pOchE’ (‘ஆசை முகம் மறந்து போச்சே’) – jOnpuri – Adi - subramanya BhArati ; song prefaced by a short viruttam meadley in atANA, hamIrkalyANi, jOnpuri.
11. paniyin vinthuLi pOlavE (‘பனியின் விந்துளி போலவே’) – harikAmbhOji – kanda druvam(?) - aruNagirinAthar
12. mangaLam


Sri Vijay Siva (VS) and team started with a brisk invocation of ambAL via syAmA sAstri’s ‘nIlAyatAkSI nIvE’ in paraju. The mood and tone were set right then and there; as they say – கச்சேரி களை கட்டியது!

Next came pooci srInivAsa aiyyangAr’s ‘sAmaja varadA’ praising rAmA as the savior of Gajendra. VS included energetic niraval and kalpanAswarams at “kAma janaka” . It was nice to note the “srInivAsA” Telugu language stamp a different shade to other Telugu composers’ say tyagarAjA and syAmA sAstri!

VS immediately launched a soulful varALi AlApanA. The violin return by Sampath was done very nicely. VS was traversing up and down with ease and comfortably touching all anuswaras including the mystic madhyamam (‘ வராளி மத்யமம் சௌக்யம்’). VS took MD’s iconic song ‘maa mava meenakshi’ and treated it exactly as MD would have envisioned ( ‘vAggeyakAra bhAvA’ ; which in my mind is differently nuanced than ‘sAhithya bhAvA’). Niraval and swarams were done at 'SyAmE Sankari'. It was notable that his vocal supporting students showed their mettle in the niraval without disturbing their guru’s flow. Whilst singing swaras, VS beautifully explored straight swara patterns such as ‘sari-gAri’ and ‘pA-magA’, and also vakra patterns such as ‘sani-gAri’.

Next came ‘ennEramum undan’ by gOpAla krishna BhArati. The rakthi of dEvaghAndAri was pleasing to the ears throughout. VS portrayed the Chidambaram temple architecture when he sung the stanza ‘pancAkshara paDiyum koDikkambamum (‘பஞ்சாட்சரப்படியும் கொடிக்கம்பமும்’).

It was time for another rathki rAgA and sAvEri rode in majestically. VS comfortably explored all the octaves in the AlapanA. The fitting response by violinist Sampath brought him a big applause. The song chosen was tyagarAjA’s ‘parASakti manuparAdA nApai parAkElanammA’ on the sthala Goddess of tiruvaiyAru temple. Nice neraval at the anupallavi “purANi darmasamvardhani” highlighting the sthala deity’s name.

After a brisk and beautiful ‘cinna nADE nA’, VS moved to the main item.

VS started the main with an elaborate and nuance-laden kAmbhOji AlApanA. Sampath’s violin returns aptly embellished the mood of the raga. There was also a good participation from the supporting vocalists; the effortless and seamless give-and-take (கொடுத்து வாங்கல்) between the guru and the shishyas was nice and something we don’t see often these days. The song was vINA kuppaiyar’s ‘koniyADina nApai kOpamu sEyamEra’. I lost count of the number of sangatis (at least 15 or more?); the guest speaker Dr V Swaminathan also made a similar observation and attributed it to vINA kuppaiyer’s scholarship and distinct composing style! VS swapped niraval for elaborate swarams at ‘ninnu mincina daivamu’ . He presented a few rounds of nice slow and fast swarams before handing off to Hari for the solo. Hari’s thani was energetic and fast-paced. Throughout the concert Hari displayed his laya skills in the speediest manner possible with ease. He demonstrated variety and dexterity as a deserving disciple of his guru, the centenarian Sri T K Murthy.

The ensuing RTP was a demonstration of lakshanam coupled with brevity. As the American poet Criss Jami says “The role of genius is not to complicate the simple, but to simplify the complicated”. VS presented a nice AlApanA in gowrimanOhari, followed it with a tAnam with proper diction while using the roots anantam and Anandam, and sung the Pallavi with bhAvA; all the technical elements and the ragamalika swarams were delivered with a sense of optimal proportionality. The self-evident pallavi line describes krishNA as ‘yamunA dIra vihArA’ , as ‘gOpikA manOharA’, and as ‘sundarEswarA’.

The post-pallavi session started with a brief ‘sakala graha bala nInE sarasijAkSa’, possibly as a nod to the arrival of krOdhi new year explained by guest-speaker Dr V. Swaminathan as having angArakA as king and sanaiswaran as mantri.

Next, a brief but beautiful viruttam-style medley served as a launching pad for ‘Asai mukham marandu pOchE’ in jOnpuri which was sung with gusto in the DKJ and VS style, and included all the charanams as written by bhAratiyAr!

VS concluded the concert with the meaning-laden and tongue-twisting tiruppugazh ‘paniyin vinthuLi pOlavE’ by aruNagirinAthar where the saint-siddhar-sanyasi-poet accurately admires the miracle of a speck-sized fetus progressing in stages into a fully-developed newborn!

The standing ovation at the end was well deserved. It is incumbent upon leading organizations to recognize such a senior & leading musician of high caliber and standing. Doing so will elevate the stature of the organization and the artform itself.

[rajeshnat]

Thank you Sankar narayanan for your lovely review . I have not heard a 3 and half hour concert of Vijay SIva in chennai or once i heard in bangalore both were max of around 3 and half hours.

On your view point of "The ensuing RTP was a demonstration of lakshanam coupled with brevity. As the American poet Criss Jami says “The role of genius is not to complicate the simple, but to simplify the complicated”.

I would humbly state the school of DKJ DKP is not that known for elaborate RTP unlike schools of SSI,GNB,TRS,MMI, TNS etal . VIjay is DKJ student his pallavis are not in that elaborate league of elaborate raagam taanam and swarakalpana . But his brevity is overridden with more compositions.

All said thank you for your great review, rasikas is slowly bouncing .I thank you for posting it here than that one sided facebook

[Sundara Rajan]

A nice concert and nice review. Vijay Siva is one of my favorite vocalists, as were his mentors. How I miss live concerts that I used to drive (150+ miles)to New Jersey, all the way from upstate New York ! In spite of a number of music teachers and a large number of south Indian population, Orlando is almost a desert without carnatic concerts. I used to drive to Tampa for a few concerts every year, but now I cannot drive that far (100+ miles only)and also very few concerts there too now. Life goes on with at least a large number of programs available in the You Tube channel.

[Sankar Narayanan]

Dear @rajeshnat, thanks for your kind feedback.

I agree with your comment on the varying styles to RTP elaboration. Different schools! There are days where I listen to just RTPs of various stalwarts!
Even in the other songs, the alapana, niraval, swaram aspects of manodharma were appropriately balanced (or, shall we say, rationed ). As you rightly say, the brevity was compensated with more compositions. Overall, it was a differently enjoyable experience.

[Sankar Narayanan]

Dear @Sundara Rajan,
Yes, Orlando seems to be a CM desert in FL, Only Tampa and occasionally Miami/Jacksonville host concerts .

[thanjavooran]

Shri sankarNarayanan avl,
Excellent detailed review. Many thanks. There are rasikas but quite reluctant to participate in the discussions.
This not only encourages the Vidwans but also seniors who attend the concerts. S/shri Sundar Raman and Rajeshnat never miss to record their appreciation. This I notice in Bay Area too. Thanks a lot again. Please continue since a pass time for us.
With wishes,
Thanjavooran,
18 04 2024

[arasi]

I echo Thanjavooran's sentiments. Please share more of your listening experience with us!

[Sankar Narayanan]

Dear Sri @thanjavooran and @Arasi madam,
Thanks for your kind responses. It is heartening to get comments from veteran Jambavans like yourselves as I too learn quite a bit in the process! I will keep the forumites posted on the NJ concerts that I am able to attend. Regards.

[ram1999]

Thank you Sankar narayanan for your lovely review . I have not heard a 3 and half hour concert of Vijay SIva in chennai or once i heard in bangalore both were max of around 3 and half hours.

On your view point of "The ensuing RTP was a demonstration of lakshanam coupled with brevity. As the American poet Criss Jami says “The role of genius is not to complicate the simple, but to simplify the complicated”.

I would humbly state the school of DKJ DKP is not that known for elaborate RTP unlike schools of SSI,GNB,TRS,MMI, TNS etal . VIjay is DKJ student his pallavis are not in that elaborate league of elaborate raagam taanam and swarakalpana . But his brevity is overridden with more compositions.

All said thank you for your great review, rasikas is slowly bouncing .I thank you for posting it here than that one sided facebook

Not sure why this fetish for detailed pallavis. what is important is good music, bhakti laden and captivating music. The DKP/DKJ school have excelled in all aspects and the music is of supreme quality. one has to be careful in assessment !

[grsastrigal]

NIce review. RTP in Gowrimanohari. Very nice.