Sandeep Narayan at Narada Gana Sabha, December 30, 2018

[tmmurali]

Vocal: Sandeep Narayan
Violin: Mysore Srikanth
Mridangam: K. V. Prasad
Kanjira: Anirudh Athreya

1. calamEla jEsEvayya, nATakuranji, Mulaivittu Rangasami Nattuvanar
2. evvarE rAmayya, gAngEYabhUSANi, Thyagaraja, swarams
3. paruvam pArkka nyAyamA, dhanyAsi, Anai Ayya
4. nanu pAlimpa, mohanam, Thyagaraja, ragam, neraval at vanaja nayana mOmunu, swarams
5. thani avarthanam
6. marukElaraa O rAghavA, jayantashree, Thyagaraja
7. RTP, nATakuranji, thanam in nATakuranji, ranjani, sindhu bhairavi, I did not note the pallavi lyrics or the talam, swarams in nATakuranji only
8. ADum chidhambaramO, behAg, GOpAlakrishna BhAratiyaar
9. Thillana, Dwijavanthi, ThanjAvur S. Kalyanaraman
10. Mangalam

(Please forgive my inconsistent transliteration.)

Emboldened by my first post and heeding Srinath’s exhortation for a review on Sandeep’s concert (that appeared at the end of his review of Sudha Raghunathan's concert at Tamil Isai Sangam), I am posting my this-is-a-report-and-not-even-close-to-a-review.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Sandeep the two times I have heard him live and in recordings and on YouTube. Today was the first chance I could get to hear him this season. I raced up the steps of NGS at 7:02. As I arrived huffing and puffing at the summit, the lady at the counter calmed me down by saying there were many tickets available.

In the hall, I clambered over one mama and two mamis in my haste to sit even though there were a lot of empty seats and I could have entered my row from the central aisle. Sandeep was rendering the Nattaikurinji varnam. I don't have strong feelings about this ragam one way or the other. Nevertheless, it was pleasant to listen to the varnam.

Next, he essayed a ragam for a few seconds. All I could register was the R3G3 combination before he launched into "evvarE rAmayya," which my mental look-up table said was in Gangeyabhushani. He sang it very well in a leisurely manner with a nice round of swarams. He announced the name of the ragam after completing the item. I had my vivadi fix in the second song itself!

He followed with a short and sweet alapanai (think mini jangiri at A2B) of Dhanyasi before singing "paruvam pArkka nyAyamA", which I had not heard before. Dhanyasi is not a ragam I particularly enjoy, so I was relieved that he did not essay any neraval or swarams.

The main item was "nanu pAlimpa". I was riveted by his alapanai. I couldn't tell you what he did technically but I loved it. For a short stretch, he sang in a Hindustani style or so I thought. The violin return was equally good. Neraval was outstanding at the usual place: "vanaja nayana mOmunu". In the climactic, long sequence where he gradually ascended the scale, he seemed to reach the upper D2 and may have gone above and beyond. Extensive swaras followed, including some Hindustani-style singing and some signature Madurai Mani Iyer phrases.

The thani followed accompanied by an exodus of a few members of the audience. K. V. Prasad stopped for a few seconds. I am not sure why; perhaps he was waiting for the movement to die down. I can't say much about the thani except that I enjoyed the mridangam's sound a lot and much more than the kanjira. In the initial part of the thani, he used the left hand almost exclusively for a few seconds, which was very pleasing to my ears.

At the conclusion of the thani, T. V. Gopalakrishnan sprang up from the first row, applauded the artistes, and left the hall looking very happy.

The next item was the filler Marukela ra o raghava.

When I heard him in an afternoon slot in the Music Academy in 2014, Sandeep managed to fit a main item and an RTP in the two hours allotted to him. I was expecting the same here, especially with an extra half an hour that he had at his disposal.

Indeed, he launched into an RTP. The ragam was Nattaikurinji, as assessment assented to by the mama and two mamis in the row ahead of me (a different trio from the one that was still nursing its wounds). The alapanai was somewhat short. He launched into a tanam and switched to Ranjani and Sindhu Bhairavi. I love Ranjani and enjoyed his essay. The Sindhu Bhairavi was outstanding and the highlight of the concert for me. He announced the talam but I did not record it, unfortunately. I did not note the words of the pallavi either. He probably did a lot of complex things in the pallavi, which other rasikas seem to decode effortlessly in other reviews. On the other hand, talam to me is like "is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". There was a mini thani following the swarams, which were only in Nattaikurinji.

Post-RTP items were ADum chidhambaramO and a thillana in Dwijavanthi. He sang the ragam for a few seconds before commencing the thillana. At its conclusion, he said that it was a composition of Thanjavur S. Kalyanaraman.

I do not recall hearing Mysore Srikant before. He was a good foil to Sandeep. His violin sounds very melodious. In contrast, I heard a raspy violin two days ago, which I felt had "thonda kattified" (the violin had a cold).

The concert did have some negatives for me.

(i) The climax of the Mohanam neraval was loud, especially as he reached the upper octave.
(ii) There was a lot of padding in the Mohanam swarams, which I felt did not add any value. He may have done some complex kanakkus but they were lost on me.
(iii) I have heard Anirudh Athreya play earlier with a soft touch. I was surprised by the loudness of the kanjira at times in this concert. In contrast, the mridangam's nadam was lovely and his playing was very pleasant.
(iv) I am pained to say that the climax of the Nattaikurinji swarams in the RTP was an assault on the ears.

I have heard Sandeep live twice earlier: in 2014 at the Music Academy and in 2016 at RTP (Research Triangle Park in the USA). There was no loudness in his voice in 2014 but it had crept in in 2016 when he did a similar ascending sequence for the neraval for Kamalambam Bhajare and in the Bageswari RTP as well. I do not know if it is a pattern or if my ears are becoming sensitive or if it is just a coincidence or if I should sit farther away from the speakers.

A final note. After the concert, I had a short discussion with an acquaintance. He said that the RTP was in Kurinji, when all the time I had been thinking that Sandeep had gone old school by releasing the RTP ragam in the opening varnam. You can imagine how I felt. “I reeled. Yes, it is not too much to say that I reeled. This extraordinary statement had taken me amidships without any preparation, and it staggered me.” Kurinji is not at all a ragam I know well and I cannot believe I could have confused it with Nattaikurinji. It was only my confidence in the mama and mamis in the row ahead of me that prevented me from keeling over base over apex. Or were they asking each other: "Not a Kurinji?"

[arasi]

tmmurali, another young paradESi, I guess. Such a refreshing review! Thanks...
I was going to hear Sandeep too, but had to leave Chennai yesterday, changing my plans...
You HAVE written the rAgA name right once (edited?)! Yes, nATTaik kuRinji! But for the speeding, Sandeep is very good, indeed...
Another miss was Gayathri Girish for me...

[rshankar]

yengaL nATTai kurinji enbArO?

[arasi]

purinjikkiTTavar nIr

[tmmurali]

tmmurali, another young paradESi, I guess. Such a refreshing review! Thanks...

Hi Arasi, I am indeed a paradESi but hardly young. I am well on my way towards mama-hood (or is it mama-dom?). It is just that some others are mama-er and mami-er than me.

[musi]

Nice. I have been to 3 of his concerts so far and all the 3 had mohanam main He seems to love that raga!
He sang Kapali as main in Meenakshi fine arts this very season and if i remember right the dwijavanthi thillana and nattaikurunji varnam too!

I think only RaGa, Sudha, Sanjay, Jayashree need to make sure they dont repeat ragas! He still has a little more time to enjoy that luxury of raga /composition repetition within a season....
But I really love his style and concert . Surely the next Sanjay..

[sureshvv]

Surely the next Sanjay..

Not so fast! Few other contenders for sure...

[tmmurali]

Nice. I have been to 3 of his concerts so far and all the 3 had mohanam main He seems to love that raga!
He sang Kapali as main in Meenakshi fine arts this very season

There is definitely a pattern! He sang Kapali when testing the sound system at the 2016 concert at the Research Triangle Park.