concerts of TNSeshagopalan- season 2005-6

1-1-2006 at Tamizisai- ANNAMALAI MANRAM
The year started gloriously with the Pasurams of Mudalazvars. TNS usually gives thematic concerts in Tamizisai every year. He has given conceerts on Kambha Ramayana, Thayumanavar padalgal, Arutpa of Vallalar and Tiruppugaz in the last few years and several other compositons earlier. This year he chose the pasurams of poigai Azvar, Bhoothathazvar and Peyazvar, who were the first among the azvars and hence were called Mudhalaazvars. The story goes that all the three were taking shelter in a small place where the Lord Himself came and gave them His darsan. TNS brought this out before our eyes through his music.
TNS, after an inspiring short speech on the devotional aspect of the compositions started with’ Pallandu pallandu ‘ in a traditional manner and then sang the invocatory verses on the three azvars by Mudaliyandan and then proceeded to sing the first pasuram of each of the three, all set in nattai raga, thus setting the scene for devotional fervour. The first pasurams are really beautiful in their meaning which was vividly portrayed by the music and one could feel the emotional content. We had a glimpse of the Lord in the lamp lit by the music in keeping with the words of the azvars, ‘Vaiyam thagaliya.varkadale neyyaga veyyakkadiron vilakkaga etc. and felt the meaning of the words thirukkanden, ponmeni kanden.
He selected sets of three pasurams, consisting of the compositions of all the three, set in ragas various ragas which included the piece in Ahiri, ‘Parkadalum venkatamum’ which is one of the favourites of his rasikas. After leading the audience gradually into the sanctum sanctorum through the pasurams steeped in devotion and soaked in the essence of the beautiful ragas TNS brought everybody to the divine presence of the Lord , the glimpse of whom was obtained earlier, in the pasuram’namam pala solli narayana’ which was sung in Bhairavi with niraval svaram . We witnessed the whole thirumanjanam of the Lord performed with the raga alapana and svaraprasthara , the madhyamakala svara serving as the sahasranama archana. The pasuram ‘adivannam thamarai’ sung as a viruththam before ‘Namam pala solli’ which was set to thala, presented the scene of the lotus rising from its roots and blossoming out and the Pasuram ended aptly with the word ‘azagu’ The beauty of the music depicted in the pasuram was in keeping with that of the lyric and was a fitting prologue to the niraval at ‘karumamugilvannan.’ The audience had the elated feeling of having visited the temple and witnessed the thirumanjanam of the Lord. What an experience on the first day of the year!


31-12-2005- Nadhabrahmam- Bharathiyavidyabhavan
The concertbegan with varnam in Mohanam followed by ‘ragaratnamaloikache’ in raga Reethigoula.Next was ‘Nayakanai ninra ‘, tiruppavai in the raga Nayaki. The main piece was ‘Sarojadalanethtri’ in Snkarabharanam which was preceded by ‘Samajavaragamana’ in raga Hindolam which was beautiful .The Sankarabharanam had all the usual embellishments in which TNS was ably aided by TNASKrishna. The concert was short and sweet and ended with ashtapadi ‘chandanacharchitha’ in Behag preceded by a padham in Saveri by Kshethrajna.

30-12-2005 at woodlands – felicitation of Thiruchi Sankaran.- MORNING
TNS gave a concert after the felicitation function. The speech of TNS felicitating Thiruchi Sankaran and the other awardees, one of them being his own disciple Madurai Sundar, was as excellent as his music that followed. A lunch was announced after the concert but the rasikas felt ‘Do we need food after this?’ as they were filled with the delicious music. It was short but sweet.
Beginning with Sriragvarnam TNS launched on to ‘Telisirama ‘ Poornachandrika and ‘Nenarunchinanu’ in Malavi. I say ‘launched’; because they were forceful like rockets.
Next came a big surprise. TNS sang ‘Nadhathanumanisam’ in Chittharanjani raga, with suddhanishadham, as janya of19th melakartaraga Jankaradwani instead of the usual form, sung as janya of Kharaharapriya. He said that it was the old tradition and later it was changed, may be due to the fact that the song is about Lord Siva who is kharaharapriya, dear to Rama , the killer of khara and because it contains the words samavedasaram , and the samaveda consists of the notes of Kharaharapriya. However the raga as sung by him was indeed chiththaranjani when listened with an open mind.
The Hamsanadham that followed was also quaint because it was the version found in old patantharam like that of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar in which it is sung as a janya of Neethimathi with shatsruthi dhaivatham. TNS sang the kriti composed in this form of the raga by Muthiah Bhagavathar.knowmn as Sivasthothrakriti,’ Krpanidhe krpajaladhe.’
TNS then sang ‘Karunajuchuninu in Sriragam a Shyamasasthri kriti and svaraprasthara was, as to be expected with such audience, layapradhana and the thani by Guruvayur Durai was also suited to the mood of the day. When Guruvayur Durai was about to finish his korvai TNS joined with him and sang it together which elicited the appreciative comment from Durai that the korvai which he prepared specially for the day was understood by TNS in a split-second and he sang it and he said that there can be one and only Seshagopalan who can do that.
TNS finished the concert with the thillana in Huseni, his own composition and tiruppugaz.
It is said of the Sanskrit work ‘Kadhambhari’ of Bhattabhana that ’Kadhambhari rasajnanaam aharopi na rochathe.’ It means that those who have tasted the Kadhambhari do not care for food even . This exactly described the mood of the rasikas on that day.
30-12-2005 – at Valayappatti ‘s Nadhalaya – EVENING
The concert started with ‘Vallabhanayakasya in Begada, followed by ‘Kanchadhalaayathaakshi’ in Kamalamanohari. Then came Natakapriya raga with the song ‘Thaye undhan,’ followed by ‘Rajarajarajithe’ in raga Niroshta by Muthiah Bhagavathar. So far it has been an unusual fare consisting of quaint ragas. Then came Bhairavi in all its grandeur. Which made the rasikas exclaim’what a Bhairavi.’ In fact one musician cum rasika from the audience went to TNS after the alapana and said that no one can sing such a Bhairavi except TNS. The song was ‘Kamakshi ambha’ of Shyamasasthri during the end part of which Valayappatti walked in and after finishing the song TNS left it to the percussionists to play Thaniavarthanam. Manjeri Esvaran was on mridangam and K.V.Gopalakrishnan on kanjira. Of course MChandrasekharan played on the violin both in the morning and the evening. The Thani was well appreciated especially by Valayappatti and the young Gopala Krishnan drew admiration from the other artistes on the stage by his excellent and enthusiastic performance. It was a delight to watch him. Some of the rasikas may have wondered why TNS left it for Thani without singing neraval svaram. But no! He started the neraval after the Thani He weaved a canopy for Goddess Kamakshi with his svaras which was laya pradhana as in the morning and seated Her on the throne erected earlier with his alapana . TNS sang Bhairavi earlier in his concert in Tarangini on 25th which was a treasure for the rasikas and Bhairavi on this day was a bounty , a bonanza which made the rasikas feel like billionaires.
The concert ended with the viruttham ‘pullinvai pilandhittai’ a ragamalika

29-12-2005 - at Naradaganasabha
The concert started with a kriti in Ritigoula 'Satguru swamiki ' which was followed by 'Kanakangakaa ' in raga kanakangi by Koteesvara aiyar. Then came the sweet sound of the swan, yes, the raga Hamsanadam which was delineated in an elaborate manner in the fantastic style of TNS. The song was Kalyanarama, a composition of Uthukkadu Venakatasubbaiyar.the svara on Hamsanadam was fabulous, a real array of rajahamsas. After a short respite in 'Kamalambasamrakshathu ' in Anandabhairavi TNS launched a magnificent Abheri with grahabhedha , a usual fare in his concerts, and started ‘Nagumomu' the kriti which is a perennial source of delight to his rasikas because it never satiates no matter how many times one listens to it. The svaras sounded like a bheri nadham, aa-bheri, from a divine drum. The concert ended with the sloka 'Vaidehisahitham’ in Maund followed by ' He dhayaaluvaa ' in the same raga.

28-12-2005 at Kapali FineArts.
TNS started the concert with varnam in raga Panthuvarali which was followed by the kriti ' sarasasamadhana.' Then came ‘Jagadhanandhakaraka ' in Nattai. Madhyamavathi raga alapa preceded the kriti of Thyagaraja, ‘Ramakathasudha,' a beautiful song beautifully rendered. The Ragam Thanam Pallavi was in Simhendramadhyamam, the pallavi containing the word ' Raghavasimha ' indicative of the raga. The svaraprasthara was a ragamalika including the ragas Marubehag and Ahiri and of course Kapi and was delicious and delightful, and the Simhendramadhyama was really a supreme king of lions, Simhendra-utthama parading the hall with the gait of a lion. The audience consisted of knowledgeable connoisseurs of music, what you could call a quality audience, and, the concert was well applauded.

26-12-2005 - Sriranjani Fine Arts
The organisor being Sri Ranjani Fine Arts TNS chose to sing Ranjani as well as Sriranjani as expected of him. If Ranjani was a ranjani indeed, colourful and delightful, the Sriranjani was even more enriched. The songs chosen were Kaadhiruvenu in Ranjani by Ambujam Krishna and Bhuvinidasuda in Sriranjani of Thyagaraja. Next was Ambha Neelaayuathaakshi in Neelaambhari. The highlight of the day was the ragam thanam pallavi in Subhapanthuvarali which was a shubha panthuvarali That day being the day of Tsunami a year ago, as the secretary of Sriranjani mentioned, the concert and the RTP in Subha panthuvarali especially, was a tsunami in its mountainous waves of raga and svara, while, as TNS remarked that carnatic music is always Sunami as the musician sings only the nama of the Lord, the Su-Nami, the concert was a Tsunami which swept the rasikas off their feet only to take them to the realms of joy, constructive and conducive to wellbeing and not destructive like the other.



25-12-2005 morning at Tharangini - RKSwami hall - evening at Music academy.
TNS rasikas were overjoyed to hear two concerts of his on the same day. The morning concert started with 'Thappulanniyu' in Bowli appropriate for a morning concert. The raga Bilaharii followed with its usual grandeur and the Kriti was 'Sri chaamundeesvari to the surprise of those who expected Paridana or Kanukondini. Well, TNS is full of surprises! The main piece was however 'Thanayunibrova ' in Bhairavi and the glory of the bhairavi that emerged and the svaras that followed is to be heard to be believed.
The svaraprasthara in Bhairavi was unique and glorious and when TNS sang svaras in such a manner that the svaras 'pa da pa' occurring often a rasika exclaimed that it was like hearing the Padukasahasra of Vedantadesika, who is famous for packing so much meaning in a few syllables, sometimes even one or two, repeated in succession , which give different meanings with different derivations. The skill of TNS is also similar in as much as he separates and combines the svaras with different laya combinations.So the compliment is well deserved.
After that TNS sang 'Vadanadhyuthijithasoma ' the panthuvarali utsavasampradayakriti of Thyagaraja which was as usual full of delicate grace in the way he alone can sing that kriti. The thillana in Huseni , a composition of TNS himself was different in its mellowed pace nevertheless mellifluous in grace and gave a deceptive idea to the audience that the concert is going to end with that. But no! TNS never fails to surprise his listeners!
He started the all time favourite ' sayamkale vananthe in ragamalika which is a perennial source of delight to his rasikas. The greatest surprise of all came when he finished the ragamalika in sindhubhairavi and sang the thillana in the same raga! The audience were thrilled to be treated to such a fare with two thillanas to boot. The concert was a wonderful and fulfilling feast of the morning.
In the evening in the music academy it was a different feast altogether. TNS started with Begada varnam and it was followed by 'Evvare Ramayya ' in Gangeyabhooshani. Next was ' Namoralakimpave ' in Yadukulakamboji. TNS started Thodi keeping the rasikas guessing as to which kriti will follow and it was 'Emanimadaladi.' The Thodi was beautiful as ever but the Hameerkalyani Ragam Thanam Pallavi was the show-stealer. TNS sang the raga as he alone could and it deserved to be called 'Amir' kalyani being rich in nuances well displayed and the Pallavi ' Maamaayan Vaikundhan sreemannarayananan ' was brilliant and the svaras that followed were gems, really rich in their splendour.
The end part was the rasika's delight, the sloka 'Sayamkale ' the beauty of which should be heard to be understood. The audience went out with joy and contentment and the general comment from all and sundry was 'what a mastery of music,' barring perhaps some critics, not all, who cannot be a critic and a rasika a the same time, which makes one wonder whether the terms rasika and critic are mutually exclusive.



24-12-2005 at Krishna Gana Sabha - veena concert
It was refreshing to hear TNS playing veena after a long time.The concert started with 'Vandanamu raghunanadana' in Sahana followed by Jagadanandakaraka. The special feature in his playing pancharatna kriti is that you can distinguish the svara and sahitya because of the gayaka style.in veena. Next came the rasikas' favourite,' Meenakshi me mudham ' in Gamanasrama played absolutely without srama and full of nuances of gamaka. After a racy 'Sarasa sama dana,' in Kapinarayani ' Marivere ' in Anandabhairavi was a precedent to even more melodious ' Ksheerasagara ' in Devagandhari, after which the rasikas were treated to a wonderful Subhapanthuvarali Ragam Thanam, the latter being ragamalika which was exquisite. TNS played the Thyagarajakriti ' Ennaallu oorage ' in Subhapanthuvarali and the tailpieces were ' Chinnanchirukiliye' and Harigunagavatha in Marubehag.

23-12-2005 at Krishna Gana Sabha
It was a fabulous concert TNS was flanked by Tiruchi Sankaran on Mridangam, Karthik on ghatam and Mysore Manjunath on violin. It was a great teamwork by a grand team and the concert was a glorious success. TNS started with the Yadukulakamboji kriti of Thyagaraja , 'Hechcharigagaarara' as if to welcome the royal visitor who followed , namely , 'Srirajagopala ' in Saveri. It was a regal Saveri and the Bhavapriya that came next was truly in the seshagopalanic style.
The topping piece was Kharaharapriya , the raga that took everyone through the royal path. Yes, the kriti was ' Sakkani rajamargamu' to the absolute delight of the rasikas. The kriti was embellished with the percussionic decoration by Sankaran and Karthik. 'Dunmargacharaadhamulanu' in ranjani was ranjaka , pleasing and the surprise that was in store for the rasikas was the Ragam, Thanam, Pallavi in Bhagesri with the famous Pallavi of TNS, ' somasekarapriyavaamabhagesri.' Words cannot describe the glory of the RTP .
The pallavis of TNS are always interesting as he somehow contrives to include the name of the raga in the words of the pallavi in a meaningful and charming manner. The Thani avarthanam was as to be expected with such stalwarts of percussion .The concert was on the whole a BhaRaTham, rich in bhava, raga and thala skilfully rendered as only TNS could. TNS Krishna gave able vocal support and Mysore Manjunath accompanied skilfully on the violin.

22-12-2005 - at Lakshmansruti - Kamaraj memorial
TNS started the concert with a krithi in Begada 'abhimanamunu ' which was followed by Anandabhairavi raga alapana. Anandabhairavi was true to its name, creating ananda in the rasika. He sang the Shyamasastri krithi 'Marivere ' with all its usual charm. This was followed by an exaustive alapa of Hemavathi. The raga and the kriti 'Sri Kanthimatheem ' were shining with golden hue (hemakanthI). The viruththam 'pullinvai pilandhittai ' was a ragamalika ending in Hamsanandi which preceded the thillana in the same raga. The concert in Lakshmanasruti was lakshmisampannasruti, gold to be treasured.
21-12-2005 at Parthasarathiswami sabha
The concert was announced as Tiruppavai gana manjari and it was just that. A manjari in Sanskrit means a bunch or a bouquet and the concert was indeed a bunch of many coloured (raga ranjitha) flowers of Tiruppavai Pasurams of Sri Andal. What Andal gave the Lord a garland, ‘pannu thiruppavai palpadhiyam innisaiyal padi kkodutthal narpaamalai’ was made into a bouquet by TNS. He gave the pasurams all together , in quick succession with amazing alacrity, notwithstanding the insertion of svara-jugglery, which was actually alankrithy ,decoration, with delightful and sparkling svaras set in velvety bed of ragas. Umayalpuram Sivaraman’s accompaniment served as a casket to display the jewelled flowerbunch offered by TNS. It was a breathtaking performance for the rasikas!

18-12-2005 MFA.
How much punya we have done to listen to three gorgeous concerts in a row. A hat trick indeed! As M. Chandrasekar who accompanied TNS rightly remarked it was a torrent both outside and inside .But the latter was a welcoming shower while the former was not. Svaras of 'marugelara ' was a Niagara
The Hamirkalyani was a 'amir' kalyani (rich) In kedaragoula, 'Saragunapalimpa,' TNS has ploughed the 'kedara' (field ) and harvested a bountiful crop. He did svaraprasthara in ' varguna seshadri varadavenkateswara' when he brought the whole Brahmothsava of the Lord of Tirumala before the eyes of rasikas. All the gaits of the Lord, Simhagati, Rishabhagati, Gajagati and Vyagragati were displayed in the svaragati.We could visualise Seshavahana (pun intended), Garudavahna,Hanumanta vahana and other alankaras in the svaraprasthara.
And, there are no words to describe the Shanmukhapriya RTP where TNSKrishna also contributed his share for its splendour and it was not shanmukhapriya but a ‘rasikapriya’ and sarvajanapriya. Witnessing the torrent inside even the rain accepted defeat and stopped

17-12-2005.Sruthilaya at Astikasamajam- venus colony.
All the pieces sung being well known drew much appreciation. Gangeyabhooshani was exquisite and the ‘Bantureethikolu’ was matching the mood outside with its thick shower of svaras in which TNSKrishna competed with his father for excellence. The Kalyani transported the rasikas into the realm of divine bliss. We had an added bonus in 'Sayankale ' which was full of rasa , an evergreen (nava) favourite of his rasikas.

16-12-2005- Bharatkalachar at Padmaseshadri balabhavan
Today being the first day of Margazi TNS started his concert with ‘Margazi thingal’, Thiruppavai.It was followed by ‘Srivaralakshmi in Sriraga.. Next came Kamboji which was a treat to the rasikas with the composition of Muthiah Bhagavathar, ‘Ratnakanchukadhaarini’ in which Kamboji was decked with the ratnas in the form of svaras TNS sang the varali Pancharathna of Thyagaraja, the clarity of which was later praised by Mrs. YGP.
The main raga was however Kiravani, with his famous pallavi ‘gambeeravani.’
If the Kamboji was majestic in its regal attire and royal gait, the Kiravani was divine, gambiravani like akasavani. Mrs. YGP who spoke after the pallavi said. that TNS is standing like a collossus over the sea of music which was an apt description. The song that followed 'vandhuketpar illaiyo' which TNS sang on being requested by Mrs. YGP described the stealing of the hearts by Krishna. It depicted accurately the effect the music created on the rasikas. This Uthukadu composition was rendered beautifully by TNS as he alone could.


8-12-2005 - Kartik finearts at Narada gana sabha
TNS started the concert with 'Sadhinchane' in Arabhi. followed by ' Etulabrothuvo in Chakravakam. The alapana was of usual standard and the kalpna swara was at 'ekantharamayya which was quaint and interesting. Next came 'yojana' in Durbar which was cyclonic. The main peace was 'Meenakshi me mudam' in Poorvi kalyani , the alapana which precededthe krithi was simply superb and the swaraprasthara had all its usual splendour, with Krishna joining in. After the thani avarthanam TNS sang 'Ivnaaro' in Kamboji which was expressive of the ardour contained in the sahithya, followed by the ashtapadi 'Sancharadhadhara' in syamkalyan, which was sweet as usual. Surprisingly the concert came to a close with that.