concerts of TNSeshagopalan from 20th to 24th Dec2006

Concert at Parthasarathy Swami Sabha on 24-12-2006
TNS started with sriragavarnam which was followed by the Dikshithar krithi 'srimahaganapathe 'in Gaula for which he sang the chittasvaram in three kAlas. Next came Hameerkalyani and the thiruppavai 'thoomanimaadatthu ' the rendering of which was embellished with the style of 'kondukootti,' or assembling the words one by one in 'ghanam' method.TNS sang svara at 'maamaayan maadhavan.'
Next was 'kaaneere' in kamas a ootthukkadu composition.As all ootthukkadu compositions this also acquired added beauty when sung by TNS.This was followed by 'Srirajagopala' of Dikshithar in Saveri and a crisp and beautiful 'Marivere' in Shanmukhapriya, a krthi by Patnam Subramania ayyar, with svaraprasthara.
After the Karnaranjani krthi of Muthhiah Bhagavathar, 'Vanchathonu' came the real visvaroopa of TNS in Raga alapana of Kambodhi and the Thyagaraja krthi 'O Rangasayi.' The experience on listening to it is something indescribable by words. The picture that presented to the mind of this rasika was that in the eighth skandha of Srimadbhagavatham where the incarnation of Lord narasimha occurs.
As we could not foresee which krithi was going to follow when the alapana started, the scene that came in front was the appearance of the Lord Narsimha out of the pillar creating a magnificent and inexplicable awe on the onlooker and his leisurely but forceful destruction of evil, in the form of Hiranyakasipu and gradually developing into a merciful and beautiful form as Lakshminarasimha to bless Prahladha and the world.
When the krthi started the scene changed and we witnessed Lord Ranganatha and TNS sang the krthi in the manner that we were transported to the bhoolokavaikunta, Srirangam, to witness the suprabhatham of the Lord and could imagine the way Thyagaraja would have wakened Him up. The krthi which is by itself beautiful was further enriched by the rendering of TNS and the svara was in accordance with the mood of the song and depicted the gradual and effective awakening of the Lord. It was indeed an experience quite out of this world which lasted till the next day evening when TNS gave a different treat in the music academy.
TNS was ably assisted by TNSKrishna who gave vocal support and VVRavi on voilin and Velore Ramabadran on Mridangam and Madippakkam Murali on Ghatam

Concert at Naradaganasabha on23-12-2006
The Kanada adathala varnam was the gateway to an extraordinary (but ordinary to TNS) concert.Brovabharama followed with svara which was bahudhA(bhrama)ri, like the abundant(bahudhA) reemkara of the bee(bhramara).Next was 'kadaikkan vaitthu enai ALamma' a composition of MahaVaidyanatha Ayyar in Begada.
The Kumudhakriya that followed was sumudhakriya(mudha =delight) extremely delightful in svaraprsthara and pulakakriya, creating horipulation in the delineation of raga.
The makuta was the Kedaragoula , very elaborate alapana of which looked as though TNS is ploughing the field, kedara to bring out the fertile crop. the krithi as expected was 'Sargunapalimpa' by Patnam Subramania Ayyar and the neraval at 'varagunaseshadri, took us up the seven hills to have the darsan of the Lord Venkatesvara by a luxurious AC car and brought us back only to climb again through the steps provided by his svaraprasthara. So we were blessed with the darsan twice! Not only that! The svaras were so full of variety and grandeur that it looked as though he is performing the brahmothsava depicting the Lord in all vahanas.
The concert ended with 'MohanavaLLi' in Manji by Mutthiah bhagavathar and a bajan 'baso mere.'
Accompanying artists were M.Chandhrasekharan on violin, who provided his usual eminent support and Guruvayur Dorai on mridhangam and Sundarkumar on Ganjira , the seasoned pair who always delighted the rasikas.
concert at sri krishna gana sabha on 22-12-2006
The krthi 'Sriragukula' of Thyagaraja in Hamsadvani marked the beginning of the concert for which TNS sang svaras and then elaborated on Panthuvarali which contained all the nuances usually found in this raga when sung by him. The krithi was 'Ninnuneranamminanura,' and not 'Apparamabhakthi' as you would have imagined and the svara was short and sweet. The next was raga Abhogi followed by the krthi 'mansavrtha' by Thyagaraja. TNS sang svara for this too.
Then followed the rasika's favourite 'Ranganayakam' in Nayaki in which one could visualise the Lord leaisurely reclining on His bed of Sesha ( pun intended)!
The Thiruppavai 'keechukeechenrengum' in Huseni was sung in the method of 'kondukootti' each word joining with the preceding ones in succession and the sangathi in 'matthinaal' created an impression of the gopis churning the curd.
'Nadaloludai' in kalyanavasantham by Thyagaraja was the next followed by a melodious kambodhi and the krthi 'Sri subramanyaya namasthe.' The svara prasthara was at 'vasavadhi' and 'bhoosuradhi' alternatively and was a mellifluous and skilful presentation.
The last piece was the sloka 'ambamohini' sung as a ragamalika. The mohana in the line ' Ambamohini ' was a real mohana (enchanting) and the line 'Anandasandayinee' was sung in Anandabharavi and
dabharavi and amrthavarshini whcih can be better described by the very names of the ragas, (Ananadamrthavarshini). the next line 'vani pallvapani' was in Girvani followed by kalyani and yaman kalyani while singing the word 'kalyani' ending with sriraga in 'Srirajarajesvari.' an exquisite delineation.
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concert at MOP Vaishnav college on 20-12-2006
A bonus for the rasikas, which might have been missed by many who did not note the announcement in the morning paper. The concert started with Abhogi varnam with kalpanasvara as usual. This was followed by 'Sadhinchane, pancharathnam of Thyagaraja in Arabhi and then came the raga Dharmavathi and the krthi 'Bajanaseyaradha' The svaras were like the reemkara of the bees while being layapradhana.
Then came Subhapanthuvarali and the krthi 'ennaallurage' of Thyagaraja and the raga alapana, neraval and svaraprasthara were all in keeping with the mood of the song. Subapanthuvarali of TNS is always special and this was no exception. The svara singing was fantastic.
After the thani by Neyveli Venkatesh on Mridangam the concert ended with sloka 'shankachakragadhapane' the plaintive entreaty of Droupadi to Krishna for her manasamrakshana which was followed by 'baro Krishnaiya' a Dasarpadha in ragamalika.
TNS was accompanied by Nagai Sriram on violin who did a wonderful job of it.