Venue: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Main Auditorium, East Mada Street, Mylapore, Chennai
Date: 26 Nov 2006
Organizers: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan & Kala Pradarshini
Vocal: Sri Neyveli Santhanagopalan
Violin: Sri M.A. Sundareswaran
Mridangam: Sri Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam
Khanjira: Sri Mayavaram Somasundaram
List of songs:
1) chalamEla (varnam) – darbAr – Adi – tiruvOtriyUr tyAgayya
2) girirAja sutA – bangaLa – Adi – thyAgarAja (S)
3) sObillu – jaganmOhini – rUpakam – thyAgarAja (OS)
4) subramaNyEna rakshitOham – sudha danyAsi – Adi – muthuswAmi dIkshitar (OS)
5) sItApatE – kamAs – Adi – thyAgarAja (ANS)
6) vAnchatOnu – karnaranjani – Adi (tisra gati) – harikEsanallur muthiAh bhAgavathar
7) swara rAga sudhA – shankarAbharaNam – Adi – thyAgarAja (AST)
8 ) Adum ….. (viruttam) – bAgEswari
Eru mayil Eri (tiruppugaZh) – bAgEswari – kanDa chApu – aruNagirinAta
9) vasudEva sutam (viruttam) – shudha sArang
sanchara dadara – shudha sArang – Adi – jayadEva
10) karpagamE – madyamAvati – Adi – pApanAsam sivan
11) pavamAna (mangaLam) – sOwrAshtram – Adi – thyAgarAja
mangaLam kOsalEndrAya (mangaLa slOkam) – suruTTi
(Key: O=raga outline, A=raga alapana, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram, T=taniavartanam)
I went to the concert with very low expectations but was rewarded with music of the highest quality. Sri Santhanagopalan was in prime form throughout. His “subramaNyEna rakshitOham” is still ringing in my ears. The kalpana swarams he put at “venkatEshwara nAma rUpENa” were simply out of the world and resembled the way Sri T.N. Seshagopalan would have sung them. The raga alapanas were so pure. The best part was the step-by-step sangathis Sri Santhanagopalan put for each song. He was very apprecative of all the other artists on stage and was a picture of complete involvement when he sang. The way he appreciated the lyrics while singing clearly showed that he understood the songs completely. Overall, a very enjoyable experience. If this form of his continues, each concert of his this season is just going to be an absolute listeners’ delight.
Sri Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam was as usual in prime form. He played complex sollus at terrific speeds with ease and just blasted his way through. Sri Mayavaram Somasundaram who played the khanjira must be the oldest person on this planet I have seen in a while now. I think he must easily be in his 70s or 80s. What he played is commendable for his age and it led Sri Bhaktavatsalam to remark during the kuraippu in the taniavartanam: “Old is gold”.
Ramkumar R 
Hmmm… Why did you go with low expectations, I wonder. I’ve always found Shri Santhanagopalan’s concerts to be extremely satisfying.
Bcoz his voice has been kind of stopping him from executing whatever is there in his mind. I think he has some problems with his voice … not sure what it is though. The last one or two concerts of his that I attended were very ordinary because of the reason I mentioned above.