T.N.Seshagopalan @ Sringeri Mutt, Chennai

Venue: Sringeri Jagadguru Pravachana Mandiram, Sringeri Mutt Road, R.A.Puram , Chennai

Date: 09 Mar 2007

Organizer: Raja Annamalaipuram Bhakta Jana Sabha

Vocal: Sri T.N.Seshagopalan

Violin: Sri Shertalai Sivakumar

Mrudangam: Sri Guruvayur Dorai

Khanjira: Sri Neyveli B. Venkatesh

Tambura: Sri Vaidyanathan

List of songs:

1) satguru swAmiki – rItigowLa – Adi – rAmanAtapuram srInivAsa iyengAr (O)

2) telisi rAma – pUrNachandrikA – Adi – thyAgarAja (NS)

3) E panikO – asAvEri – Adi – thyAgarAja

4) evvarE rAmayyA – gAngEyabhUshaNi – Adi – thyAgarAja

5) hechariga – yadukulakAmbOji – kanDa chApu – thyAgarAja (NS)

6) viDamu sEyavE – kharaharapriyA – Adi – thyAgarAja

7) ETi janmamidi – varALi- misra chApu – thyAgarAja

8 ) sArasa sAma dAna – kApinArAyaNi – Adi – thyAgarAja (S)

9) mOkshamu galadA – sAramati – Adi – thyAgarAja (AT)

10) mElukOvayya – bouLi – kanDa chApu – thyAgarAja

11) pAhi kalyANa rAma – kApi – Adi – thyAgarAja

12) srI rAma jaya rAma – madyamAvati – kanDa chApu – thyAgarAja

13) nI nAma rUpa mulaku (mangaLam) – sowrAshTram – Adi – thyAgarAja

14) mangaLam kOsalEndrAya (slOkam) – madyamAvati

(Key: O=raga outline, A=raga alapana, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram, T=taniavartanam)

I couldn’t have probably asked for a better concert upon my return to Chennai to break the seemingly long hiatus. But for the mosquito menace, the concert was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The fact that the venue was located on the shores of Buckingham Canal meant that mosquitoes were available in large numbers.

The concert started about an hour late at 8 PM due to over-enthusiasm on the part of the speakers on the diaz at a ceremony to felicitate Sri TNS and confer on him the title of “Sangeetha Seva Siromani”. TNS started with a neat outline of rItigowLa making me speculate on the aTa tALa varnam. However TNS took up “satguru swAmiki” and only then did it dawn on me that the rest of the concert might have only Saint Thyagaraja’s compositions as the sabha was celebrating Sri Thyagara Music Festival. TNS then sang “telisi rAma” with neraval and kalpana swaram at “rAmAyaNa brahmamunaku pEru, AmAnava jananArtulu dIru“. Then came the asAvEri kriti “E panikO” which I am hearing for the first time. “evvarE rAmayyA” had TNS and Sri Sivakumar launching into several rounds of cascading patterns in akAram at the line “nAgadhara sura” in the charaNam. Neraval and kalpana swarams in the next kriti “hechariga rA rA” were put at “ninnu jUDavachu bhagini karambu chiluka”. TNS sang “ETi janmamidi” in varALi superbly, bringing out the beauty of the raga very well. Kalpana swarams in “sarasa sAma dAna” were put at “hitavu mATalentO bAgA balkitivi”. TNS also did an extensive elaboration of portions of this line in a style almost similar to that of a neraval.

To me however, the best of whatever TNS offered in the concert was the sAramati alapana that came next. It was full 15 minutes of pure wizardry. What else can one expect with a genius at work with such a beautiful raga. I think TNS might have sung the alapana for an even longer duration but for the fact that it was getting a bit late and that he had a train to catch at 10.30PM. Sri Shertalai Sivakumar seemed to ask TNS to start the song without the violin alapana as it was getting late to which I heard TNS say: “adhu paravA illa. nInga vAsingO”. Sri Sivakumar then played a very short alapana at the end of which TNS launched into “mOkshamu galadA” with the anupallavi line “sAkshAtkAra nI sadbhakti”. Though TNS could not sing neraval and kalpana swarams due to the time factor, he did full justice to his rendition of the kriti singing some very beautiful sangatis. Sri Guruvayur Dorai and Sri Neyveli Venkatesh then together played a short taniavartanam with a small chatusra naDai piece followed by some sarvalagu style patterns and a mOra and kOrvai. Despite the fact that it was 9.30PM, TNS still sang three more songs and a mangaLam and mangaLa slOkam.