Venue: Ayodhya Aswamedha Maha Mandapam, West Mambalam, Chennai Date: 30 Mar 2007 Vocal: Vid. Neyveli Santhanagopalan Violin: Vid. M.A. Sundaresan Mrudangam: Vid. Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman Khanjira: Vid. B. Sree Sundar Kumar List of songs: 1) srI rAma rAma rAmEti (slOkam) - mOhanam 2) inta chAlamu (varnam) - bEgaDa - Adi - vINai kuppaiyer (S) 3) mErusamAna - mAyAmALavagowLa - Adi - thyAgarAja (NS) 4) mAkElarA - ravichandrikA - Adi - thyAgarAja (S) 5) raghuvara nannu - pantuvarALi - Adi - thyAgarAja (ANST) 6) rAmabhadra rArA - Anandabhairavi - Adi - bhadrAchala rAmdAs 7) durmArga charAdamulanu - ranjani - rUpakam - thyAgarAja (AS) 8 ) hechariga - yadukulakAmbOji - kanDa chApu - thyAgarAja (O) 9) thAyE yashOdA - tODi - Adi - UthukkAdu venkata subbaiyer (AN) 10) kastUri tilakam (viruttam) - yamunA kalyANi        krishnA nI bEganE bArO - yamunA kalyANi - misra chApu - vyAsarAya 11) ArabhimAnam - rAgamAlikA - Adi - tanangambaDi panchanAda iyer 12) mAnasa sanchararE - sAmA - Adi - sadAsiva brahmendra 13) ni ri ni ri ga ma ga ri sA (tillAnA) - pUrvi - rUpakam - t. vaidyanAta iyer 14) apakAra nindai (tiruppugazh) - chakravAham - kanDa jampai - aruNagirinAtar (T) 15) nI nAma rUpa mulaku (mangaLam) - sowrAshTram - Adi - thyAgarAja (Key: O=raga outline, A=raga alapana, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram, T=taniavartanam) I was quite excited about attending this concert ever since I came to know about it yesterday. The primary reason for the same was the team of artists that was supposed to perform on stage with each one of them having established a name for themselves in their respective fields. The group gave an enjoyable concert amidst poor amplification arrangement compounded by excessive noise of vehicles from the busy Arya Gowda Road just outside the venue. Sri Neyveli Santhanagopalan sang detailed raga alapanas for pantuvarALi and tODi. Sri M.A. Sundaresan's alapanas played in reply were quite enjoyable. However the star of the evening to me was Sri Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman (UKS) who was very ably assisted in the percussion department by Sri Sundar Kumar on the khanjira. One look at the group of  popular percussion artists of the present generation seated in the very first row and you could tell what they were all waiting for .... and I think they would have surely gone back satisfied from their experience of watching the maestro hold everyone spellbound with his wizardry on the mrudangam. Sri UKS was unstoppable. The tani he played in a rather fast paced Adi talam (for "raghuvara nannu") was out of the world. Even at such a fast pace, he played patterns with such great speed, precision and clarity. Some of the lightning fast patterns were simply unimaginable at that speed. And it was not just the tani that was great. The way he played for songs like "hechariga" was too good. He had such a fertile imagination. I think if I don't stop here, I would simply go on and on and on singing his praise.