Sowkhya Sangeetham - Shri Vijay Siva at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

(and mish-mash report)

Shri Vijay Siva never disappoints in providing a serene and exhilarating concert. It was one such on the Sunday morning (25 Nov 2018), where he was accompanied by the talented youngsters Shri L Ramakrishnan on violin, Shri Palghat Harinarayanan on Mridangam and Shri Sunil Kumar on Kanjira. I am sorry that I don't know the names of Shri Vijay Siva's two disciples who provided vocal support, as well as played the tambura.

Shri Vijay Siva did not include any gimmickery, just like any of his trademark concerts, while presenting an excellent compact traditional 2 hour carnatic concert. After a brief shlokam he began the concert with vandEHam jagat vallabham in Hamsadhvani. It set a brisk pace to the start with a few kalpana swarams also in the rendition.

HimAcala tanayE in Anandabhairavi was presented next. The soft rendering was soothing and set the stage for the rest of the sowkhya sangeetham. When he chose an AlApanA in sArangA next, I was anticipating the panca-bhUta kriti arunAcala nAdam. However, the phrases presented in the AlApana did not seem to indicate it - I wondered if it would be nIvADa nE gAna or enta bhAgyamu. It was a pleasant surprise to hear a rarely sung Thyagaraja kriti Emi dOva balkuma. This rendition included kalpana swarams in a relaxed gait.

A click from a different concert in 2017

Taking a diversion in this report, Shri Vijay Siva, unlike most musicians, does not give any gap between songs (unless accompanists need to fine-tune their instruments). Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyam also does not give more than those 3 to 5 seconds between songs, before commencing the next. This reminded me of comments on a lecture demonstration of the previous day (Saturday), where Shri Sriram Parasuram was talking of Nagaswaram Maestro T N Rajarathnam Pillai (at Raga Sudha Hall, as part of Parivadini series). In his opinion, the format of the thavil interludes in the AlApana of Nagaswaram not only gives a breather to the artists to recharge lungs, but also helps him/her make a fresh start on the AlApana. This format, suggested Shri Sriram, could also be followed in vocal concerts, to provide vocalist with a brief rest for him/her to provide an elaborate exploration of the rAgam. Only in the case of rAgam and tAnam before the pallavi, this "exchange" pattern is followed allowing for elaboration in this manner. It could be extended to other main AlApana and sub-main (as seems to be the current term) AlApana also.

Coming back to the concert, Shri Vijay Siva then started with just ta-nun-na (mandra stAyi ni-pa-sa??) to indicate, in just half-a-second, that the next rAgam would be kEdAram. Just brilliant to sing that quite unique and short phrase in the right manner. The knowledge, vidwat and experience comes out in such nuances. Again, I was hoping that he will take a panca-bhUta kriti - and he did not disappoint. His AlApana had indicated clearly that it was Ananda naTana prakAsham that was going to follow. kEdAram was presented in elaborate manner and the serene rendition of the Dikshitar kriti followed. As was expected, there was nice neraval at sangIta vAdya vinOda tAnDava, followed by kalpana swarams in brisk tempo.

The next item was a short vasantA rAgam song composed by Shri Papanasam Siva "mA dayai nidhiyenum". Then came the magnum opus in kharaHarapriyA.

We can say that the AlApana covered the entire scope of the rAgam. He presented most of it in a full throated manner and near the end, he switched to the gentle lilting soft vocalisation to give the "konjal" face of kharaHarapriyA. It was very moving indeed. Shri Ramakrishnan presented a good and compact version of this rAgam. In the end, Shri Vijay Siva sang some characteristic phrases from cakkani rAjA in the AlApanA, giving clear indication that the composition will be the one to follow. This composition was given the full treatment, including the expected neraval at kanTiki sundara. The kalpanaswarams also covered the entire facet of the rAgam followed by a brilliant tani avartanam. Shri Harinarayanan and Shri Sunil kumar thrilled the audience as well as the artists with their exchange.

Coming back to the lecture demonstration, Shri Sriram (on Saturday) had mentioned that some stalwarts (primarily Thanjavur Shri S Kalayanaraman?) had suggested that AlApanA of the vocalist can be for one rAgam, which need not be followed by an elaboration by violinist. Also, before another composition in the concert, the violinist can start and present the rAga AlApanA, while the vocalist follows it by the kriti. This seemed like a very good suggestion indeed. It is also interesting that if this is followed by some "non-conformist" in current decade, along with other radical ideas, there seems to be a knee-jerk reaction of dissent from rasikas.

Shri Vijay Siva closed with "tOdudaya cevi" by Thirugnanasambandar, viruttam in nIlAmbarai, varALi and bhImplAs (or was it karnAta devagAndhAri), followed by yAdava nI bA yadukula nandana in that last rAgam and finishing with a kAvaDi cindu "centamizh nEDennum pOdinilE".

I wish that nature rained claps for this concert too, like it happened on 31st December, 2017, after his concert in West Mambalam - tippity-tap on the tin roof exactly during the mangalam, it was on that day. Chennai does need a lot of rain.