Sanjay Subramaniam in NY

It has been a long time since i have attended a carnatic music concert. So, when i got an opportunity i did not want to miss it, thanks to my cousin Sowmya who got the tickets. The concert was hosted by the world music institute at Symphony space in upper west side. The artiste was carnatic vocalist Sanjay Subramaniam ably supported by Guruvayur Dorai in mridangam, Nagai Muralidharan in violin and Neyveli Venkatesh in kanjira.

Symphony space is a grand auditorium with a seating capacity of around 900 and when the concert began there was less than 200 people. With such a large South Indian community presence in NY/NJ, there was not enough attendance. There was a very brief introduction by the host about the artiste and their ensemble. I would have liked a more detailed introduction highlighting the achievements of the artistes. The crowd was a good mix of Indians and Americans and i could not quite noticing a trio of kannada mamis who were switching between American accent to local kannada quite easily.

Everyone settled down once the artistes have seated themselves and there is a downtime when everyone tunes their instruments. It is a good 5 min and it would have been a good time to introduce more about the artistes. Sanjay looked completely different from what i had imagined and read later on that he has changed his looks for the season. He looked more like a rock star with this long hair and a thick moustache than a carnatic musician.

He warmed up with Shankarabaranam and then moved on to Sahana ragam in detail. He was technically very strong and did not take any shortcuts. His best came in a composition in Thana Roopi ragam which kept the audience enthralled. The violinist was giving good support, although i felt (from my limited knowledge) he could not keep pace with Sanjay. Sanjay never eased up with any simple compositions, but kept on with quite challenging raagas. For me, one of the best part in a carnatic concert is the avarthanai when the percussionists are given a free hand to demonstrate their trade. The high level of skill of Dorai (senior artiste) came to the fore and Venkatesh was equal to the task on the khanjira and it was quite memorable for about 15 minutes. Sanjay finished off with a couple of light numbers and with a thillana at the end. There was a standing ovation from the audience at the end.

The best part about carnatic music i like is its non invasiveness and peace that it brings to oneself. I am still not able to identify the various raagas and it is proving difficult. For the same reason, i like bhajans more since you dont have to worry about the technicalities and just focus on the spirit. Bhajans have a lot of audience involvement and it is all about creating the right environment and the whole crowd is part of the experience (more like a rock concert). In that sense, carnatic music is more about each person internalizing the music and relating to it.

A faboulous carnatic music concert for two and a half hours.

Note: Coming up later on this month is Vikku Vinayakram's percussion ensemble and U Srinivas on mandolin in May.