Sanjay Subramanyan’s Season of experiments continues

Sanjay Subramanyan’s Carnatic journey has travelled through many phases. However, the one constant aspect has been experimentation. His concert might have been familiar to his regular rasikas, but others needed to retune to his style. There were no ghana or important ragas except the ‘Viriboni’ varnam (Bhairavi). Even more striking was the curious trade-off between experimentative expressions and pleasant sound. That said, Sanjay continues to maintain very high sruti fidelity, voice range and long sustains. Time has not dented those abilities. Sanjay Subrahmanyam accompanied by S. Varadarajan (violin) and Neyveli Venkatesh (mridangam). | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The varnam was followed by a blitzkrieg of ‘Ongi ulagalanda’ (Arabhi, Andal) with crisp swaras. Shades of Sanjay’s penchant for new syllables and phrases were evident in the Ritigowla raga and much more in later pieces. ‘Paripalayamam’ (Swati Tirunal, Rupakam) was conventional by his standards. Suryakantham has one well-known kriti, ‘Muddumomu’ by Tyagaraja and even that is sung rarely. The alapana was intelligent and for the most part, Sanjay strove to underline its unique flavour. ‘Muddumomu’ rendered in a slower pace was attractive - a perfect proof of Sanjay’s experimentative mind. The kriti’s prominence in a concert came alive, including in a crafty niraval. Hemavati was picked for the RTP. There was some influence of M.D. Ramanathan’s vocal effects and Madurai Somu’s signatures. Unique as they were, some of the syllables were clearly unfriendly to the ear. Sanjay has always put extra life into his tanam singing with intense raga bhava and this one was no different. ‘Tirumuruga thiruvarul tha’ in Adi two kalai at ‘sama’ eduppu was well rendered, amidst trends of complex tala structures in pallavis. S. Varadarajan toed largely his own convictions. His alapanas embraced time-tested contours. Sanjay Subrahmanyam’s Hemavati RTP had the influence of M.D. Ramanathan’s vocal effects and Madurai Somu’s signatures. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Sanjay’s ‘Ambara chidambara’ in Janaranjani (tuned by him), which has an attractive chittaswaram, ‘Ramasami doothan’ in Bahudari (Arunachala Kavi) and ‘Kani nilam vendum’ rendered in his imitable style warmed the hearts of his ardent supporters. Credit should go to Sanjay for building a brand with strong musical value and repertoire. Varadarajan and Neyveli Venkatesh (mridangam) were, as usual, in perfect sync with Sanjay’s singing as the trio seem to share a special bond. Sanjay demonstrated that his major departures from conventional vocal music tenets continue to find a home amongst his flock. For the rest, listening is as much an experiment as for him in producing that music. Published - December 26, 2025 01:21 pm IST

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