Raja - Live in Concerts - Madurai Concert Telecast/Videos

[naarayanan]

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article2758005.ece

Epithets about his music acumen are redundant. Connoisseurs, the world over, treasure the compositions of this wizard from Pannaipuram. Yet Ilaiyaraja bowed down before the audience and touched the stage in supplication. The act of humility was worthy of emulation. His joy on sharing the proscenium with inimitable achievers of the calibre of Balamuralikrishna who came up to sing the ever-fresh ‘Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiraan …’ that evening at the Nehru Indoor Stadium was genuine. Singing, conducting the orchestra along with Purushothaman and indulging in friendly banter with the effervescent emcee of the evening, Prakash Raj, it was a Raja show all the way. And like in the good old days, it was a full-fledged orchestra that dazzled on stage.

The presence of musicians from Budapest, who had come down to dedicate a couple of their compositions to Ilaiyaraja was a reiteration of the renown of this magician with the baton!

“You are all seated while I stand before you. And like me, my music will also ‘stand’ in your hearts forever,” began Ilaiyaraja. “But now shall I sit down and present this song?” ‘Janani Janani …’ his melodious Kalyani creation, followed.

Raja’s compositions about the greatness of a mother’s love are most cherished. When Jesudas entered, it was only natural he would open with ‘Amma Endrazhaikkadha …’ in Kalyani again. He did. SPB, for his part, came up with a very expressive ‘Naanaaga Naanillai Thaayae’ to round off the sentiment in scintillating fashion. The eyes of many in the audience had turned moist. “I lost my mother recently,” said the person beside me, as he wiped away his tears.

“The mother singing for her baby is a norm. But Ilaiyaraja’s lullabies were for the mother herself,” Prakash noted. “His songs make you forget your sorrow and help you unwind,” he added. Kamal Haasan’s thoughts were similar. Though not present in person, his bytes that were beamed on screen said enough about his admiration for Raja.

Some of Prakash’s posers resulted in ecstatic music sojourns. “Tell us about symphony,” he requested. “This is a show for cinema numbers. Are you sure you want it,” Ilaiyaraja queried back. “I’m a rustic and you are asking me such things,” he chuckled. And the next moment the imposing string section offered an aural fiesta – a Schubert piece that culminated in Raja’s own ‘Idhayam Pogudhae’! Amidst deafening applause he explained, “If you are made to listen to the verses of four lyricists at the same time, can you appreciate it? But listen to this once again,” he suggested and made his violins alone play, and then the cello and others. “The beauty of the blend, when played together, is immeasurable. Simply put, this is symphony. Schubert composed the piece in the first part of the 1800s. I was so inspired by it that I created ‘Idhayam Pogudhae,’ but it is original,” he explained. The initiated in the crowd sat rapt in attention.

The combo of director Mahendran and Ilaiyaraja has resulted in some wondrous music. “But the

‘Paruvamae …’ duet with its montages that had the lead pair on a jog is intriguing Sir! The visual and aural effect it had on us was tremendous,” began Prakash.

When Mahendran told Raja that the pair would keep running as the song was played in the background, the composer decided that the sound of footsteps would form the beat for the entire song. “I made a person stomp his feet standing stationary before the mike. It was an ear sore. I tried all kinds of sounds but nothing worked. So I had two of my musicians – Kanniah, my tabla player, [he couldn’t make it to the show because of his delicate health] and Jayacha, who is here, to tap their thighs with both their hands, because the soles of two pairs of legs had to be heard,” laughed Raja.” And soon came the mellifluous song in the voices of Chitra and SPB.

Dedicating ‘1000 Thamarai Mottukalae,’ to the memory of Malaysia Vasudevan, Raja dwelt on his experience working with Kannadasan, who had penned the lines. It turned out to be a veritable exercise in hilarity.

“This is one of my favourites,” announced Jesudas, as he sang, ‘Poove Sempoovae.’ The minor misses and gaffes weren’t glossed over. The verses were sung again. As Jesudas mentioned, it was as though the audience got an opportunity to witness a recording session in progress!

The singers were many. And each did well. The crowd whistled in joy, but he gently ticked them off saying that catcalls ought to be reserved for shows where jigs and jokes dominate. “Not here, we have worked hard to offer you an appealing fare. We made around 10 lists before we zeroed in on the final pick,” he smiled.

The hero of the evening handled his music and his mass base with ease.

[naarayanan]

i also felt that repetition of songs like ilangathu, sundari was not at all necessary. could have included some more classics like manidha manidha or ramanin mohaam since kjy was there.

[naarayanan]

Endrendrum Raaja -- Jaya TV -- Part II
by Vels Mp on Friday, December 30, 2011 at 2:46pm

16) Edho Mogam - Kozhi Koovudhu - surprising only around 40% of the audience recognized the song when the first 30 seconds of the strings prelude was playing ! Then the applause was thundering & complete when the actual tune is played after 30 seconds or so. Karthik sang it effortlessly. I think apart from the strings magic, the chorus harmony work was outstanding…the harmony guys did fantastic backing ! Ageless song performed to full satisfaction ! ....another paisa vasool performance (#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

17) Madai Thirandhu - Nizhalgal – a balu thunder all the way….all the lines where the maestro is referred to (e.g. pudhu ragam padaipadhaale nanum iravane, OR isaikena irunkindra rasigargal etc), Balu threw a knowing glance appreciatively to Raaja and also the audience cheered out aloud….the second interlude harmonium bit was not accurately reproduced – may be because the original sound was by Raaja himself playing on his best friend – his harmonium ! Tough to reproduce …Overall this was SPB extravaganza all the way !! ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

18) Oru Raagam Paadalodu - Anandha Ragam – a gem of a selection – caught me by surprise that someone thought of including this rarely played number. KJY took us all to heaven with that blessed divine voice of his! (#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

19) Sundari Neeyum - Michael Madhana Kamarajan - grapevine has it that Kamal was supposed to sing this one along with two other numbers (ninaivo oru paravai and raja kaiyya vacha). Anyways, Haricharan did not disappoint. …a regular performance! I would have rather had them perform “vachalum vakkaama ponaalum” instead of this song….that would have been a feast ! ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

20) Naan Thedum Sevvanthi - Dharma Pathini – Given the heavy heavy expectations that the audience always has on the prelude alaap that Raaja sings, one could see some traces of restlessness on Raaja’s face as he settled down to start the song….it was a cakewalk as usual for him and as usual audience wanted “once more”…this time they didn’t get a repeatu ! ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

21) Gum Sum Gum - Paa – the hungary troupe came into play for this one…..Bhava sang this song and she managed to sail through the high pitched portions with some effort. The chorus too could have been more pronounced and accentuated. Could have been much better than what it was. ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

22) Aayiram Thamarai - Alaigal Oyvathillai – first time this was played, the mirudhangam sound in the prelude was not audible at all….then it as played again….though technically the mirudhangam notes were reproduced as per the original, the recreated sound was not the same as the original. It was sounding a bit different. Anyways, the song made splendid connection with the audience who were clapping along happily. Youthful SPB !! Racing strings portions !! The hungary
orchestra guys were perplexed at the complicated soundscape that this song has ! Paarthukongada, idhu dhaan enga Raaja ! ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

23) Poongathave - Nizhalgal – God knows why don’t composers use Uma Raman’s voice anymore. The golden pair from the original Deepan chaks and Uma sang this song superbly. Deepan especially sang it effortlessly. Perfect work by the orchestra. ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

24) Sundari Kannal - Thalapathy – magnum opus. We already know this will be a clear winner and it was. Grand to listen this one being performed live. ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

25) Ilangaathu Veesudhey – Pithamagan – Sriram parthasarathy at some places forgot that this is supposed to be light music. I think Raaja corrected him quickly during the interludes by telling in his ears not go too carnatic’ish and to keep it plain. Nice open throated singing anyways ! ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

26) En Mana Vaanil - Kaasi – while Hariharan sang the song, Raaja maimed in action throughout the lyrics. For the line ‘manamullor ennai paarpaar, manadhinal avarai parpen’ he pointed to the audience. The lyrics match Raaja so perfectly describing his rightful place (maaligai vaasam) he deserves and what he actually got (mara nizhal nesam) ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

27) Raja Kaiya Vacha - Aboorva Sagotharargal and 28) Ninaivo Oru Paravai - Sigappu Rojakkal – both sung by Yuwan. When Prakash asked what he could emulate from his father, he said he learnt about dedication from his father. BTW whose lousy idea was it to make him mimic like Kamal …thevaiya idhu? Usually Raaja pulls Yuvan’s legs on all shows, but he was merely watching his son adoringly like any proud father ! ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

29) Idhu Oru Nila Kaalam - Tik Tik Tik – Harmony people outstanding ! Who is that fattie who sung the ‘nagirdhana thiranana’? he got special applause from the audience. Reeta made full use of the opportunity she got and she sung this one beautifully with lot of feel. ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

30) Vacha Paarvai Theerathadi - Ilamai Kolam – Prakash raj introduced this song as a kuthu song. More than kuthu song, I would have personally wanted more folk numbers in this program. Folk genre was totally underrepresented in this concert playlist! Ok anyway, nice energetic performance by KJY ! ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

31) Kaattukuyil - Thalapathy – this was not just a performance. It was a phenomenon. SPB+KJY+Raaja as well joining towards the end. The percussions boomed thundersouly ! The emotional bonding between the three legends came to the fore. Spell binding performance for the class as well as the mass. ………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

32) Kannan Oru – Bhadrakali – interesting to note that this was originally composed for a drama troupe and was a song meant for lord muruga! Raaja sang those original lines much to the delight of the audience. Few interesting tidbits were discussd…It seems while recording this song, the orchestra made plenty of mistakes and also KJY recalled distributing sweets to all as it was Gokulashtami that day…………(#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

33) Ilamai Idho Idho - Sakalakala Vallavan (last song to end the event) ………there wont be another SPB….there wont be another Raaja…..you dont get to see such a powerful orchestra ensemble...nothing more to say on this song and the performance ! One cannot imagine any other song to be a fitting finish, as the year 2011 draws to a close. Thanks to Subashree thanikachalam for making this dream show happen (#endrendrum raaja chronicle)

Idha pathi ezhudhavae kanna kattudhe....idhai practise panni perform panradhu evlo kastamda saami ! I will write on some "out of the box" performance in part III

[thumburu]

What bothers me is the selection of songs. ofcouse, 95% of them are my favourites, but I'd prefer more songs from, say post 2000 period. It would atleast make people go back and dig those songs. those set of tried and tested numbers can be given a miss. Pithamagan song or Sundari (Dalapathi) or even Gumsum (paa) are the songs/tunes that have been performed number of times before. Instead, why not a Pallaviye saranam (carnatic kind) or recent gems! songs from nandalala or naan kadavul... etc.

but anyway, they still included a good number of wonderful songs! Pch! missed it

There were too many "amma" songs which they could have pruned. Instead of the over kill "amma endrazhaikkadha", I would prefer stuffto listen to SOME carnatic stuff FROM KJY like "Koondhalile Megham VANDHU" , "AADAL KALAIYE" OR "VEDHAM NEE" . Also needed a bit more stage time for SPB - Geetham sangeetham , iLamai ennum poonkaatru in the place of naan thedum and Gum sum. Then Ohm Shivohum instead of Elangaathu

[Plum]

The last post by Vel vocalizes the lack I have been trying to articulate? Where is the folk musician Raja? That man who first stole my heart? Unakkena thaane? Solam vedhaikkaiyile? I think that's what I miss most in the song selection.

[Plum]

With due respect, in other genres, you can find reasonable alternatives. For example, light classical and semi classical, if you forcibly deny me Raja, I will get very good alternative in Raveendran master. But folk, that unique tamil folk filtered through his WC knowledge - who else can give me that decoction? And a crows that celebrates a Raja minus this is a crowd I hate with vengeance

[V_S]

Sureshji,
I agree with you. You will not get that satisfaction what you get when you see/hear it live with the crowd. At least through all your posts we are getting some percentage of your experience.

Suresh(sureshmehcnit) posted (in another thread) some wonderful clips on Balki's speech and his experience with Maestro in Paa. As he mentioned, I was only listening to that piece and the ASK title theme almost whole night with lot of tears rolling out. That gave me a tremendous feel being in the crowd and yet silence within me. Thanks a lot suresh for sharing those clips.

As Plum and Vel very rightly observed, more authentic folk songs of 70's and early 80's would have made the song list more interesting, as these compositions should not die only with us. No one can even think of replacing him in those areas, yet the show seems to have satisfied many hungry fans. Also waiting for DVD to collect these treasures.

skr, yes I subscribed to Jaya TV, eagerly waiting. Thanks for the info on the telecast dates.

[V_S]

Deepan especially sang it effortlessly.

Deepan still has his voice and singing intact. This can be seen in jaya tv ragamalika episodes where was the judge. I got to hear some wonderful gems sung by him. I don't know why composers, especially Maestro is not using him at all. Through him we can get back that 80's nostalgia. I love his free-flowing sangathis, strict to the grammar (mood). He is a tailor made singer for Raja's composition.

[buggle]

skr, yes I subscribed to Jaya TV, eagerly waiting. Thanks for the info on the telecast dates.

v_s, is jaya tv programmes match the program guide? i believe u have it thru Dish Network?, i did subscribe it and eagerly waiting for jan 14th

[Sureshs65]

Plum / raagas,

While I too wish there was more folk and more of 2000s (I am ofcourse a 2000s fanatic as you know ) I have to say that Raja, even with 33 songs, is difficult to categorize. Personally I think Jaya TV folks did a decent balancing act between need to get in popular numbers, some older numbers and also some rare numbers. Given that it was a program attended by 10000 folks nearly, I can understand their compulsion. So I would rather go with, did they do a job of the songs? as the question. The answer is yes, from the orchestra point of view and SPB point of view. Others were almost there and some were lacking. But overall it was enjoyable.

Maybe Raja should just do one folk based program alone? Starting with 'machana paatheengala' to the metamorphosis he achieves with Virumandi.