Raja - Live in Concerts - Madurai Concert Telecast/Videos

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Maestro's recap about Kavingar's ingenuity and spontaneity (as Plum mentioned) is a very interesting anecdote. I agree with Plum that not many geniuses fall into this category and he has every authority to issue that statement, as he is the living testimony for speed, spontaneity and quality. Definitely a goose-bump moment for me. But those singers performed shabbily, especially female singers. Male singer was ok, still I can feel how much we miss MV sir and Jency. Especially at the lines 'Rathi ulaavum nErame', thoroughly missed him. The singers just sang the words and there is absolutely no feel in it, just like some kids sing. Again who are those singers? Even the tempo was little less compared to the original one. But orchestra made up for it, extremely well.

Monumental moment of the whole concert is that excellent demonstration of Schubert's symphony and how he extracted Idhayam POguthe out of it. KV you explained it extremely well. I could not believe when all the instruments stopped, Raja sang Idhayam POguthe, I was totally mesmerized, what a moment that was! That's not all, with the same piece of music, he continued singing the song. Shashtaanga Namaskaarams! I would like to know from them who witnesses this live, how the audience reacted to these moments. There cannot be a better moment in any concert. Hats off to the musicians!

He even remembers the year and all the details when it was composed. Another demonstration to explain the symphony. What did he say 'Seeyakkai'? Why did he say that? I didn't quite get that. Those two set of instruments, violins and cellos first played separately and then together and Maestro cleverly explains it short and sweet. That's the authority we are talking about. It is sad all these precious treasures are not grasped by the current and upcoming music directors (even his kids), still they want to make quick money compromising very much on the quality. There is no one to carry his legacy! What a shame!

Another goosebump moments from Saagara Sangamam BGM.

If you have a monumental moment, there has to be a horrible moment following it. That's the female singer in Etho MOgham. Sothappified to the core by the female singer with all sorts of Abhaswarams. How can she sing like that, Naarasam to ears. Completey no feel. Missed Shreya Ghoshal very much. Every time orchestra has to come to rescue. Karthik did a good job, still at lower octaves, he could not register properly could see struggling.

Ilaiyaraajaa'vukku Ilaiyaraaja'vaa? Good one! Good try by Yuvan on Raja Kaiyya Vechcha, still he has abhaswarams most of the time when he sings! Magic re-created by orchestra again! The incident he explained was thoroughly touching!

Another masterpiece in Sindhu Bhairavi!

Poongathave was too good. Starting veena by Punya Srinivas Devi was excellent. Again tempo was little slow. Uma Ramanan sang little sadly, don't know why. Deepan was cool, no complaints. Napolean (flute) stole the song with able support from violins, nadhaswaram and Thavil. Solo violin by Mr. Prabhakar is another highlight of the song.

Oru Jeevan, Chitra ji again, what to tell, no mistakes, perfect 10. What a sincere singer she is! Thorough to her profession and art! Young female singers should learn from her, they were very careless today (except Surmuki, thanks Suresh ji for letting me know the singer's name. ).

Nadhaswaram piece and violin piece from Rudraveena, haunting piece of music!

It was surprising that the same females when singing choir were singing perfectly, but when they come to sing a solo or a duet, they were clueless. In Aayiram Thaamarai mottukkale, Surmuki was fantastic. Starting mridangam by Jaychan was exemplary. SPB sir was quite good, but as Nerd expressed, we can feel the tiredness in him.

Ilangaathu Veesuthe was good, who is the female singer again? She was quite good. I expected Sriram would sing still better as it was his own song.

Pazhassi raja, a marvel in new age!

Vizhiyile malarnthathu, SPB sir brought Rajini sir in front of me. Somehow I am not happy to see him struggling. Could not believe same SPB in SRR was exceptional and outstanding. K J Yesudas sir in En iniya Pon Nilaave. I believe this is the song, where KJY faltered at the start, right?. We didn't get to see it. Starting guitar by Sashee sir was so perfect. How casually he plays guitar as if it is a toy. Great! Choir was again perfect in backing up.

Greatest moment of this episode is the demonstration of Franz Schubert's piece and symphony, followed by Kavignar's anecdote.

Sorry for all the nitpicks, but it didn't take away an inch of enjoyment.

According to my opinion, today's honors for the best performer goes to the entire orchestra, they did some outstanding performance. The way they played Schubert's symphony piece cannot be described by words. Proud to see such a huge talent! Their other performances were also perfect and way better than the earlier 2005 concert, where we could hear at many places they could not re-create the magic, but here the hardwork and preparation shows and they were absolutely perfect in nailing down to recreate all the magic! Followed by Chitra ji's Oru jeevan Azhaithathu.

Looking forward to tomorrow's final episode.