On November 14 at 5 pm, 150 guests stood up to offer a standing ovation to Anand Subramony at the St. Brigid’s Parish, in Lexington.  It was a moment that I was dreaming of as we prepared for this first YES sponsored event. Anand mesmerized the crowd with a range of ragas and a variety of compositions. The audience was simply moved by his outstanding mastery of Carnatic music, as he enthralled us with a 2 hour solo performance.  One could hear sighs of joy, spontaneous clapping, and in the end compliments were showered on Anand such as ‘outstanding performance’, ‘richness and yet lightness all at once in the voice’, ‘absolutely delightful’ were some of the comments.  

Song selection and rendering of unique compositions in bhakthi rasa was the highlight of the afternoon.  The concert started with a Panthuvarali Varnam sung in two speeds followed by a composition on Lord Ganesha in Chakaravaham.  Anand’s style of singing the song in a fast pace with clear diction was melodious.  The krithi was followed by a slower nattakurinji with a mellifluous raga alapanai and kalpana swaram at the end.  The composition by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, “Mamava sada varade” set the stage for the songs to follow.  A breath taking “Mamavathusree Saraswathy” in hindolam followed and the energy evident in this song, rendered in a faster pace, delighted the audience.

The highlight of the concert was the Thyagaraja krithi “Etavunnara” in kalyani sung in 2 kalai adi thalam.  A perfect alapanai demonstrating varja prayogam and some innovative applications in nishadam and panchamam.  The alapanai was well supported by Krishnan Parameswaran in violin, who also complemented with his unique style of rendering the kalyani.  The alapanai set a wonderful foundation for the grand krithi to follow.  The neravals highlighted the rhythmic variations and the kalpana swarams in various speeds were marvellous.  The superb thaniavarthanam by Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan (Mali) was a perfect sequel to this krithi and the audiences throughly enjoyed the various aspects of the thani and were spellbound.  

A juke box mix of various popular compositions followed suit namely “ododi vanden kanna” in Dharmavathi, “Bantureethi kolu” in Hamsanadam, and “Sadananda Thandavam” in Bahudhari.   The neraval and a brisk rendering of swarams for the Hamsanadam made the audience ask for more.  During the last part of the concert, Anand focused on singing “Dheenanu dukh harana deva,” a Surdas composition describing one of the storylines of Mahabaratha with Krishna’s appearance to rescue Draupadi, brought out lot of Bhakthi in the hall.  This was followed by thillana in Dhanshree and  the concert ended with a brisk mangalam.

Mali’s improvisations while playing the mridangam for the various compositions and Krishnan’s Parur style of playing the violin, added perfect synergy to the concert throughout the afternoon.  The event ended with closing remarks by Anand’s vocal guide Deepti Navaratna who appreciated Anand’s perseverance to excel in this art form, while managing another career and family. We were grateful that  Jothi Raghavan graced us with her presence and introduced the artists,  and it was wonderful to see so many of our friends participate in this community event welcoming Anand and his family into our fold.  Anand is a welcome addition to the Carnatic musicians in the New England area, and we look forward to many more performances like this in the future".

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