Neyvelli Santanagoplan at Ragigudda Temple

Yesterday , we attended a concert by Neyelli Santanagopalan at Ragigudda temple under the aegis of Kanikapuri Vaidika Sabha . He was accompanied by H Chandrasekhar on the violin, Arjun Kumar on the mridangam and Amrut on the Kanjira. Missed the first couple of songs due to traffic along the way :( (Navaragamalika Varnam and Mayamalavagowla) While entering the temple premises, heard the Alapanai of Dhanyasi Ragam. He sang the rare Dikshithar kirtanam Paradevatam (have heard only MLV render this song). The neraval and swarams captured the essence of Dhanyasi ragam. The percussionists though good were too loud at times. He then sang Annapurne Vishalakshi in Sama (had listened to the same by KVN a couple of days back and had discussed with a friend that no one can sing this song like KVN. Still stand by that :-) . The main piece for the concert was Kalyani. The alapanai was brilliantly rendered. Neyvelli seemed to have a bad throat day but that didn't hamper his singing a bit. He effortlessly traversed to the mandra saptakam and sang in a low pitch for a while. I narrowed down on 3 compositions - one by each of the trinity -Shyama Shastri's Talli Ninnu, Dikshitar's Kamalamba Bhajare and St. Thyaraja's Amma Ravamma. He chose Kamalamba Bhajare. This is a soulful composition by Dikshithar. Neraval and swara improvisations were on the starting line itself.
Tani avartanam on the Mridangam was ear shattering but played well. Liked Amrut's Kanjira playing a lot. The concluding pieces were a PurandaraDasa compositon in Durbari Kanada, a Tillana in Purvi (another KVN favourite) and Mangalam. A good concert on the whole and thoroughly enjoyed it