V.Sanjeev,Kum.A Kanyakumari,Chevalier Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna,Guru Karaikudi R. Mani,SAFE P.Ramabhadran, Swathi Softsolutions Sudhakar

Guru A. Kanyakumari, the violinist has guided many young artistes. Not all of them are violinists. Guitarist Prasanna, in the limelight all over again for scoring the music in the docu film ‘Smile Pinki’ which won the Oscar recently is one such.

Then there is violinist Embar Kannan who often plays alongside her and individually too and is highly rated.

And there is young V. Sanjeev who has quietly made his mark with the violin. Now, the young artiste has released a double CD of his music. Titled ‘ Madhuradhwani’, the album was released in the midst of some biggies and the event hosted in Chennai by Shanthi Arts Foundation & Endowments (SAFE).

Sanjeev’s mother says that he was musically inspired by her own erstwhile guru, Tanjore. S. Kalyanaraman and that under the tutelage of guru Kanyakumari, he has inherited her inimitable and appealing rendering style.

“It is his hard work, accompanying experience and his musical creativity that has come together in the new album,” she says.

The CD release function begun with a violin concert by Sanjeev with experienced and seasoned artistes like Mannargudi A. Easwaran on the mridangam and E.M. Subramanyam on the ghatam.

He commenced his recital with the all-time favourite, Swaminaatha paripalayaasumaam in naattai Ragam, adi thalam, followed by the rarely heard karunaa samudhra, in dhevagaandhari ragam, adhi thalam, a composition of Thyagaraja, as was the next piece, Bhaagayanaiya, Chandrajyothi ragam,adi thalam.

The short and neat Raga sketch which preceded the rendering, portrayed the strong bowing style, which is a stamp of guru Kanyakumari. The song was followed by an interesting artistry of kalpanaswarams.

The piece de resistence of the evening was again the evergreen composition of Thyagaraja, intha sowkhya, in kaapi ragam and 2kalai adi thalam.

The tail-ender was a surprise and it turned out to be a Thillana in Pahaadi, composed by Sanjeev himself, which features in the CD album too.

Sanjeev says that it was inspired by Kalyanraman’s Thillana in the same Raga. The Charanam Sahithya is in Sanskrit and has been penned by another young and great ghatam artiste, Dr. S. Karthik. It was a fulfilling concert and in the words of guru Karaikudi Mani, who was present the music was “flawless and Sruthi shuddham”.

The twin CD albums were released by Chevalier Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, while guru Karaikudi R. Mani, received the first copy. Balamuralikrishna affirmed his appreciation for the album and said “Sanjeev has evolved to be a professional who plays the violin beautifully. After listening to his music, I would even think about having him play for me.”

The accompanying artistes in the CD album are Patri Satish Kumar on the mridangam and B. S. Purushothaman on the kanjira.