Ilaiyaraja

Ilayaraja is a Musical Genius He has composed more than 6500 songs and provided film scores for more than 1000 movies. Unlike some so called composers Ilayaraja writes his own Original Music. Ilayaraja doesn't copy others work. Anyway I went to see his concert in Connecticut and I was not satisfied and I wanted more So I went to see his concert in Virginia. The songs he played were different. There were all mesmerizing beautiful songs. He played for 4 hrs. How can you expect anyone to play continuously for more than 4 hrs. Of course he can't satisfy all of the audience. By the way he can speak English very fluently, I would say he can speak English better than the one who complained over this forum. He spoke in Tamil and Telugu because most of his fans are Both Tamils and Telugu speaking people. Trust me Ilayaraja writes his own Original Music unlike others ( for instance AR and GV Prakash) Ilayaraja should have been awarded Oscar and Emmy long time ago , The only Reason AR got award because Hollywood always gives Oscar for the movies which don't t do well at the Box office, (in theaters). So that's the only reason AR. Rahman got award. However Ilayaraja Got award in heaven and from everyone all over the world . He won everyone's heart and soul. There is no way he could have satisfied everyone at the concert. I would go and watch his concert every year from now onwards. He is a musical genius. Ilayaraja also can sing very well and when he sings people can listen to him and they feel peace in their heart and mind. Unlike other so called composers when they start singing I have to turn off the TV (AR).Give me a break. I would advice some musicians Please don't open your mouth unless you can sing, for (AR Rahman), May be I spent more than $1200.00 to see his both concerts but every penny I spent was worth it. I would do it every year from now onwards.

Here is my rant. About Chicago concert. Ilayaraja is a genius. I would still go. But I have to share this concern. For some of the iconic Tamil tunes IR used Telugu version. Bharati raja Tamil. Sri Devi Tamil. 16 ayathinile Tamil. National award won for Tamil version of senthoora pover. Such a let down they sang in Telugu. Same with Ninnukkori Varnam. Don t mind adding a few Telugu numbers. Use exclusive Telugu tunes. Not superhit Tamil tunes. Even Sridevi tribute song was s Telugu song. Dhal Dhak Telugu version. He could have used Johnny song. Also some random songs rather that iconic hits. All said and done Overall concert experience was good.

DO NOT GO UNLESS YOU KNOW TAMIL PROBABLY HE DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH , HE SPOKE IN TAMIL ONLY, 40 % OF ATTENDEES ARE NON TAMILIANS HIS MUSICAL ORCHESTRA TROUPE IA AWSOME SINGERS ARE MEDIOCRE

Good show missing some more singers that was on the flyer. Need to add some Malayalam songs also for a change. Sound was not Balanced need major improvement overall the music was ok MC's was horrible....

Loved his pick of songs and impromptu anecdotes throughout the concert. I only wish there was an intermission.

All the singers did a marvelous job, but the song selection taken were a bit on the slow soft tone side. Having tons of fast hit melodies under his belt, he could have selected a bit of good numbers considering the expectations of the audience.

Not All artists made to program. Program didnt start in the time.

While the concert was good, majority of the songs were in tamil though almost 50% or more of the audience were telugu speaking. Lot of disappointed telugu fans. Don't go to the concert if you are expecting at least half of the numbers to be in Telugu.

Ilayairaja's songs were excellent. He has put lot of effort to make it enjoyable. He sang a wide variety of songs. However, there was lot of echo and subtle variations were drowned in loud background music and echo. Prudential center did not do a good job of balancing the music and vocals. Most of the singers and maestro failed to translate what they were saying about the songs in to English or Telugu. It was most irritating. We could not share the joy about the context of song creation or the stories as they were told in language that we all could not understand. Songs were well sung and enthralled us.

Needless to say the performance was pretty good. But i could not enjoy it completely,when my friends say ,the audio was perfect --they were sitting at level below, looks like the issue is with my location (upper level) . it is surely not worth 81$(63 for ticket and other charges 18) There was too much echo where i was sitting ,(upper level 230 row 9) on few occasions audio was feeble, speakers were pretty bad or not positioned correctly.If there is any concert/performance in future i will never visit prudential center again.

This was my first glimpse of my beloved "Sidhar Ilaiyaraja". I was literaly on tears both at the beginning and at the end of the show. I don't have any specific words to write as I am speachless. The only one thing that I feel is that we are blessed to be born and be living with this great Swami, Mahaan and Avatar called Ilaiyaraja.

The concert was advertised as Tamil and Telugu Songs and within the first 2 hours there were 3 telugu songs and 12 Tamil songs. I wouldn't mind listening to Tamil songs but I don't understand Tamil. If there were a few more Telugu songs it wouldn't have been such a bad program. Also Ilayaraja came 1 full hour late and didn't even bother to apologize. This is paid show, if he wants people to come to his shows here in the US, he needs to be on time and if not he better give an explanation.

Disappointed at no. Of Telugu songs.. It could have been better. Song selection is also not great. Could have included more peppy nos.

The program was fantastic. we missed few songs which are all time favorite. His first hit annakili unnai theduthae

Personally I didn t think they managed good balance between Telugu and Tamil songs. Very few Telugu songs are sung. People argue that Music is universal. Agree. But I enjoy lyrical values too. Being blessed hearing the greats of Aathreya and Veturi, hoping that I am not too selfish. - Due to the fact that I liked ilaiyaraaja so much, want to know the glimpses of his life incidents to connect more. Absolutely there is no attempt had been made to translate the things in telugu. - I have seen lot of wasted talent on the stage. Singers are not been used properly. Organization is an issue. Despite all the negatives, for me it is dream comes true to see Maestro live.

there was lot of noise in the sound systems which was disturbing. enjoyed only few songs without this noise. Bottom line.. Idrem sucks!! About 90% songs were in Tamil though there are many telugu singers in the troop. Idrem tricked all telugu fans saying that its a Tamil and Telugu event, but infact its not the case. The organizers tricked people to fill in seats!! Definitely Not the event for the telugu guys!! Also it would have been great if atleast a simple intro is given to other legend of the show, SPB. seeing the legends Ilayaraja, SPB and chitra live is the only reason giving 1 star.

I respect Ilayaraja but this concert was total waste of time and money. It was marketed as a tamil and telugu event but it was 95% tamil. Like most others our family too feel that we were cheated.

Song selection included all-time old hits. Video was out of focus and is of low quality. Sound system quality was good. Event center is very nice.

Had the great opportunity to see and "FEEL" Ilayaraja from close. But his communication is mainly in Tamil, and it should atleast have been translated in English.

Today's Illayaraja concert in Newark was a total disappointment for those who weren't native Tamil audience. 90% or more of the concert was dedicated to non Telugu audience. Advt was misleading as it indicated it Telugu/Tamil concert. Sorry for many folks put in effort to travel Newark from various cities, and half of the audience was Telugu speaking. Most of the event, jokes, conversations, discussion, between singers was in Tamil. Yes, Music is beyond the language. But one not need spend so much effort and money, and travel in cold weather. There were about 4 to 5 songs in Telugu (while we were there), and even those were intermixed with Tamil (which was not a bad fusion). Illayaraja walked away from the stage, during the Telugu song. He spoke few words in Telugu and could not continue. Those who are planning to go for SFO concert (and do not understand Tamil) should seriously tone down their expectations.. I grew up listing to and loving illayaraja music, but I would not go to his concert again. Audio quality was just about OK, but did not leverage Arena sound system. Those who speak/understand Tamil will definitely enjoy the event

My dream comes true. I like the location and the event management.

Hated the anchors, organizer's could have done a better job of planning the actual event to cater to the needs of audience. Poor choice of anchors!

The event was good but was not up to my expectation. I was hoping for a more inclusive experience from a Maestro who is adored in multiple languages. He was more interested in presenting the concert in just his own language. The stadium, the lighting and the facilities in general were great. The time management and planning of the concert itself was poor by the concert producers.

excellent show but disappointed as few named singers did not turn up

It was amazing and memorable. I would like to go again if this happens.

As expected maestro was brilliant. Nice song collections. Singers and the orchestra was good. No words to describe.

The concert started late. Tickets were overpriced for the nosebleed section. Parking was an exorbitant $25.

It was very good, I was little disappointed because 65% songs were Tamil and 35% were telugu. As I am from Andhra I would love to listen to Telugu songs. Also I believe that music is nothing to do with language. But i am very happy to hear Ilayaraja, SBP, Chitra, Karthik, Geetha Madhuri - all excellent playback singers I recommend this concert

Not up to expectation .Most of the famous songs were not sung.

Ilaiyaraaja was being very rude to audience Hariharan, shuhasini and sadana sargam supposed to be on stage as mentioned in ticket and website ads, but didn't come and no one apologized for that. other than chitra and mano this whole concert is horrible. utter waste of money.

The musical god(The Maestro) has finally gave a treat to all the music lovers in USA for the first time. Really was lucky or even say blessed to be at the concert Raja sir live performing along his great musicians.

It was much awaited incident and it was great! Wish it lasted much longer!

It was an amazing experience to see Maestro performing . It was like going back in the moment of time . Thanks to 8K radio and other partners to make this happen. It would be better if they had better seats for ROW A.B,C , the temp. ones were not suitable for a 4 hours program . Overall it was another Master Piece by Raja.

the abrupt ending in the end was very bad. Felt like an insult to legend like Ilayaraja!

First, let me just say that Illayaraja was awesome as ever and it was a treat to hear him and his songs. And now to the bad part. The event felt totally mismanaged. At one point, they literally stopped the singers on the stage in the middle of a great performance just to announce that videography is not permitted. I understand their concern but they could have easily waited for 30 secs to let them finish their song. And finally the end of the show was so anti climactic. They switched off the power to the stage and the show ended abruptly. It was the weirdest way to say good bye to the legend. All in all, a show which could've been great if only it was managed properly. Illayaraja or the other artists didn't deserve to be treated this way.

Great show could have ended better. They pulled the plug at 11.04 pm in the middle of a song.

The concert was memorable and awesome! . The songs selection was awesome!

Don't have words to express it - Finally got to see him in person. The whole orchestra was wonderful - Maestro did not waste a single second. Was supposed to be 3 hrs, Raja did it for 3.5 hrs. At 73, he did not sit during the entire concert! His dedication to perfection as usual was very evident in every note that was played / sung.Will go next year also. But won't buy from ticket master - way too much excessive and extra charges.

Completely disappointed. Why all the way come from India to perform when you don't have the enthusiasm to perform. Terrible selection of songs. This goes to the singers as well.Organizers were pathetic. I suggest not to waste your money and time.

Horrendous unplanned mess..... Was this a concert. My local bar has a better handle on what they plan to sing. Completely chaotic, no flow from song to song. Singers didn't know who was singing next. Ilayaraja sounded extremely narcissistic and dismissive of singers and the audience. Huge disappointment for the telugu fans, nothing against Tamil songs but when a show being advertised for both languages then there should have been some effort to balance the song distribution. Come on Raja, you can do better than this. Disappointed "music" fan

The advertisement was deceptive. The program listed at least 5 performers who did not show up with the result that the show was not organized very well. There were lot of pauses and confusion between songs. Moreover Ilaiyaraaja was very arrogant as he could not deal with the crowd requests.

One of the worst performance. Everybody came here for money and not charity. The behavior on the show is as if they came for charity. If you are reallly a tamil speaking and hate telugu go to the show

I was really disappointed by some of the comments he made during the show. I don't think that he knows hat he is an entertainer and people paid loads of noney to watch his show. Throughout the show he wanted to control when people should clap and when to remain quiet to listen to his songs. He acted like my 2nd grade teacher during the performance, His main point was, "you all waited all these years to see me...now shut up and listen to me". He thinks that he is still in the India of the 70's and he was singing for free. That said..here are the highlights... - Chinna kuyil was the #1 attraction with her mesmerizing voice - most # of claps) - SBP got #2 kudos - Karthik is good...tried to lighten up the audience...maybe he didn't get a chance to hear what the master said (stay quiet and listen to what we sing)...after all the comments the crowd did not respond to his enthusiasm Nothing noteworthy to say about the show, outside of waste of time and money..

Music Legend was great. His performance and team were excellent. But the sound at HP Pavilion wasn't setup properly to capture the magic of his music. Orchestra sound was overpowering most of the time to shadow the singer's voices. Mic was screechy a lot of times. Overall, I couldn't enjoy the magic, due to the sound effect setup at the HP Pavillion. I stood outside most of the time to listen. I can't believe that there were so many babies in that level of sound. Left the concert after few hours. I have been to SPB's concert at HAYWARD,CA few times in the past years. The sound setup was much better compared to this concert. Also mixing both language (Tamil and Telegu) songs doesn't seem like fun. It would have been nice, if it was two separate times for difference languages, so both audience would have felt so much magic of his music. Hope next time the sound setup will be looked at properly before we invite these legends. Otherwise there is no justice to those wonderful music which is supposed to take you to serenity.

One of a kind ... terrific event ...must watch. Ilayaraja sir's dedication was written all over the show.

Raja's concert was a major letdown. Very shoddy event management and the sound mixing was terrible.

Screen in center should have been hd like the two smaller screens on the side...ilaiyarajah was definately superior and outstanding.karthik, mano, and chitra were also great. Very good and rememberable concert overall.

I travelled almost 300 miles to watch the great Illayaraja concert but disappointed because of more Tamil songs.Iam not against to Tamils but there were lesser Telugu songs when compared.It was advertised that Hariharan and Yesudas are coming but didn't find them. Need to have good singers along with the harmonium box.I would never attend any concert if at all,very boring.

Two complaints that prevented me from fully enjoying the show 1. Very little effort was made by the maestro to translate his Tamil commentary throughout the show, he didn't even show it on his face how telugu audience would understand all of his Tamil commentary. Ilayaraja should realize he is just not a Tamil entertainer with few telugu fans,he is equally big in both industries. If he doesn't want to explain or let someone explain his heart in telugu then don't ask telugu people to come to the show 2. There should be atleast 50 -50 distribution of telugu and Tamil songs , I think he managed a 35% telugu songs in the end Other than these two issues, he is just a musical wonder and chitra was the best singer of the show

Nice show with good music and lights. Ilayaraja is awesome should have done shows earlier

This program is very disappointing for telugu people and time waste

The event was very well organized. That too for the short duration it was well done. The arena is really good and the soundings were good. I really enjoyed the show.

First, I'm so blessed to be in the live concert where Maestro performing an extra-ordinary show. I thoroughly enjoyed all the songs and the selection of songs, sequencing were also thought really well. Wonderful execution for 5 hours non-stop musical delight and made my weekend. Absolutely I have got all my favorite songs what could be covered in that duration. Raaja sir, please keep coming to US and I'm looking forward for more shows.

The event was supposed to be bi-lingual. But it was mostly tamil and not telugu.

Wonderful and nostalgic 5 hours of non stop entertainment filled with moments that brought memories of the past when I heard those songs. Illayaraaja is indeed a great mastero who created authentic music that has power and melody to last thru the years

Excellent 5 hr show of Music... and enjoyed and had moment of life.

As SPB said "Music has no language." I think where we telugu people felt bit disheartened is that each of Illayaraja Sir's songs have an attached story along with them. We wished to go through those beautiful moments again as we see our Illayaraja garu playing those songs in front us. But said that, I was here only for Illayaraja, SPB, Chitra and Yuvan. I will never forget this wonderful day. I feel lucky enough to be present at the concert. And had opportunity to explore illayaraja's tamil songs and listening again and again couple of songs since yesterday.

I feel the concert was fair. Just because of the exceptional performances of SPB, Chitra and Kartik Raja I am giving it Average. I felt the songs were good and well sung but the planning/practice was lacking. There were couple of times when they started a song they made a mistake and had to restart. In between the concert Ilaiyaraja blasted the audience for shouting. The lights in the auditorium were annoying as they kept flashing the light into our eyes (this is definitely Raja Sirs fault). I would still recommend people to watch it but dont go with huge expectations like I did.

Happy to see my Guru's Ilayaraja and Balu on the same stage as its one of my dream to see them live.... But at the same time totally disappointed as the sound system was not that much clear as I can understand what song they are singing but the voice was not clear... As am a fan of ilayaraja I don't mind it's a telugu or Tamil song but most of the telugu audience were disappointed a lot as it went like a 60% tamil and 40% telugu songs and most of the good numbers in both languages are missed... It would have been better if they have performed both language songs alternately and even saw some coordination problem with the musicians... Finally even though am a BIG fan of ilayaraja and Balu i dont want to be biased so in my point of view it's an average show but really happy to see the Legends live so am happy....

Worth every penny ! This is equivalent to finally obtaining Lord Balaji darshan in Tirupathi.. Geethanjali song (O Priya, Priya) was the best followed by Maathe Manthramu.. and then Mano's Madura Marikozhuthu vaasam.. etc..

Show had both Tamil and Telugu songs. In total there were 40 songs and Tamil (27) & Telugu(13). Since I know only Telugu it was little disappointing. I felt the ratio (3:1) was not fair. When they are doing a show like this it should be 1:1. Many people for screaming for Telugu songs because most of them were Tamil. I don't think any one should be doing when you are paying $155/tkt Also the conversation was mostly in Tamil even when they were talking about Telugu songs. Couple of my friends dropped out from California show based on our feedback.

Need more arange ment There is no anchar , They should have some one (comedian) to anchar the whole show. With some input

The song selections were very poor. Not many big singers except Mano and Chitra. Some of the songs are shocking like "Kanmani Anbodu". No songs from popular movies like Nayagan, Kozhi Koovuthu, Mouna Raagam, Sindu Bairavi etc. Overall, the money was not worth except that I can say I attended one of the Mastero's concerts.

Simply stunning show! Mellifluous from beginning to end!

Excellent !!!!! Unforgettable !!! Every song was good !!!

I have watched Ilayaraja and his brother Gangai Amaran, performing together way back in 1988 @ The Music Academy, Madras. Much has happened since... Rahman rose...and with that Ilayaraja fell....its not as if Ilayaraja did not get opportunities - he did dozens of movies, maybe hundreds after that...it's just that Ilayaraja took a huge blow to his mind, so much so that he lost his mojo...and just couldn't reach up to the genius of old.. So, I eagerly went to this event....the following were outstanding 1) Venue 2) Orchestra support - both from India; and from the Hungary Philharmonic led by Laszlo Kovacs 3) Singers and singing 4) Seamless flow of songs from one to the other....there was almost no pause...as if everyone knew what songs should come, in which order etc., 5) Conducting What could have been better 1) Song selection - thought I could have come up with a better collection of songs. Some songs selected were puzzling ....these were good songs, but there were so many other outstanding songs from which could have been picked ? 2) Ilayaraja introduced Hungary Philharmonic Orchestra, but made no mention of his troupe from India !!! Its usually the issue isn't it....take your people for granted; but go overboard with foreigners !!! 3) There was some jarring, screeching noise from the sound system - not too much; but it was noticeable All in all....a spectacular performance...I was searching for any nearby city, where I could go and watch again...but no more in Texas... As I left the venue, I was filled with a deep sadness...maybe, just maybe, this is the last time I had watched Ilayaraja - the greatest composer of all forms of Music, that I had ever known and listened to - in person

Show was very short, only 3.5 hours, in other cities, the show was 5.5 hours long

Awesome concert. Very fortunate to see the legend so close. A dream come true.

Excellent show by god of music Isaignani. I am blessed to be a part of this show

Awesome show. Excellent presentation. Wish he comes more often to Houston

Too much delay between songs. Ended very abruptly.

Accompanied by our family friends, my wife and I looked forward to this event with excitement, and arrived at the Arena well in time and with a lot of anticipation. But Ilaiyaraaja (and his troupe) arrived very late & the event started about 90 minutes past the scheduled time. He was tardy, ill prepared, and his his band had not even tested the sound system before the program. The sound system was horribly loud, lacked coordination and, adding insult to injury, Ilaiyaraaja's choice (of songs to play) was terrible. We walked out well before the end. It was a colossal waste of precious Sunday evening time. Never again.

They started singing almost as soon as they came in and continuously entertained without any breaks. Karthik was highlight, his voice was magical. Good mix of Tamil and Telugu songs with a few Kannada, one malayalam, and one hindi song. Well organized.

When we have 'Isaignani' ILAYARAJA on stage , what else you need? I was so much excited in seeing Ilayaraja. It was my life time dream to see him. Finally it happened. It was 3 1/2 hours show and Ilayaraja made it more than expected. He never sit till end of the show and he was standing for all 3 1/2 hours. I loved the show. Prudential Center is not right place to conduct this kind of musical concert. Poor seating arrangements, poor audio system in the hall, poor lighting and etc. All these negatives gone away when Ilayaraja came to the stage. Singers Mano, Chitra, Karthik, Yuvan Shankar Raja and others rocked as usual.

So many glitches in the audio system and not a good selection of songs from legend except couple of them, the event started 1 and 1/2 hour late.

We grew up with his music for the past 39 years. He rarely conducts concerts. Now he is almost 75 years old. We feel this is a lifetime opportunity to see him perform in person.

Having listened to Ilaiyaraja songs day in and day out for the past 20 years, to be able to witness the Maestro perform with his orchestra right in front was a once in a lifetime experience for me. The musicians were top notch and delivered a high quality rendition of all the songs. It allows you to truly appreciate the intricacies of Ilaiyaraaja's masterful orchestrations. Ilaiyaraaja's playful banter in the few seconds between songs, when the performers prepared for the next piece, was both entertaining and informative. There were occasions when the sound engineers screwed up and cut off certain instruments - but Raaja ensured that no detail was missed, pausing and performing the piece again with everything sorted out.

Best orchestra by any Indian music director. Would have been better if the conversations were in Telugu.

Concert was poorly organized overall. The concert started 1 hour late. The song selection was terrible. There were too many starts/stops during the concert. Light from the stage was reflecting onto the audience and that was annoying. The stage microphones for the singers were being constantly swapped out. MCs and speakers were average. Food vendors were fair to average.

What a great show. Illaiyaraaja, karthik , mano, chitra and all other ever fully energetic. The performance was really amazing. it was a musical treat for everyone. Love to attend it again.. Only compliant is that the show started 1 hour late but due to the awesomeness of the show the complaint can be suppressed.

The performance duration is ok but they lack in picking good songs. The performance in total was very poor. Received the same review from people of ages - 60's, 40's and 30's. Also we did not see any special performances during the show. We like the ilayaraaja composed song for people who live far from India but apart rom this he disappointed the crowd who attended the concert with/without expectations.

Why is the concert advertised to start at 4, but only starts at 5:10, Does our time not have any value? have you heard of making announcements to let people know that the program will be starting late!!! Sound system was terrible, how hard is to get mike's that actually work so the audience can actually hear the program. Could not hear anything the Illairaja spoke. Please use clip mike for people that move around. Political ads during the event - very poor taste!

This is a worst event for non Tamil fans of Ilayaraja. Good luck mr. Ilayaraja for your next event, if there will be any.

Overall the Concert was good. Mastero used to speak about songs ,lyricist , his composing and past experience with MSV, GK & all. That was missing. More Rhythm & percussion based songs in DC rather more orchestration based ones. But the Eaglebank venue Acoustics is not known for good sound. Sound system was bad and sound engineers belong to Arena were not prepared for big show like Mastero's show. But Raja Sir takes over everything once he is front of audience!!!!

Very fortunate to attend Maestro's concert. Enjoyed every moment

It's awesome. He is a perfectionist. If something is wrong he will start all over again. I haven't seen any body doing that on a live show. I enjoyed every moment of it.

It was BRILLIANT - Great selection of songs. The orchestra was fantastic. I thought that they were able to reproduce close to the original orchestration of the songs, which is a phenomenal task given the complexity of orchestration of Raja's music. I thought the singing was also very good especially Karthik, Mano and Chithra. Surmukhi's voice was good but she missed the tempo initially in one of the songs and had problems in the beginning with Kanamani Anbodu but I thought she sang "Dhoorathil Naan Kanda Un Mugam" extremely well. It was a pleasant surprise that Dhoorathil song was performed - the singing and the orchestra was brilliant. Karthik was a stand out - His rendition of Om Sivoham, Vedam and Megam Kottatum were fantastic. And Yuvan and he rocked with Pottu Vaitha Kadhal. The songs Raja asked Yuvan to sing were apt - April Mayile, Pottu Vaitha and Adiye Manam Nillunna Nikkadhadi. Eventhough SPB and SJ are ultimate, Mano and Chithra's rendition of Sundari was enjoyable. Ramya did a good job of singing Vegam Vegam a la Usha Utup style. The other surprise inclusion was Kodai Kala Katre. I didnt know the guy who sang it but he did well and the orchestra was fantastic reproducing the song. Speaking about the orchestra highlights for me were guitar, bass guitar in Vanitha mani, Kodai Kala Katre, Megam Kottattum, Eh Aaatha Aathorma, Kanmani Anboda, strings in Sundari, Vegam Vegam, Anadha Raagam, Dhoorathil, Naan Thedum Sevvanthi Poovidhu, tabla in Om Sivoham, Melam in Machanai Parthingala, Drums in Adiye, Kattu Kuyilu, Megam Kottatum and flute by Napolean in multiple songs. This has to be the BEST ORCHESTRA! Raja was cool with whistles, applause and shouting even as they were singing. He was pleased when the crowd applauded during some of the extaordinary bits in a song - when the singer nails a difficult transition from a high note to a lower note or brilliant pieces by section of the orchestra. He himself would provide them with his applause during those bits. In summary, it was a great evening that I was blessed to witness. I am blessed to be born and living when this legend is living. Just listening to the songs and Raja's dedication to his music and the brilliance of these songs, I don't think yet we have given him the stature that the man deserves. HE IS UNIQUE AND UNCOMPARABLE. To compare him to anyone else is by itself a disrespect.

Excellent concert! We have thoroughly enjoyed the blend of Telugu and Tamil songs. Highly structered and no wastage of time at all between the songs. Ilaiyaraja sir has full control over the concert & stage. No unnecessary rattling on stage.

It was really good arrangements and the money what we spent makes me to feel that its worth. very satisfied. the dinner in akbar palace was really superb.

Was an awesome experience to watch and immerse into raja sirs music....raja sir humour was great on this day...there are some complaints in the existing reviews that there aren't much Telugu songs and he doesn't talk in Telugu and he is arrogant..today we dint see any of that. I thought he justified both Telugu and Tamil audiences and there were equal amount of songs . Overall a satisfying experience. A bit disappointed that spb was not there...but all the other singers were excellent...Mano..Chitra..sandana ..karthik...yuvan...could have had a Hindi song for north Indian audience since he is well known all over India...

Awesome music from Musical King, non stop 3 1/2 hours. Expecting for the next visit..

Well organized and executed. Excellent songs selection and very good sound system. Could've started on time but over all experience is very good.