INTERACTIVE LISTENER'S CHOICE CONCERT

A Report by Geetha Iyengar

   
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MANY HAPPY RETURNS!

4th August 2003 was a day to remember for two reasons: It was the day when well known musicologist Prof. S. R. Janakiraman was honoured on his 75th birthday and for his stellar contributions to music and musicology. It was also the day when the Carnatica Archival Centre (CAC) launched yet another innovative program: an Interactive Listener’s Choice Concert.

In a function organized at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mylapore, CAC's chairman Shri. Mohan Parasaran kicked off the proceedings, applauding the 75 year-“young", Prof. Janakiraman for his contributions and continued activities in the field of music. His deep knowledge qualified him to be described as a walking encyclopedia and his unstinted service to the community was absolutely spectacular, Shri. Parasaran said. He jocularly added that Prof. SRJ could be labelled an “endangered species”.

Karthik Fine Arts, Guruguhanjali, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Carnatica had come together to felicitate this great musicologist. Shri. R. Krishnaswamy was the chief guest. Prof. SRJ was known for his knowledge of music and the English language, Shri. Krishnaswamy said, and that he would coin unique words like "Tennysonian"! His lec-dems could appeal both to the layman and to the research scholar. With so much work behind him he was still young in spirit. Dr. V. V. Srivatsa described Prof. SRJ as a “Lakshana Lakshya Vidwan”. For his frank and forthright thought and lack of dogmatism, he could be described as a "Gaana Hamsam", he said.

Prof. SRJ, with his proverbial humility remarked in his acceptance speech: “I stand on the legs of all my teachers. I am "out", without the blessings of seniors and juniors!”


THE RIGHT CHOICE!

How often has one gone to a concert with great anticipation and returned disappointed that one's favourite raga or krithi was not presented? CAC sought to address this sentiment with an innovative Listener's Choice Concert, the first of what will be a monthly series. This programme enables rasikas to request a raga of their choice before the program. The artiste/s of the day would perform ragas/krithis, choosing from among the requests to tailor a traditional kaccEri. It is also envisaged as a forum to project new talent. A quiz programme, clippings from musicians of yester-years and explanations about ragas in the “Did you know?” format are also slated to be part of future programs.

Rasikas' enthusiasm for the idea was evident from the 93 different ragas that were requested by the 300+ audience. Kalyani was the most popular, with a whopping 53 rasikas asking for it. It was followed by Thodi (30), Kharaharapriya (28), Bhairavi (24), Mohanam & Shanmukhapriya (23 each), Kambhoji (20) and Shankarabharanam (10), thus underscoring the primacy traditionally enjoyed by the "Big Six" ragas of Carnatic Music. There were also several requests for Devagandhari, Reethigowla, Amritavarshini, Bilahari, Sindhubhairavi, Anandabhairavi, Ranjani, Madhyamavathi and Hindustani flavours like Madhuvanthi and Darbari Kanada. Many present-day concert staples such as Lathangi, Hamsanandi and Mohanakalyani received only one request each.

The artistes for the day were: R. Suryaprakash, Carnatica Brothers (Shashikiran & Ganesh), Nisha Rajagopal, Sikkil Gurucharan, Manimaran, Pradeep, Harini Sridhar, Nagai Sriram (violin), K. Sathish Kumar (Mridangam & Khanjira) and Sunder (morsing & tabla). There was also a previously unannounced star artiste of the day and rasikas were encouraged to write in their guesses to add a surprise element to the program. There were wild guesses aplenty, ranging from Kamal Haasan to comedian Vayyapuri to compere Shubhasree Thanikachalam herself! Serious guesses included Prof. SRJ, Vidwan T. R. Subramaniam, Unnikrishnan, Bombay Jayasree and Nithyasree. Ultimately, 16 rasikas guessed right: S. Sowmya! Three prizes were awarded by a draw of lots.

In the concert itself, the ragas rendered were Sahana (Varnam) & Kalyani (Ethaavunara) by Nisha Rajagopal; Nattai & Hindolam by Sikkil Gurucharan; Kharaharapriya, Devagandhari & Shri by Sowmya; Reethigowla, Mohanam & Madhuvanthi by the Carnatica Brothers; Amrithavarshini & Thodi by Suryaprakash; Nalinakanthi & Sindhubhairavi by Pradeep and the popular ”Raghuvamsasudha” by Harini on the keyboard. 

“The hero of the day” as Shri. Parasaran described him, Prof. SRJ was available for comment and said it was an excellent idea and it was for rasikas to attend such programmes and get to learn more and not just listen and leave. In his inimitable way he added, "It is a way to attain a greater degree of musical culture." 

Geetha Iyengar.

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