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[Editor's Note: The author
is a regular columnist and contributor on music to The Hindu and other
publications. She is the wife of Vidwan Sri. V. Subrahmaniam, senior
disciple of Semmangudi Srinivasier]
Inauguration, Dec. 19th 2004
The hallowed Music Academy hall came to life on
the evening of Dec. 19th, to the delight of music lovers. The Sword of
Damocles that was hanging over the Academy was set aside by a court order,
which perhaps took note of the fact that the institution is greater than its
governing body! The entire 78th Conference was dedicated to the memory of the
recently departed music legend Bharat Ratna M. S. Subbulakshmi who
epitomized classical music in its pristine form. The stage was neatly and
tastefully decorated and there was a large mural painting of MS, done by the
renowned M. F. Husain. There was an air of solemnity enveloping the Academy
that evening. Strangely enough, there was no overflowing crowd, perhaps
because of the sudden and unexpected start to the festival. There were lady
volunteers with big smiles ushering in the invitees. In the absence of the
ailing T. T. Vasu, senior Vice President M. S. Pattabhiraman chaired the show.
One missed Vasu's dynamic presence and surprisingly enough, no word of mention
or appreciation was made about him during the entire event. Former Justice
Bhaktavatsalam inaugurated the festival. Though he is known to the music
world, one got the feeling that he was invited as an act of gratitude to the
judiciary! His speech was laced with valid and useful suggestions. As he
rightly pointed out, music and dance are intertwined and the Academy had not
given the Kalanidhi title to a dancer after the late Balasaraswati. Some
dancers' names were mentioned, which probably could have been avoided since it
presented a picture of canvassing. He had a note of caution, saying that the
trend of sabhas collecting money from performers for "slots" (akin to
capitation fee colleges!) was unhealthy and detrimental to the cause of good
music. He requested that veterans' performances from the Academy archives be
released as CDs and cassettes. He stressed the need for learning Sanskrit and
Telugu so that the import of compositions can be understood, which would
enable artistes to render them with appropriate emotion.
Sri. Vellore Ramabhadran is this year's
Kalanidhi-designate. His name was proposed by Sangita Kalanidhis Sikkil
Neela & Kunjumani and seconded by Sangita Kalanidhi Vedavalli. The
irony was that Sri. Ramabhadran has never played for a female artiste! Perhaps
this is the Academy's way of practising gender equality. Sri. Ramabhadran, in
his speech thanked and recalled his guru's blessings. His first concert,
playing for K. S. Narayanaswamy & K. S. Sivaraman (Vina) at RR Sabha turned
out to be an auspicious one, he said, that culminated in the receipt of many
awards including the Kalanidhi. It must be recalled that all senior vidwans
relished Sri. Ramabhadran's accompaniment, with Semmangudi often remarking
that Ramabhadran plays the instrument as "m.Rdu angam", i.e. with a soft
touch. The crowning glory of the function was the playing of Smt. MS's
compositions, with the lights switched off and her initials highlighted as "M
for Music" and "S for Spirituality". Spirituality did reverberate in the hall
and the peaceful divinity of the music left the listeners supremely calm. The
Academy needs appreciation for this kind of sensitivity that made the evening
memorable.
T. N. Seshagopalan, Delhi
Sunderrajan, Vellore Ramabhadran
Dec. 21st 2004, 4.45 pm
TNS' concert was among the first of the senior
slots this year. Last year he had cancelled his concert at the last minute for
reasons best known to him. The turnout was pretty thin, perhaps it is the
order of the day for even great performers, thus reaffirming that audience
numbers do not often vouch for quality! The kutcheri turned out to be an
excellent one, filling the rasikas with joy. TNS is one artiste endowed with
creativity and an adventurous spirit. The adventurousness can at times be
breathtaking and reflects immense manodharma coupled with tight control
of voice production in delivery of sangatis. From the word go, his voice was
in fine form, aligned with sruti. He started with the famous Tyagaraja kriti "Entara
Nee" in Harikambhoji. He chose to do neraval at "Agama..." instead of the
usual "Seshudu...". The next piece was "Padmavathy Ramanam" in Poorvikalyani.
Being Monday, he sang "Chandram Bhaja" in Asaveri and followed up with "Yaare
Rangana" in Hindolam, which was crisp with beautiful swara patterns. The next
in line was "Ninnu Sevinchina" in Yadukulakambhoji, with the raga prelude
being a rakti treat, which he took to great heights. Next he took up "Dasharathi"
in Todi with neraval and swaras. Though his voice seemed a bit battered, it
was in total unison with sruti. He brought out effective akara passages in all
the hues of Todi in the swaras. The gamakas stood out effectively and thus
made it a wholesome rendition. He took up a pallavi in Simhendramadhyamam
towards the fag end of the recital, to be precise at 6.44 pm! The RTP seemed
an exercise in showmanship, though he dwelt in madhyasthayi passages
and the sancharas were woven beautifully. TNS has this tendency to go
high up and suddenly dive down during raga delineation. This drop is like
falling off a cliff and the over-dramatization tends to rob the beauty of the
raga. One cannot help commenting on this aspect, since it jars the raga
presentation even when it is technically correct. The tanam got over in just
three minutes, with one observation being that a second speed was also sung,
which is a variation not normally done. The pallavi was "Raghupathe
Ramachandra Raghava Narasimha Dayanidhe" in Khanda Triputa. There were very
fast-tempo swaras that excited the audience. He did trikalam
also. Delhi Sunderrajan and Ramabhadran enhanced the concert, with the latter
being his faithful and unobtrusive self. The concert ended with a Tillana.
R. Muthusubramanian, T. K.
V. Ramanujacharyulu, Umayalpuram Mali
Dec. 23rd 2004, 10.00 am
Muthusubramanian is s disciple of Violin
vidwan Kandadevi Chellam Iyengar and Vainika K. Narayanswamy. He
commenced with "Shri Mahaganapthi" in Gaula, followed by "Merusamana" in
Mayamalavagaula. There was a lengthy swara prasthara including
kuraippu. "Subrahmanyena Rakshitoham" (Shuddhadhanyasi) and "Pahimam Shri"
(Janaranjani) followed. Poorvikalyani was taken up for alapana. Being endwoed
with a good voice, the raga expressions were full of bhava and the kriti "Ananda
Natam Aduvar Tillai" by Nilakanta Sivam came out in attractive fashion.
Ramanujacharyulu's journey in the lower octaves brought out the inherent
beauty of the raga. Next came "O Jagadamba", preceded by Anandabhairavi
alapana. He treated the raga only in the lower octaves, thus marring a
complete picture of the raga and thus the wholesomeness. He also has a habit
of veering away from the mike too often, due to which sangatis are not heard
fully. Nowadays, almost all artistes exploit the mike to the fullest, to the
point of gulping! The main piece turned out to be "Dakshinamoorthe" in
Shankarabharanam. This Dikshitar kriti is a masterpiece and was rendered
eloquently. A ragamalika slokam was taken up next (Kambhoji, Valaji, Kapi &
Nilambari) culminating in "Madhava Mamava" of Nrayana Teertha. The raga essays
were replete with good sancharas. The concert ended with a kriti of Sringeri
Sankaracharya, Bharati Teertha Mahaswamigal in Khamas. Umayalpuram Mali's
percussion responses were a treat and embellished the concert.
Sanjay Subrahmanyan, M. R.
Gopinath, Neyveli Venkatesh
Dec. 23rd 2004, 7.30 pm
Sanjay belongs to a genre of musicians
committed to the classical style in spite of all-round dilution of classicism.
He has cultivated a robust voice that can be powerful. His commitment to the
music comes out genuinely in a concert. His penchant for briga-laden sangatis
is well known. There is speed coupled with "azhuttam", conveyed with dignity.
The concert started off with the Kanada varnam, followed by Mohanam with swara
rendition. Later he dealt with Shyama Shastri's Todi swarajati and his
pathantaram was different from what is in vogue. "Sujana Jeevana" in Khamas
follwed, with the raga coming out in different exquisite variations. The
Saveri that followd had broad sweeps and a detail-oriented sophistication. The
raga was packed with emotional fervour when he rendered the kriti "Velayya
Dayavillaya" of Kotiswara Iyer in Adi 2-kalai. "Chakkani Rajamargamu" was next
and he expanded the raga to its fullest during a stimulating, unflagging
alapana. The violinist matched Sanjay's forays with aplomb. "Vararagalaya" in
Chenchukambhoji popularized by GNB was next, preceding an RTP in
Shubhapantuvarali, Khanda Triputa with the pallavi line "Kana Kidaikkumo
Darishanam". The raga elaboration was done note-by-note, affecting the
ear-worthiness, but the pathos was brought out well. There was a tillana by S.
Kalyanaraman in Sindhubhairavi at the end, before concluding the concert with
a viruttam in Navaroj.
Sangita Kalanidhis
Sikkil Neela & Kunjumani with Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar (Flute Trio), M. A.
Sundaresan, Mannargudi Easwaran, S. V. Ramani
Dec. 24th 2004, 4.45 pm
Graduating from a Flute Duet, the Sikkil
Sisters have now moved onto a Trio, including Mala Chandrasekhar. The very act
of dual playing itself is difficult, needing perfect synchronization. Here was
an impossible feat of three flautists teaming up and playing endearingly!
Three "P"s can be attributed to them: clear Pathantaram and assiduous Practice
leading to Perfection in their output. We now have amidst us other than the
Sikkil trio, the T. N. Krishnan trio & the Lalgudi trio on the violin and the
N. Ramani trio on flute! Mala being the youngest of the three, her blowing was
bold and all three embellished the concert with cultivated expertise coupled
with innate gnanam. Tyagaraja's "Giripai" in soul-stirring Sahana was rendered
with moving bhavam. The raga prelude by Kunjumani was sweetness personified.
M. A. Sundaresan's playing of the raga in alternate lower and higher octaves
produced a good effect. Muthiah Bhagavatar's "Sudhamayee" in Amritavarshini
was rendered well, preceding Arunachala Kavi's "Yaro Ivar Yaro". Neela played
Bhairavi melodiously and the violin reply was equally good, meticulously
following the raga bhava. In the kriti rendition steeped in traditional
sancharas and kalapramanam, the notes glided down like a serene stream.
Percussionists did an impressive job. Later the trio presented an RTP in Adi
Talam, with raga elaborations in Anandabhairavi, Lalita, Varamu, Behag and
Kapi. The concert ended with "Katrinile Varum Geetam" (quite literally,
this being a flute recital!)
T. M. Krishna, R. K.
Shriramkumar, K. Arun Prakash, B. S. Purushottaman
Dec. 27th 2004, 7.30 pm
T. M. Krishna being one of the young stars in
the Carnatic firmament, one went with great expectations to his concert. He is
endowed with a good voice backed up by a good pathantaram. He has stupendous
manodharma which sometimes overtakes the sense of proportion needed for a
successful concert. One must know how to rein in the manodharma, for an
effective rendition of raga alapanas and swara prastharas. In a concert of
two-and-a-half hours, his Shankarabharanam (including alapana, kriti, neraval
and swaras) took up more than an hour. Shankarabharanam did come out in
different shades, but the raga exercise was so long-winded as to be wearisome
at times. Among other pieces, he sang "Munnu Ravana" in Todi and also a
Dikshitar kriti in raga Ramakali. The novelty of introducing such a kriti did
not bring in the desired effect. The raga has to be understood only through
the composition and structurally, the raga was quite ambiguous. Later,
Bhairavi was taken up for pallavi and the whole exercise was a very short one,
not fulfilling as a proper RTP. Many artistes these days take up RTP as a
perfunctory exercise and some make it too concise. There needs to be a middle
path of the right quantum. Krishna could take the cue from old stalwarts in
planning a concert to make it a wholesome experience for the listeners.
Violinist Shriramkumar matched Krishna's essays with ease and aplomb. Arun
Prakash played soothingly and his percussion enhanced the quality of the
recital.
Bombay Jayashri Ramnath, V. V. S.
Murari, Poongulam Subramanian
Dec. 28th 2004, 4.45 pm
Bombay Jayashri sang a well-proportioned and
well-packaged concert, keeping in mind that a neat presentation wins half the
battle. Her recital was full of poise. Though the concert was devoid of
acrobatics, one also felt that the music was a tad mechanical, with emotional
content being absent. Her alapanas of Kalyani and Kapi were dignified. One
felt she enjoyed singing Kapi and that made a world of difference to the
listener. It makes it more appealing and enticing when the musicians
themselves enjoy what they sing. "Shri Varalakshmi" (Shri), "Venuganaloluni" (Kedaragaula)
and "O Jagadamba" (Anandabhairavi) were some of the selections. "Bhajare
Chitta" (Kalyani) of Dikshitar had some expansive neraval singing and vibrant
swarams. She took up an RTP in Kapi "Hare Rama Govinda Murare Mukunda Shaure..."
(Adi, 2-kalai). Swaras in Kanada and Hamsanandi flowed without strain. There
was a viruttam in Behag and the Mira Bhajan "Hari Tum Haro" raked up MS
nostalgia. V. V. S. Murari has made great strides as a competent accompanist
and is maturing into an artiste of calibre. Poongulam Subramanian's support
wasn't extraordinary.
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