"The Season" in Chennai is now an institution to which flock music and dance enthusiasts not only from India but from around the world. Indeed, these days the NRIs, a majority from the USA, form a sizable part of the audience in most major sabhas and a non-negligible portion of performers in the B-league programs. The NRIs also provide sustenance for some second rate sabhas which put them on stage for a fee disregarding the fact that there are many even more talented right in their backyard who cannot afford to pay even a nickel and could in fact gratefully accept even a paltry honorarium.
I usually attend some programs at the Narada Gana Sabha, and this year I did manage to attend five of them amidst what turned out to be an overwhelming India trip. Art is, ipso facto, subjective and as I give my personal impressions, please do note that I understand that there are many who may disagree with them. I pretty much list the concerts in the order of how I rated them as a listener. I apologize for any errors and omissions (especially of accompanists' names) and certainly if I didn't put your favorite artist on top.
T.M. Krishna [H.K. Venkatesh/Violin, Karaikudi Mani/mrdangam, Bangalore Amrit/Kanjira]: I was reminded of the famous lines "Those who came to scoff, remained to pray" of Wordsworth. Having heard and read many negatives about Krishna's recent stage performances, I had gone there mainly to see first hand some gimmicks and not expecting to be able to remain for more than 30 to 45 minutes. But Krishna's turned out to the be the best of the five concerts I attended. Being free or whatever, the hall was full, but no one stirred a bit since the music was simply divine starting from the first piece in Saveri all the way to the very end. The Bhairavi swarajati "Amba Kamakshi" reminded me of the best of Semmangudi and embellished as it was by the superb percussion and violin accompaniment transported us to a different world altogether. The concert should have satisfied the more technical listener too through deft renderings in each of Kalavati and Kalanidhi ragas. Yes, the concert didn't adhere to "tradition" in that after three kritis came a ragam, tanam followed by Valachi varnam ! But it was superb in every way. What we call tradition today is only as old as Sri Ariyakkudi. With no disrespect to that great performer, I consider it unfair to hit hard someone who departs from the format Ariyakkudi set especially in light of the fact that the music developed and thrived for centuries with diverse formats set by the musicians as their mood of the day suggested. I personally don't care what format Krishna adopts as long as he will give us music of the caliber he gave in NGS with that wonderful sonorous voice of his that is unmatched today on the Carnatic stage. I am with Kalidasa who said "Puraanamityeva na saadhu sarvam" - not all is best that is old.
Malladi Brothers: The concert oozed tradition all through and if there is one word to describe it, it would be "soukhyam" in the sense of uninterrupted bliss. For me the most memorable piece was "Tulasi bilva" in Kedaragowlam. After what was probably the best alapana of this raga I have heard, one of the brothers picked up the mic and said that it is only 10% of what their guru Nedanuri had taught them or could sing! They touched our heart with their unabashed humility. Professor Trichy Shankaran delighted us all through as though giving lessons on how to play for each song highlighting its nuances, and his tani stood out as a grand treat in what was already a wonderful feast.
Sikkil Gurucharan: Honestly, I would call it a tie between the Malladi concert and that of Sikkil Gurucharan, and in fact some may even put Gurucharan ahead given some of the intricate pieces he chose to sing like the song "manita sada manita" that was technically quite a memorable piece for its swarakshara phrases and the deep meaning of the lyric itself. His rendering of Nattakkuranji (Pahi janani) and a piece in Kharaharapriya were also quite memorable for the elaborate raga alapana and swaraprastaras. The only discordant note was the mrdangist Raja Rao's comment on the mic expressing ire at some who were leaving the audiotirium possibly for a health break, "Gowravama vasicha ezhundu poiduva, nai adikkara maadiri adicha iruppa" [they will walk out if one plays gracefully but will stay if one beats like you beat a dog] although it was attenuated significantly by the much younger Sikkil telling him "Why are you looking at them, just look at me and play." To his credit, Raja Rao played beautifully and embellishing various phrases of the kritis appropriately, and his playing overall appears to have mellowed down for the better with much greater emphasis on laya and sahitya adhered playing.
Kadri Goplanath: This concert was on the inaugural day where the delay in the arrival of the Chief Guest shortened the concert as also the visible discomfort of Kadri who didn't appear able to sit for more than an hour. Two of the memorable pieces were "Entaro Mahanubhavulu" and "Vanchatonuna". The former piece Kadri (and Kanyakumari) are known to ace each time and the tavil made it even nicer. The real great piece is the latter, and Kadri really showed his mettle through an elaborate alapana that almost got people ready to dance to his tune. Kanya deftly followed it with a brief alapana yet leaving her stamp reminding me of the Sangeethasaagara cncert of Semmangudi where a similar feat was achieved by Sri T.N. Krishnan for yadukulakamboji after an elaborate rendition by his guru. In fact, throughout, Kanyakumari's playing did make me wonder if the sabhas of Chennai are not very remiss in not honoring her with some of their highest awards and if her gender is indeed getting in the way in the male dominated world of the Carnatic violin.
Sudha Ragunathan: Listeners in New Jersey have enjoyed Sudha's concerts of over four hours, not stirring an inch from their seats, the longest of them being over five and a quarter hours with an elaborate todi alapana lasting over 45 minutes with no repetition whatsoever. Unfortunately, the Sudha that day was a different Sudha, and to say that the concert was spotty would be most generous. There was Sudha for instance in the rendering of "Koluvama" and in the neraval and swaraprastara, but the alapana could not have been more unimpressive. There was an udayaravichandrika piece, but once again the violinist Raghavendra Rao is the one who won the applause. My father in law used to say that singing is like cooking, and even great cooks mess up once in a while. Let us hope that is the case and the next time I hear Sudha, I can put her on top of the list as I would indeed like to.
Well, this is a quick glimpse of what I saw and heard. Having written a piece on critics and how they should behave, I better rest with this.
I usually attend some programs at the Narada Gana Sabha, and this year I did manage to attend five of them amidst what turned out to be an overwhelming India trip. Art is, ipso facto, subjective and as I give my personal impressions, please do note that I understand that there are many who may disagree with them. I pretty much list the concerts in the order of how I rated them as a listener. I apologize for any errors and omissions (especially of accompanists' names) and certainly if I didn't put your favorite artist on top.
T.M. Krishna [H.K. Venkatesh/Violin, Karaikudi Mani/mrdangam, Bangalore Amrit/Kanjira]: I was reminded of the famous lines "Those who came to scoff, remained to pray" of Wordsworth. Having heard and read many negatives about Krishna's recent stage performances, I had gone there mainly to see first hand some gimmicks and not expecting to be able to remain for more than 30 to 45 minutes. But Krishna's turned out to the be the best of the five concerts I attended. Being free or whatever, the hall was full, but no one stirred a bit since the music was simply divine starting from the first piece in Saveri all the way to the very end. The Bhairavi swarajati "Amba Kamakshi" reminded me of the best of Semmangudi and embellished as it was by the superb percussion and violin accompaniment transported us to a different world altogether. The concert should have satisfied the more technical listener too through deft renderings in each of Kalavati and Kalanidhi ragas. Yes, the concert didn't adhere to "tradition" in that after three kritis came a ragam, tanam followed by Valachi varnam ! But it was superb in every way. What we call tradition today is only as old as Sri Ariyakkudi. With no disrespect to that great performer, I consider it unfair to hit hard someone who departs from the format Ariyakkudi set especially in light of the fact that the music developed and thrived for centuries with diverse formats set by the musicians as their mood of the day suggested. I personally don't care what format Krishna adopts as long as he will give us music of the caliber he gave in NGS with that wonderful sonorous voice of his that is unmatched today on the Carnatic stage. I am with Kalidasa who said "Puraanamityeva na saadhu sarvam" - not all is best that is old.
Malladi Brothers: The concert oozed tradition all through and if there is one word to describe it, it would be "soukhyam" in the sense of uninterrupted bliss. For me the most memorable piece was "Tulasi bilva" in Kedaragowlam. After what was probably the best alapana of this raga I have heard, one of the brothers picked up the mic and said that it is only 10% of what their guru Nedanuri had taught them or could sing! They touched our heart with their unabashed humility. Professor Trichy Shankaran delighted us all through as though giving lessons on how to play for each song highlighting its nuances, and his tani stood out as a grand treat in what was already a wonderful feast.
Sikkil Gurucharan: Honestly, I would call it a tie between the Malladi concert and that of Sikkil Gurucharan, and in fact some may even put Gurucharan ahead given some of the intricate pieces he chose to sing like the song "manita sada manita" that was technically quite a memorable piece for its swarakshara phrases and the deep meaning of the lyric itself. His rendering of Nattakkuranji (Pahi janani) and a piece in Kharaharapriya were also quite memorable for the elaborate raga alapana and swaraprastaras. The only discordant note was the mrdangist Raja Rao's comment on the mic expressing ire at some who were leaving the audiotirium possibly for a health break, "Gowravama vasicha ezhundu poiduva, nai adikkara maadiri adicha iruppa" [they will walk out if one plays gracefully but will stay if one beats like you beat a dog] although it was attenuated significantly by the much younger Sikkil telling him "Why are you looking at them, just look at me and play." To his credit, Raja Rao played beautifully and embellishing various phrases of the kritis appropriately, and his playing overall appears to have mellowed down for the better with much greater emphasis on laya and sahitya adhered playing.
Kadri Goplanath: This concert was on the inaugural day where the delay in the arrival of the Chief Guest shortened the concert as also the visible discomfort of Kadri who didn't appear able to sit for more than an hour. Two of the memorable pieces were "Entaro Mahanubhavulu" and "Vanchatonuna". The former piece Kadri (and Kanyakumari) are known to ace each time and the tavil made it even nicer. The real great piece is the latter, and Kadri really showed his mettle through an elaborate alapana that almost got people ready to dance to his tune. Kanya deftly followed it with a brief alapana yet leaving her stamp reminding me of the Sangeethasaagara cncert of Semmangudi where a similar feat was achieved by Sri T.N. Krishnan for yadukulakamboji after an elaborate rendition by his guru. In fact, throughout, Kanyakumari's playing did make me wonder if the sabhas of Chennai are not very remiss in not honoring her with some of their highest awards and if her gender is indeed getting in the way in the male dominated world of the Carnatic violin.
Sudha Ragunathan: Listeners in New Jersey have enjoyed Sudha's concerts of over four hours, not stirring an inch from their seats, the longest of them being over five and a quarter hours with an elaborate todi alapana lasting over 45 minutes with no repetition whatsoever. Unfortunately, the Sudha that day was a different Sudha, and to say that the concert was spotty would be most generous. There was Sudha for instance in the rendering of "Koluvama" and in the neraval and swaraprastara, but the alapana could not have been more unimpressive. There was an udayaravichandrika piece, but once again the violinist Raghavendra Rao is the one who won the applause. My father in law used to say that singing is like cooking, and even great cooks mess up once in a while. Let us hope that is the case and the next time I hear Sudha, I can put her on top of the list as I would indeed like to.
Well, this is a quick glimpse of what I saw and heard. Having written a piece on critics and how they should behave, I better rest with this.
Received from Dr. P. Rajagopalan, Founder, CMANA: You are not correct in your statement that before Ariyakkudi, the great musicians did not follow any pattern but sang as they pleased. Starting with Maha Vadyanatha Iyer through Patnam Subramania Iyer and Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar and Madurai Pushpavanam , the tradition consisted of a varnam followed by two or three quick krithis and an elaborate RTP in the same raga as the varnam was set to. Poochi and Pushpavanam added
ReplyDeletea couple of more krithis in their concerts but they still did not appeal to the masses because of the lengthy RTP’s with complicated talas. What Ariyakkudi did was to include more krithis, slokams in ragamalika, padams , javalis and thillanas to please the cognoscenti as well as the layman alike. In doing so, he had to reduce the time spent on elaborate alapanas and the quick succession of pieces sustained the audience interest. When he tried it out in a concert, the rasikas, particularly those with little or no knowledge of the complexities of Carnatic music, lapped it up and the rest is history. What Krishna is doing is making a mockery of a format of presentation that has stood the test of time not by replacing it with one of his own but by taking the audience for a ride with a haphazard pattern which he changes from concert to concert. When confronted by a few rasikas, he had rudely insulted them by saying , “It is the way I feel like
singing and will not change whether you like it or not”. To me it sounds like arrogance totally unbecoming of a performing artiste.
Thank you for enlightening me on the pre-Ariyakkudi tradition.
DeleteManyl friends whom I respect for their love of Carnatic music have expressed terrible displeasure at TMK's actions in various venues. Please note that mine is a set of views on one concert - the one I went to. No way are my comments to be construed as endorsing anything the performer has done or is doing in other programs of his. -- VR
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