One of the things that I look forward to is the general whiff of Carnatic music in Chennai, when I make a pilgrimage to Chennai every December during the music season and of course, the finest filter coffee! The highlight of every day is the devotional/academic mini program that happens in the Academy at 8 sharp. It is a great way of listening to some beautiful, rare compositions of great composers – mostly very well rendered. The academic programs that follow are extremely satisfying – be it Adyar Lakshmanan’s reminiscences of dance dramas and the dance music, TVG’s presentation of tanam singing by various greats (Dagars, Alathur Brothers, GNB, Madurai Mani, Semmangudi etc.) with audio examples or MSG’s gentle presentation of Carnatic and Hindustani genres or stunning demonstration by Suguna Purushottaman of a pallavi in Simhanandana talam (128 beats) in 3 speeds and so melodious was the singing in Todi! She was smiling all the way too!!
I got to see several legends walking in and appreciating/commenting – Vedavalli, TK Govinda Rao, Rajam Iyer etc. One of the things they have done this year is to pay homage to one of the yester year artists every day and share the musical world of their times. Some of the musicians featured were Tanjavore Sadasiva Rao, Smt Rukmini Devi, Veena Dhanammal, Tiruvelangadu Sundareswara Iyer (aka Susvareshwara Iyer - frequent accompanist to MS amma). I loved the vivid descriptions of those times by musicians who knew them or learnt from them. “It is a fine way to begin a day” as Sangita kalanidhi Palghat Raghu used to comment in his succinct comments every morning.
I ensured that I got to listen to my favourite musicians (sanjay, TM Krishna, Bombay Jayashree, Vijay Siva) who imbue their music with freshness, classicism, deep, sonorous nadam of their voices and their enthusiasm is infectious. I attempted to hazard listening to others too – Hyderabad Brothers, Malladi Brothers, OS Arun. Hyderabad brothers barely made it above the line – their music sounded like right out of the cassettes that they have releases and lacked freshness. OS Arun disappointed big time singing bhajans and making dramatic sounds under the guise of carnatic music while singing Viriboni, Endaro. His top voice singing and melodramatic whispers were annoying. Malladi brothers were not having a good day as the music seemed to lack the depth and voices seemed to be uncoordinated. I expected more, but, what was dished out was a weak brew! Junior artiste Aditya Prakash’s Budham Ashrayami was more endearing than theirs. Mike problems did not aid the brothers either. To tide over this disappointment, I walked over to Academy to catch the last few strains of easy and sweet music of Priya Sisters who were wrapping up their pallavi.
There were several pleasant surprises in junior, upcoming category – Abhishek Raghuram (Palghat Raghu’s grandson), Aditya Prakash – what great voices honed by hours of practice and surprisingly mature music!
A word about violinists, mridangam players – Charulatha Ramanujam (violin), pleasant, balanced playing by Vaidyanathan (Mridangam) and so many young players are there to aid the flow of music into the future.
There are of course some minor irritants. Volume plays havoc in some sabhas while Narada Gana Sabha is too huge for their sound system. Academy’s is the best in terms of all aspects of infrastructure from sound system to the wash rooms. Their canteen is also by far the best in terms of taste, hygiene and ambience.
All in all, 5 days of non-stop music comes to a close like all good things. What plays in my mind is the comment by Dr. Narmada (MSG’s able daughter) during their lec dem at the Academy on one morning – “An ounce of practice is better than tons of listening”. So, that’s what I have resolved to do till the next season!
- Krishnaprasad Kamisetty
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