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MADRAS MUSIC MELA 2001

   

MUSINGS ON THE MUSIC SEASON - A ROUND UP

- by Kadambari

    

It’s been a cool 3-4 weeks, since the December Music Festival took over the city of Chennai from its routine humdrum existence. Cool, in terms of weather, and the attitude that prevail among rasikas of late! The Carnatic music lover has undergone a change in his choice-profile. He/she is more open, more relaxed and more sublime. And this has been reflected in the response for Kutcheris as well. Today, Sastriya sangeetam alone wont do – it is the ‘feel good small songs’, without the elaborate alapanas and swaras that rule! A style followed by even Dr. K J Yesudas, senior vocalist and a box office hit.

This year saw Yesudas change his modus operandi! From singing those popular devotional numbers in the second half of his kutcheri interspersed with his famous Tukkada-s, he got into the classically inclined Ragam Tanam Pallavi. This might have resulted in a little lull in terms of consistent crowds pouring in for all of his concerts. The rasikas probably didn’t take his foray into pure Carnatic singing too well but his melodious voice still makes people arrive on time for his concerts! The undeniable fact remains that it was K J Yesudas, who set the trend of proving that Carnatic singers can shine in the playback zone and vice versa - a trend that is so foolproof and sure that youngsters like P Unnikrishnan and Nithyasree are treading the same path.

A R Rahman and the television serial Chitti has done what no Carnatic song could do for any singer. It has made Nithyasree the undoubted numero uno of this season. The mad rush to see her sing - even though the rasika knows she’s not going to break into ‘Kanninmani’ (Chitti’s title song) - must be seen to be believed! The same goes for Unnikrishnan too - with his innumerable film songs in almost all south Indian languages, Unni can definitely take the mantle from his prolific predecessor Yesudas! Bombay Jayasree and her ‘Vaseegara’ are as inseparable as ragam and talam! She comes in a close third and stays. For all these number games, the supreme proof of womanpower can be seen in any concert of Sudha Raghunathan (she had 11 concerts this year as against 6 of last year), where crowds throng in large numbers to hear her resonant voice and to see what she’s wearing (this is true of all women who attend her concerts or see her on any TV channel!). Sowmya’s Narada Gana Sabha kutcheri evoked large crowds as well and the response thereafter was unanimously positive.

Among artistes from other cities who have made a mark in Chennai, Aruna Sairam takes the lead, with her abhang-s and the by-now popular Ottukkadu Ventaka Kavi Kalinganartanam Tillana with its hisses and ooh-s. However, the connoisseurs haven’t taken kindly to the stylistic changes she has made. 

The young entrants who are making their presence felt, Abhishek Raghuram stands apart with his musical maturity both in execution and conception. Gayatri Venkataraghavan and Sumitra Vasudev are making waves this season. One hopes they will live up to the existing hype. 

This season also saw a number of vocal duos. Though the popular opinion is that most duets lose the elements of spontaenity, the audiences love the combined effect generated by two voices. Amongst popular duos, the Bombay Sisters (Saroja-Lalita), Hyderabad Brothers and Priya Sisters have the ability to pull in crowds with just their name on the cards. Ranjani and Gayatri, who started as violin duos, have now firmly established themselves as a pair to reckon with even in the vocal arena. While the Malladi Brothers have garnered a special place for themselves, K N Shashikiran and P Ganesh are here to stay. The Mambalam sisters have maintained their performance standards.

T V Sankaranarayanan and Sanjay Subramanyam can be paired off as the senior and sub-senior partners for giving unadulterated Carnatic sangeetam to the tradition bound rasika! Though many of Sanjay’s die-hard fans were more than a little disappointed with his performance this season, his concerts at Narada Gana Sabha and Music Academy were received well. T M Krishna’s Academy concert was much awaited by the old and the young and received mixed reactions. But the surprise waiting was for veteran vocalist K V Narayanswamy, whose performance was well attended, despite his health conditions. Unnikrishnan’s postponement of his Academy concert to New Year’s Eve, owing to bad health, was only met with a long sigh from the rasikas, who now believe that most of the singers must be ailing from similar throat conditions, due to the increasingly cold Chennai climate! Vijay Siva replaced Unni that day, at the Academy and one must appreciate his courage in agreeing to a sudden advancement in schedule, an Academy performance notwithstanding! And one must not forget to add T N Seshagopalan, whose performance levels this year, according to popular opinion, did not meet his long years of steady ratings.

As far as instrumental concerts go, its our own dear Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, who rules the roost, with his audience-friendly approach and the ‘Listener’s choice’ style. Chitravina Ravikiran’s Academy concert was the talk of the town, with “his art taking you to new levels of musical ecstasy” (quote-unquote an elated rasika). Veteran violinist T N Krishnan’s Academy concert was highly rated as well. While leading instrumentalists like Mandolin Srinivas, Kadri Gopalnath (Saxophone), Shashank (Fute), E Gayatri (Vina) and Ganesh-Kumaresh (Violin duet) stay stable, Jayanthi Kumaresh on the Vina, brought a refreshing effect to the instrumental scene! 

From all this data, it’s a clear sign that the woman performers, who have given the men a run for their money, rule this season. For it is Nithyasree, Sudha Ragunathan and Bombay Jayasree who have the rasikas simply eating out of their hands (apart from the time the audience spends in eating out at the canteens!) 

In all this a lot of doubts and wonder-whys do crop up. 

·         The fact that last years season saw a lot more of NRIs/NIRs (our coinage for Non-Indian Rasikas!) as compared to this years turnout is a case in point. Is it the post-September 11 effect? Or is it due to the fall in the quality of concerts, even though the quantity has been plenty? The audience in Chennai now comprises mostly people from across Tamilnadu only. The rest of India (Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta etc) seems to have turned a blind eye to this season. 

  • The last five years saw a steady increase in the list of singers who graduated from singing in chamber music sessions and went onto the afternoon slot, and who now rule the evening slots in all the prominent Sabhas. The youthful group of Unnikrishnan, Nithyasree, Sanjay Subramanyam, Sowmya and Bombay Jayasree saw success only through this method. But this season, the number of juniors who have been able to break through the padmavyuha created by the above-mentioned exponents is very minimal. The seniors and sub-senior artistes prove their staying power, while the scope for scouting new talents has been lost to a large extent this year.

·         The Sabhas are house-full for all the prominent names. And for those really talented but not so popular names, the audience is still wary! 

This is an intrinsic battle, which the Carnatic music field has to fight out, for popularity does not in anyway equal great talent! While a few connoisseurs of Carnatic music do feel so, the majority is still cooling their heels outside, waiting for their favorite musical stars to appear! 


The Music season also brings in its share of canteen round ups! So much so that major hotels and restaurants in the city are mostly out of business during this time of the year! While the Academy canteen run this time by Ronak, a group of North Indian caterers was subject to a lot of speculation the general ‘feel’ was more strongly towards Arusuvai Arasu Natarjan’s stall at Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, where the Keerai Vadai and Mysore Bonda ruled the palette among other items. They also served full south Indian meals during the morning sessions, which is their USP! Gyanaambikaa caterers in Narada Gana Sabha cae in close on the heels of Arusuvai, with their wonderful decorations and tiffin varieties (adai-avial, vaazapoo vadai), while the canteen in Mylapore Fine Arts managed an impressive entry to this list!
    

 

      

Posted on December 31, 2001

   
  

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