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Section Synopsis (OCTOBER 2007)
NEWS & NOTES
Why Have a Festival of Silence? -NEERJA DASANI & KRISH RAGHAV
 At the end of the eleven-day theatrical journey offered us by the MetroPlus Theatre Fest (2nd to 12th August) in Chennai, we find ourselves questioning the nature of our experience. Though the bouquet (“buffet” according to the MC) of twelve plays did set us thinking, stimulating new ideas, we were unprepared for the post-performance silence and the vacuity of debate / discussion within which the festival was conducted.
Theatre depends for its energy on the chemistry between the actors and the audiences. A play does not cease to exist at the end of the performance; it continues to play with our minds long after the curtain falls. In that sense, theatre is a shared community experience and uniquely provides a space where the barriers between artists and audiences can be minimised. As such, it is an important element in civil society. It helps us analyse the role of language, even while challenging words through the power of silence. At a time when space for critical discourse in the public sphere seems to have shrunk, theatre offers us the opportunity to discuss, debate and respond to our world in ways we usually do not do.
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Chennai Speak Departures, Arrivals -N. VAIDYANATHAN
step in and you feel the delicious cool of air-conditioning. Is this Srinivasa Sastry Hall? Look around and you are soon reassured by the familiar shabby-friendly interior. Nisha Rajagopal is singing a concert for the Ariyakudi Foundation in memory of Hamsadhwani Ramachandran.
The weeks have rolled by, but Ramachandran’s passing is still difficult to take in. I can imagine his walking towards me with a smile, a frail wisp of a man, and taking the seat next to mine. We exchange a quiet word. Is he murmuring “The reports are highly exaggerated”? He enjoyed a joke, but no guffawing please. He was always soft of speech and kept a low profile. How did such a man, retired after a lifetime spent in journalism, build such an impressive cultural organisation?.
Some questions are not easy to answer. There is an indefinable mystique about the phenomenon of leadership. Field Marshal Lord Wavell once delivered a series of lectures on “Generals and Generalship” at an Oxbridge college. Not that his knowledge of the subject earned him any brownie points with Churchill. But that is another story. The point is that leadership cannot be learned from academic lectures or books on “How to be a team leader — In six easy lessons”. You must have it in you. If Churchill preferred Montgomery to Wavell, don’t forget that the former went on to win the battle of El Alamein. As Ramachandran went on to build Hamsadhwani, a manful job executed with ease and grace. Rather like the music of Bombay Jayashri, a regular performer at Hamsadhwani.
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Some programmes in Bangalore -SULOCHANA SARALAYA
Veena Seshanna Memorial Award
 The Bangalore Gayana Samaja auditorium reverberated to the melodious strains of Carnatic music produced on the violin, veena and the flute on the morning of 22nd July. The harmonious effort of the three young software engineers cum musicians — H.K.Venkatram, A. Ashwin and Ravikiran, resulted in an enjoyable concert soaked in classicism, prior to the presentation of the Veena Seshanna Memorial Award.
Under the joint auspices of the Swaramurthy V.N. Rao Memorial Trust and the Bangalore Gayana Samaja, the annual Veena Seshanna award and the Swaramurthy V.N. Rao Memorial Award were presented. The former was awarded to Prof. H.V. Krishnamurthy by the Governor of Karnataka, T.N. Chaturvedi, and the latter to T.V. Sankaranarayanan by Prof. B.K. Chandrashekar. Each award comprises a citation, a bronze bust of Veena Seshanna, and 25,000 rupees in cash. The former is presented to a very senior instrumentalist to perpetuate the memory of Veena Seshanna — the legendary veena maestro of the Mysore style, while an outstanding vocalist is awarded the Swaramurthy award.
Nrityakala Parishath launches Youth Wing
The Karnataka Nrityakala Parishath added one more feather to its cap by launching a Youth Wing to address the problems faced by young dancers pursuing it as a profession, who hold a Vidwat or Masters degree in dance. Nrityakala Parishath, under the guidance of veteran dance exponent and teacher Leela Ramanathan, has been organising annual seminar-cum-conferences, a festival for male dancers called “Nataraja Utsava” and “Ankura” — a five-day dance festival to promote young talent in different styles of classical dance. With the onset of TV, Bharatanatyam has gained popularity resulting in many children learning dance in the mofussil areas and towns of Karnataka.
Sankara Jayanti Music Fest KUSUMA RAO
Sri Tyagaraja Gana Sabha conducted the 36th Sankara Jayanti music festival from 16th to 22nd April at the Vani Vidya Kendra at Rajaji Nagar in Bangalore. About eighty musicians participated in the ‘sangeetotsava’. The Gudibanda Brothers G.A. Hanumanta Bhatta and G.A. Kumaraswamy were awarded the title of Ganga Kala Bhushana. Five others who have distinguished themselves in different fields were honoured and felicitated on the valedictory day. They were: Sri Purandaradasa Aradhanotsava Samiti and Bhadragiri Sarvottama Das (for their efforts to propagate Dasa sahitya); Dayananda Mohite (laya vadya); Chintalapalli Ramesh (C-music); Srinivasa Desikacharya (Sanskrit); and K. Satyanarayana Rao (organiser). Many students who had secured prizes in the vocal, instrumental and percussive competitions were awarded prizes and certificates
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The inaugural Sydney music festival -SUMI KRISHNAN
 Despite torrential rains in Sydney on the weekend of 9th and 10th June, Carnatic music fans flocked to the University of Western Sydney, Parramatta Campus to listen to a galaxy of top notch artists from India. They came for the inaugural Sydney Music Festival organised by Swara Laya Fine Arts Society (SFAS) based in Sydney, Australia.
Among the artists who performed at the festival — Bombay Jayashri, Kadri Gopalnath, A. Kanyakumari, Priya Sisters, the Carnatica Brothers, O.S. Arun and Bharatanatyam dancer Swarnamalya, the star attraction was Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan. Other musicians of repute included violinists A. Kanyakumari, Raghavendra Rao and H.N. Bhaskar, and percussionists Tanjavur K. Murugabhoopathi and J. Vaidyanathan (mridanga) and S.V. Ramani (ghata).
Jaya TV, in conjunction with SFAS, conducted music competitions during the week which were judged by Kadri Gopalnath and Kanyakumari. The competitions helped to highlight budding talent among the local children. Vocal competitions were held in sub-junior (under 12), junior (13-18) and senior (over 18) categories, with the first prize winners getting a chance to perform during the festival. Also a special presentation of the MLV Award was made by A. Kanyakumari.
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A sangeetanjali at Ettayapuram -A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
 Ettayapuram, a nondescript village in Tuticorin district in Tamil Nadu, is primarily remembered as the birthplace of one of the finest Tamil poets of the twentieth century — Mahakavi Subramania Bharati. A less known fact, or a fact known only to lovers of Carnatic music, is that this is where the most exalted of music composers, Muthuswami Dikshitar breathed his last. It is said that the Maharaja of Ettayapuram had a nightmare that an enraged elephant was running amok in his kingdom and he was rather disturbed over it. He approached Dikshitar who put his worries to rest by telling him that it did not foretell doom for the kingdom. The great composer instead saw in it a message of his own demise. Within a few days he realised his end was near and asked his disciples to sing the lines — “Meenalochani paasa mochani” from his masterpiece Meenakshi memudam dehi in Gamakakriya. He is believed to have breathed his last even as his disciples were singing these emotive lines.
Tyagaraja’s samadhi is in Tiruvaiyaru and is now world renowned, thanks to the Aradhana celebrations held there every year on the Pushya Bahula Panchami day. Syama Sastry’s samadhi is in Tanjavur and rather obscure
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SNA’S Koodiyattam initiative in Kerala -NANDINI RAMANI
 Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, recently set up a Centre for Koodiyattam at Tiruvanantapuram in Kerala, extending major support to a rare living Sanskrit dramatic tradition, to prosper in its own land. Among the varied efforts of this apex body of dance, music and theatre, this activity focuses in an extensive manner, to put together, preserve, nurture, and propagate the art of Koodiyattam, the only surviving traditional Sanskrit theatre. In its task of nurturing Koodiyattam, recognised by UNESCO as an outstanding “oral and intangible heritage of mankind”, Sangeet Natak Akademi receives considerable help from the Government of India, to carry out the different programmes centering around the aspects of sastra (text) and prayoga (practice) of the art-form, in its process of propagation.
The Governor of Kerala, R.L. Bhatia, who inaugurated the Centre, described the event as a “golden moment in the annals of the history of the time-tested theatre, happening in the august presence of some of the renowned masters and their students”. The programme commenced with a thrilling mizhavu-tayambaka session led by veteran P.K. Narayanan Nambiar (son of the illustrious Mani Madhava Chakyar), accompanied by his son and grandson, a perfect example of the successful continuity of oral tradition.
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Indian dance events in Canada -JAYA SUBRAMANIAM
Buddha in Bharatanatyam
 Albeit a poor relative of Toronto, in terms of Indian dance happenings, Ottawa is not far behind. At least one good performance is certain. Come April, Ottawa’s own Anjali Anne-Marie Gaston, has something new and enjoyable to offer each year. A multi-talented personality, Anjali has struck root firmly as a cultural emissary. There is always an admiring audience for her whether she is performing, giving a lecture or officiating as a chief guest at an arangetram. Besides her own achievements she has displayed leadership in producing earnest second generation dancers.
For Anjali, this year, it was the Buddha theme, fashionable all over the world. On April 13-14 at the Arts Court Theatre, Ottawa, Anjali premiered The Environmental Wisdom of the Buddha along with an evening of traditional classical Bharatanatyam. Performed in front of evocative images taken by Anjali and her husband Tony Gaston, in Assam, Orissa, Ladakh, Spiti, Canada and the south of France, this mixed media recital was set to an original score. The story was based on events leading up to the turning point in the life of the Buddha when he attained enlightenment
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COVER STORY
Mrinalini Sarabhai She brought South Indian classical dance to Ahmedabad -SAPNA RANGASWAMY
 The Sruti Foundation will honour Mrinalini Sarabhai, famous dance exponent and guru, and Founder-Director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Ahemedabad, with the E. Krishna Iyer Medal on 4th November in Chennai. The Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India (ABHAI) is conferring the title Natya Kalanidhi on her on 3rd November. Sruti presents a cover story on this veteran artist.
Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad married a princess of Tanjavur in 1883 and she brought Bharatanatyam to Baroda. In 1942, the prince of Ahmedabad married a princess of Kerala and she brought Bharatanatyam and Kathakali to Ahmedabad. The prince was India’s space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, son of Sarlaben and Ambalal Sarabhai. The princess was Mrinalini Swaminadhan, daughter of Ammu and Subbarama Swaminadhan.
 Mrinalini’s mother sent her to a teacher called Louise Lightfoot to learn dance, Mrinalini’s interest in dance lay elsewhere. Ammu then arranged for her to go to Kalakshetra. Mrinalini’s dance journey had begun.
At Kalakshetra, Mrinalini was initiated into dance by Kattumannarkoil Muthukumara Pillai. After learning Bharatnatyam for a year at Kalakshetra, Mrinalini went to Shantiniketan near Calcutta in 1937 where she studied Kathakali from Kelu Nair and Manipuri from Guru Amubi Singh. While she was still there, she learnt from her friend Nina Thimayya that Ramgopal, by then a famous dancer, wished to have Mrinalini as his dance partner. It was a good beginning for young Mrinalini.
Though Ramgopal was extremely kind and affectionate towards Mrinalini, she always felt that their under-standing of art was quite different. For her, dance was divine and for him it was a profession. Mrinalini says, in her autobiography, “Another thing that shocked me was Ram’s attitude on stage. While I was completely absorbed when dancing, Ram often talked all through the performance making uncharitable remarks about the audience…. Ram’s flippant attitude was the real reason for my leaving him….”
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MAIN FEATURE
Vijaya Jadhav-Gatlewar A classicist in a romanticist world Deepak -S. RAJA
 Does classicism have a chance in a musical culture under the spell of romanticism? This is the question surrounding the musicianship of Vijaya Jadhav-Gatlewar (born: 1955). Vijaya is an orthodox musician steeped in the traditional values of the khayal genre, represented by its architectural formalism as well as aloofness of demeanour.
Her music qualifies her as an exponent of orthodox Jaipur-Atrauli vocalism. But her grooming has not left her music untouched by other influences, as neither of her two guru-s could claim exclusive grooming in the gharana. Vijaya was first trained by her father, D.B. Jadhav, and later by Nivrutti Buwa Sarnaik. Her tutelage with Sarnaik included a fifteen-year apprenticeship at the ITC-Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata.
Vijaya is an “A” grade artist of the All India Radio, and a respected teacher, with a concert presence that is growing slowly, though steadily.
Conservatory grooming
(Vijaya spoke to the author in December 2001)
“My father, D.B. Jadhav, a clerk in a Bombay textile mill, was an empanelled vocalist of All India Radio. He studied primarily with Natthan Khan (died: 1946), the nephew of Alladiya Khan of the Jaipur gharana. However, he also studied with senior musicians of the Agra and Gwalior gharana-s. Despite his diverse training, he performed in the Jaipur style. Once he came home from work, our home had only music, nothing else. He had two or three disciples who trained with him every evening from 6 to 9 pm. I overheard these lessons, and unknown to my father, started singing. It was only when I opted for music as a subject for my high school graduation that he discovered my talent. Thereafter, he took my training seriously. I became a permanent fixture of his evening sessions with his disciples.
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REAR WINDOW
Carnatic music and University education- DR. N. RAMANATHAN
Carnatic music has been a part of the University system in India for almost a century and for almost the same duration of time it has been the target of an attack, namely that ‘universities have never produced platform concert artists’. This article is being written not to defend the status of music in the university system but to place the various organs of music teaching in perspective.
Music education primarily consists of training ‘in’ music and then, gaining knowledge ‘about’ music. Training ‘in’ music refers to acquiring the skill to perform music, while knowledge ‘about’ music points to gaining an academic or theoretical understanding of music.
In our society ‘music education’ has always been understood in the sense of getting educated ‘in’ that art, just as education in drumming, dance, drama has been. Traditionally, theory of music or for that matter of any other art does not seem to have formed an adjunct discipline of study in the Indian context.
Any traditional discipline requiring practical skill or performance such as Vedic chanting, music, drumming, dance, crafts like carpentry, weaving, or masonry has been inherited in the family or in the company of an individual teacher. Learning from an individual teacher, however, never always meant an one-to-one teacher-student contact. Sometimes a teacher taught students collectively..
(to be continued)
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Way of Life
Reminiscences of S. Rajam – Part 2 Mylapore — Musical hub of Madras
Alathur Srinivasan’s younger brother, Alathur Panchapakesa Iyer (ASP), lived in Mylapore. His contribution to music was much more than teaching. Talent and taste for music coursed through their veins, and ASP’s musical prowess was indisputable. With such an impeccable lineage, he was the apt choice to teach music at the R.R. Sabha in Mylapore, Chennai.
Lessons started from abhyasa ganam and had to be written on a slate for each of the forty students. This had its own problems — the lessons would be erased, and had to be written all over again; or the slate would break. Only a few rich students had notebooks and pencils. This problem set ASP thinking and he came up with the brilliant idea of bringing out the lessons in print — in book form.
I was present when Panju (as we affectionately called ASP) came to my father with this idea. We advised him to approach the magazine Kalaimagal which was run by Narayanaswami Iyer (V. Krishnaswamy Iyer’s son-in-law). Like the management, the staff too was very artistically and musically inclined. With our recommendation, the modalities were worked out, and Panju prepared the ‘varisai’ lessons in notation.
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OBITUARY
R. Visweswaran: Bridging the North-South divide
-S. JANAKI
 Music was his passion, so he opted to make it his profession. Music to him was an elixir which, combined with his unswerving faith in his spiritual guru Mataji Vithamma, brought him back from the jaws of death time and again.
R. Visweswaran was totally immersed in music. This multi-talented artist was adept at playing Carnatic music on the veena, Western classical music on the Flamenco guitar, BGM for films, and Hindustani music on the santoor, composed music for dance and strummed on the surmandal as he sang for his wife Chitra’s Bharatanatyam recitals.
Born on 9th May 1944, Viswes or Vichechu as he was affectionately called, belonged to a family steeped in music. He was the nephew of the legendary GNB and the son of R. Ranganathan who served the Madras Music Academy as its secretary for many years. Even as a child he had an instinctive feel for music. He learnt Carnatic vocal music from mother Rajeswari, veena from vidwan Pichumani Iyer, and went on to equip himself as a licentiate in teaching in Western classical guitar from the Trinity College, London. He had specialised training in padam-singing from T. Muktha.
Medha Yodh: dance exponent and critic
-KETU H. KATRAK
 “Bharatanatyam is a magnificent tool to centre human beings, to give them an inner sense of being and to teach them focus, poise, discipline and the integration of different arts.” — Medha Yodh, quoted in obituary by Lewis Segal, The Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2007, B9).
Medha Yodh, artist, teacher and performer of Bharatanatyam, and my guru of over twenty years passed away at age 79 in San Diego, California, at her daughter Kamal’s home on July 11, 2007. Two daughters, Kamal and Neila, and two granddaughters survive Medha.
As Medha met the great T. Balasaraswati in Connecticut in 1962 and became her lifelong disciple, so did I meet Medha in Los Angeles in 1976 and became her disciple. She was as an artist of the highest calibre, and a remarkable human being.
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Readers Recall
The Nataraja icon -ANNE-MARIE GASTON
 T.S. Parthasarathy (TSP), famous musicologist and scholar died a year ago on 13th October 2006. One of our readers shares with us some of TSP’s opinions on dance and dancers.
The passing away of T.S. Parthasarathy is a major loss to the dance world. With his thorough grounding in music and theory, a visit to his home always brought rich rewards. I would like to share some of his insights that he generously shared with me as I collected material for my Ph.D. research at Oxford University.
When I asked him what he thought about the presence of a Nataraja icon on the concert stage he replied: “The older dancers like Bala did not place a Nataraja on stage nor did they start with a pooja. Now it is often a ‘stunt’ to attract the audience. When they see the Nataraja idol with a garland and colour lights, it sort of inspires some devotion in them. A true artist does not necessarily start the recital with a devotional thing. Bala was an artist in the true sense.”
T.M. Thyagarajan in Madurai -DR. LAKSHMI PODHUVAL
I first met T.M. Thyagarajan Sir when I joined the Tamil Nadu Government Music College (then the Central College of Music) in 1973 for the Sangeeta Vidwan course. I started learning from him privately from October 1974 and continued to do so till the end. Every year I learnt a new kriti from him on Vijayadasami day.
On 9th January 1979 TMT Sir took charge as the Principal of the Tamil Nadu Govt. Music College in Madurai. I had already joined the Madurai Sri Sathguru Sangeeta Vidyalayam as a lecturer in August 1978. After his retirement in May 1981, he shifted back to Chennai. But even after this, he came to Madurai once in a month for a period of ten days and taught us music.
My colleagues Dr. Latha Varma, Dr. S. Mallika, Dr. R. Aruna, also started learning from TMT Sir, from 1980 onwards. Kamala Ramamoorthi, an alumnus of the Central College of Music, Chennai was thrilled to know about Sir’s appointment and arrival in Madurai. She revived her association with him and started attending classes along with her daughter Sheela. Another colleague of mine K.N. Susheela, a senior disciple of vidushi D.K. Pattammal, also learnt some compositions from TMT Sir. Her close friend T.S. Hema would take care of Sir in the afternoons when all of us would be away at college.
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Record Rack
DOUBLE TAKE. By Dr. Bhavani Prakash. Veena/Venu. CD. [Anandabhairavi - Fanwood, NJ, U.S.A. Rs. 100. (Audio cassette also available].
Natakurinji (varnam)
Sree Mahaganapati - Gaula (Muthuswami Dikshitar)
Niravadhi sukhadayaka - Ravichandrika (Tyagaraja)
Ganamoortey – Ganamoorti (Tyagaraja)
Brova bharama – Bahudari (Tyagaraja)
Ninne nammiti - Simhendramadhyamam (Mysore Vasudevacharya)
Pibare Rama rasam - Ahir Bhairav (Sadasiva Brahmendra)
Tillana - Brindavani (Lalgudi Jayaraman)
Dr. Bhavani Prakash is a doubly gifted artist whose musical talents are revealed in her playing of the veena and the venu (flute). Attaining proficiency in playing one instrument to a certain degree of acceptance is by itself a task which calls for years of dedicated practice and serious listening to the form of music which one pursues. Bhavani has certainly to be complimented for being a convincing player of these two instruments.
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BOOK SHELF
NEW LIGHT ON SWATHI THIRUNAL. By Dr. R.P. Raja. [Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Studies (INDIS), Tiruvananta-puram 695 001. Pp. 304. Rs. 250].
The cover page is simple and elegant. It has the picture of a palm leaf manuscript with the title of the book printed on it; there is also a photo of the ivory ‘swarabath’. The image of ‘Sree Padmanabha Daasa, Vanchipaala, Sri Swati Tirunal Rama Varma Kulasekhara Perumal Maharaja’ virtually emerges before the reader’s eyes!
“….. it was Dr. Balachander’s interest and enthusiasm on Swati Tirunal that turned a medical doctor like me into a historian...”, the author makes a candid submission in the preface. The resultant book turns out to be an authentic and outstanding treatise on Swati Tirunal and his music. Well researched and pertinent informa-tion on the administrative and political developments in the State of Travancore during the reign of the King, add to its worth. The book is a ‘dignified defence’ of a noble cause!
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News you can Use
Sruti invites You
The Sruti Foundation will honour Mrinalini Sarabhai, famous dance exponent and guru, and Founder-Director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Ahmedabad, with the E. Krishna Iyer Medal at 5 pm on Sunday, 4th November at the Dakshinamurthi Hall in Chennai. Bombay S. Ramachandran, well known Carnatic musician and teacher will receive the Vellore Gopalachariar Award instituted by Vellore Ramabhadran, and R. (Kartik) Rajagopal will receive the M. Venkatakrishnan Memorial Award instituted by Ramaa Bharadvaj. The award function will be followed by a special programme called ‘Manodharma’ featuring famous dancers Shanta & V.P. Dhananjayan, and well known Carnatic musicians Rama Ravi and T.V. Ramprasadh.
Homage to Krishnanand
The Krishnanand Music Circle, Chennai, organised Hindustani music recitals by two disciples of Pandit Krishnanand to mark his third death anniversary, at the Mini Hall of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on 26th May 2007.
Pushpa Laxman presented an elaborate exposition of Malkauns raga followed by a chhota khayal in raga Kedar. She concluded with a bhajan in the Darbari Kanada raga.
Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy (Prof. & Head, Dept. of Indian Music, University of Madras) elaborated raga Multani and followed it up with chhota khayal in raga Bheemplas. Next she sang the Meera bhajan Barase badariya which Krishnanand had set to tune in in raga Shyam Kalyan. She concluded the concert with the famous song Jogi mat jaa in raga Bhairavi.
RAJSHRI RAMAKRISHNA
(a disciple of Krishnanand)
Voice Training workshop
Dr. S.A.K. Durga, musician and ethnomusicologist, conducted a six-day session (30th April – May 5th ) on voice training and management methods, under the banner of Center for Voxology, Chennai, set up to help singers in better voice reproduction. Dr. Durga, has painstakingly studied this subject and is now offering her expertise to classical music students and aspiring playback singers.
Fixing one’s base sruti or ‘aadhaara sruti’ correctly is very important, as this is the first step towards good use of one’s voice. She explained how this is linked to the sruti at which one speaks. It is almost always the same or half a notch higher for singing. Constant practice at one’s own sruti is the first step towards voice training.
One can abuse a good voice with improper use, just as one can produce good music with an average voice, by proper use of the vocal chords.
She taught the participants how to hold on to a note without wobbling and how to hold on to a phrase with ease and control, by adopting the techniques of ‘meend’ and ‘kharaj’ used by North Indian vocalists. She guided the participants through the correct use of ‘humming phrases’, and ‘vowels’ like ‘a, e, ye, o, u’ in raga elaboration. This helps the singer articulate sounds better and helps ease the strain on the vocal chords with effective use of the nose, sinuses and the mouth. She also taught a few breathing exercises in the standing position to help open the chest and improve lung power to produce better sound. She also gave handy tips on how to handle a microphone.
Dr. Durga taught the particpants a bhajan in raga Desh, and explained how to apply the aspects of continuity, breath control and flexible vocal movements, while rendering a song.
SIVAPRIYA KRISHNAN
IPTV channel in Chennai
Shakti Extratainment, the first IPTV channel from Chennai was launched at the Narada Gana Sabha Hall in Chennai on 4th July. This hi-tech move was initiated by Chitravina N Ravikiran. N Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, inaugurated the festival while noted film director, K Balachander presided over the function. Murali of Sri Krishna Sweets, and flute maestro N. Ramani were the Guests of Honour. A two-day Bani Festival was launched by the channel.
IPTV stands for Internet Protocol TV, delivered via broadband directly to one’s television, through a special Set Top Box. Ravikiran asserted that his IPTV channel had several strategic partners, chief of whom was platform partner, Verismo Networks, whose Set Top Box had excellent features including a Personal Media Server and a 40 GB memory.
The launch was followed by young Ashwin Sridhar’s vocal arangetram, two short thematic recitals on Muthuswami Dikshitar’s compositions by teenagers Anahita and Apoorva. The evening slots featured a vocal recital by P. Unnikrishnan (Tiger Varadachariar and S Ramanathan bani), violin duo by Lalgudi Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi (Lalgudi bani), and veteran vocalist T.V. Sankaranarayanan (Madurai Mani Iyer bani).
On 5th July, the Bani Festival featured Rama Ravi (Veena Dhanammal bani), N. Ramani (Flute Mali bani), Trichur Ramachandran (GNB bani), and Master Balamuralikrishna (Semmangudi/ P.S. Narayanaswami bani). Young Vishaal Sapuram from the U.S.A., present a special chitraveena concert.
Alapana’s eighth anniversary
 Alapana, the Singapore-based institution for Carnatic music, celebrated its 8th anniversary on 30th June 2007. A violin concert by Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi with Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman (mridanga) and Sundarkumar (khanjira) was organised in memory of the late musician, scholar and teacher Dr. S. Ramanathan.
On 1st July, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman conducted a ‘Face-to-Face’ as part of the ‘Maestros’ Master classes’ series. He later released “Laya Manjari”, a book on mridanga lessons written by V. Raghuraman of Alapana. This was followed by a master class conducted by the Lalgudi duo who taught the Mand tillana composed by their father Lalgudi Jayaraman, to the students of Alapana.
Founded in 1999 by R. Banumathy, daughter and disciple of Sangeeta Kalanidhi Dr S. Ramanathan, Alapana, Singapore dedicates its anniversary music concerts to the memory of Dr S. Ramanathan every year. S. Sowmya, Bombay Jayashri, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, T.N. Seshagopalan and Jayanthi Kumaresh have performed at these festivals. Alapana plans to celebrate its 10th anniversary as a year-long festival commencing in July,2008 and culminating in July 2009.
DHRUVA
Greesmkalin Bal Mahotsava
The Sahiiya Kala Parishad organised a Greesmkalin Bal Mahotsva from 12th to 14th June at the Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi. The children danced, sang and participated in the Tabla Antakshari in the presence of eminent artists like Narendra Sharma and Iqbal Ahmed Khan. The Parishad had organised a month-long summer camp to train the children in various aspects of performance. Earlier this year, the Parishad had organised a workshop to train children in public schools, slums, villages, and orphanages.
Children enjoyed the Tabla Antakshari conducted by Dr. Kumar Rishitosh, Director, Jaspal Kaur Public School centre, who managed to involve the audience as well.
Ammannur’s 90th birthday
 The Navathi (90th birthday) of Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar was celebrated at Irinjalakuda in May this year. The three-day celebrations were held from 11th to13th May. Ammannur was born on May 13, 1917. The celebrations were declared open by actor Murali, who is the Chairman of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy. This was a rare occasion where all the schools of Koodiyattam joined hands.
Seminars and meetings were held during the day where his disciples and admirers shared memories and exchanged ideas. There were night-long performances of Koodiyattam and Kathakali. Other programmes included a Carnatic music concert by Malladi Brothers, Manipuri by Guru Singhajit Singh and troupe, a Bharatanrityam presentation of ‘Bhagavad Gita,’ by Padma Subrahmanyam. On the final day, the master was honoured at a public meeting attended by the Assembly Speaker K. Radhakrishnan and Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran. ‘Aranginte Madhavam,’ a book on the Guru Ammannur, edited by Margi Madhu, was released on the occasion.
A colloquium was organised on the ‘Artistic Contributions of Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar. It was followed by demonstrations of rare portions of abhinaya in Koodiyattam by some of the young artists of the Ammannur Gurukulam.
An exhibition of photographs by K. Radhakrishna Warrier and P.V. Jayan, captured some rare moments in Koodiyattam. There was a national seminar on the virtues of the Gurukula system of education vs. University education for the classical art forms.
CDs of Mangalam Ganapathy’s compositions
Two CDs of Mangalam Ganapathy’s compositions rendered by vocalist Nithyasree Mahadevan were released on 14th June at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Hall in Chennai. The CD titled “Nithya Mangala Lahari” with songs on various deities, was released by A. Natarajan and the first copy was received by Carnatic musician Sudha Raghunathan. The second CD called “Swabhava Madhura Sri Madhurakali” containing songs on Goddess Siruvachur Madhurakali was released by Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti and the first copy was received by Parvathi Subramaniam who had sponsored the CDs. The function conducted under the auspices of Smt. Mangalam Ganapathy Music Trust concluded with a concert by Nithyasree Mahadevan.
Apoorva Kriti Manjari
The evening’s programme was totally devoted to the presentation and propagation of the everlasting rich repertoire of the Carnatic Trinity, which remain even today as the true measure and mettle of the classical legacy of our Carnatic music tradition.
The function took place at Raga Sudha Hall Chennai on10th June 2007. The “Apoorva Kriti Manjari” book and audio album were released by N. Murali, President of the Music Academy and Managing Director, The Hindu. The first copy was received by vidwan S. Rajam. Prof S.R. Janakiraman appreciated the work of S. Balachander as well as the fine rendition of Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam. Vidwan P.S. Narayanaswamy stressed the need for the artists to learn and present such rare kriti-s in concerts to popularise them. Dr. V.V. Srivatsa made some critical observations, while the youthful Cultural Affairs Advisor of the American Consulate, Ragini Gupta appreciated the efforts of the organisers VS Classics and Bharatiya Sangeeta Vaibhavam Trust. The function was followed by a concert by the Brhaddvani group which presented the rare kriti-s which was well received by the rasika-s present on the occasion.
The function was the culmination of the efforts of S. Balachander, a professional Ad Man who is also a practicing flautist. For 40 years he has been doing research with reference to the collection of Carnatic music compositions from the early 20th century preserved in swara-sahitya form in manuscripts collected by his grandfather Advocate R. Srinivasa Iyer of Srirangam and granduncle Rao Sahib R. Ramachandra (who served in the Viceregal Council in India).
Although there are more than 1400 songs composed by the Trinity collectively, only about 500 songs are actively in practice. The authentic version of many songs is not available with proper notation. This is where the work of S. Balachander needs to be appreciated. The Apoorva Kriti Manjari has seven songs each of Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar, and six of Syama Sastry — in all totalling to 20. The foreword by Prof. S.R. Janakiraman, Dr. N. Ramanathan and S. Rajam adds a distinct dignity to the publication. With the exception of two or three, all the kriti-s are rare and need to be popularised. The organisers played songs from the CD which have been rendered by Vijayalakshmy with great involvement and effortless ease.
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Generation Next
Lavanya Ananth
She earned a degree in Electronics and Instrumentation, worked for a year, but decided to give it up because her heart was in Bharatanatyam, not engineering. Thirty three year-old Lavanya Ananth has moved slowly but steadily onto centrestage in her chosen field, with Kartik Fine Arts deciding to confer the title of Nadanamamani on her this ‘Season’.
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