Spotlight
A star is born

(Edited excerpts from a Seshagopalan
profile in Sruti issue 3)
Seshagopalan’s first concert at
Madras was at the Srinivasa Sastri Hall in Mylapore under the auspices of
Rasikapriya, a sabha run by Lokanathan of RBI.
“I was nineteen then. Narasimhamurthy (violin) and Karaikudi Mani (mridangam -
not yet so famous!) accompanied me. The Hindu critic
congratulated me personally. So did P.S. Narayanaswami, R.S. Mani; V.R.
Krishnan, and Tiruvengadu Subramaniam, even that redoubtable lady T. Brinda. Lalgudi
Jayaraman was another who predicted a bright future for me. I was getting into
the habit of observing my audience and their reaction closely. I found a
distinct difference in standards between Madras and Madurai audiences. The
former were practised listeners, with opportunities to listen to concerts. In
contrast, non-metropolitan audiences did not get to listen to more than one
concert a month. But regardless of their level of appreciation, I learned to
follow their comments and hushed conversations, size up their requirements and
tailor my concerts accordingly.
“This ability is an essential part of
a musician’s armoury. Around this time Ramanathapuram Ganesa Pillai, Mylattur
Ramachandran, Tinniyur Krishnan and Papanasam Balasaraswati were my better
known accompanists.
“A concert in Coimbatore during the
Ramanavami festival gave me well-needed self-assurance. I was now very
confident of a successful future. But the major breakthrough was yet to come. I
had to wait till 1969-70 when I received a letter from Sri Yagnaraman,
secretary of Krishna
Gana Sabha, inviting me to perform at a concert organised by the Federation of
Sabhas to the accompaniment of Lalgudi Jayaraman and Umayalpuram Sivaraman.
With some two months to go before this performance I practised in right
earnest. I sang at the Tiruvaiyaru festival; I
was given the time when the news would be broadcast over the radio. No one else
wanted this spot as there would be no radio braodcast of the performance.
This concert had a snowballing effect on the improvement of TNS’s status as a
musician, thanks to the fact that Lalgudi and Sivaraman accompanied him. T.N.
Krishnan was another violinist who began to be associated with the young
musician. The press was greatly impressed and epithets such as ‘genius’ were
frequently used to describe Seshagopalan.
In 1974, Seshagopalan took the
capital city by storm. Delhi’s critics expressed surprise and amazement that
such a major talent had not surfaced there earlier. Bombay and Calcutta
followed suit featuring TNS in various festivals.
Seshagopalan is of the firm opinion
that his ascent was hastened by a good four or five years by the boost he
received from being accompanied by Krishnan, Lalgudi
and Sivaraman.
“Another important landmark in my career was my performance at Sastri Hall on
behalf of Sri Kulathu of Viveka Cultural Centre. Here it was that Palghat Mani Iyer honoured
me by accompanying me, alongside of Lalgudi. There was a big crowd. I sang a
four-kalai pallavi, against the advice of Mani Iyer. He
was an advocate of moderation and is even credited with the remark that tanis
should be no longer than five minutes. I am sure he didn’t impose any such
restrictions on himself when he was young. There are stories about hour-long
solo percussion he perpetrated.
“Lalgudi and Cheema (C.R. Srinivasan)
were, I think, instrumental in bringing about this concert, which helped
considerably in adding to my reputation. Mani Iyer accompanied
me in two more concerts including one of chamber music organised by the sabha
Alapana.
Seshagopalan regarded as his friend,
mentor, adviser and benefactor the late P.R. Chari, who lived in Bombay until
his retirement in 1974 from Philips and then moved to Madras. He was a great
source of moral support. As an adviser to Polydor India, he it was who arranged
for Seshagopalan’s first discs to be cut by them. The two-disc set was recorded
during a speically arranged live concert at TNS’s insistence. Chari passed away
in 1983.
By V Ramnarayan
Posted by Sruti Magazine at Monday, July 16, 2012