MUSIC SEASON 2023

Performance highlights                      

T.T. Narendran

Yet another season of music sets in after the trauma of rains, floods, and waterlogging that wiped off a few concerts scheduled in the early part of the season. The mood in the sabhas looked less gloomy than last year but it was not as cheerful as it was, before the pandemic struck.

Chatting with a few young musicians, I gathered that music, as a profession, is financially sustainable if you have a sufficient number of students abroad, learning online and paying you in foreign currency. Other alternatives for sustainability? Film music? Track singing? Stage programmes of film music? Anything except performing and teaching in India may work!

Such thoughts crossed my mind while listening to Abhilash Venkitachalam at the Music Academy. Equipped with a fine and facile voice, he won first place two years ago in the mid-year series and meritoriously made his way to the season. In the intervening period, he also shot to fame through a reality show (Super Singer) and earned some recognition in film music. However, at the concert, he performed below his potential. The first part of the programme looked well-planned, with a decent alapana of Begada (Gattiganu, Tyagaraja) and a fair essay of Dharmavati (Bhajana seyarada, Mysore Vasudevachar). His rendition of kritis and his swara-singing seemed good. However, when he embarked on Dhanyasi (Dhyaname, Tyagaraja), he did not appear to settle into the alapana. He skipped the niraval, ostensibly owing to the anxiety over time. Shiva Ramamurthy (violin) and S.  Kavichelvan (mridangam) supported well. His viruttam and his rendition of Baro Krishnayya came out well at the closing stage of the concert. 

It is to the credit of the Iyer brothers (Ramnath and Gopinath) that they have stayed relevant in the field of Carnatic music for over forty years, although settled in Melbourne, Australia. They began their concert for Nada Inbam with the varnam in Surati and played at a leisurely pace. A brisk Pranamamyaham (Gaula, Mysore Vasudevachar) with swara embellishment livened up the proceedings. They provided a sketch of Vagadeeswari as a prelude to Tyagaraja’s Paramatmudu. Gopinath essayed the first half of the alapana in Kalyani (Bhajare re chitta, Muthuswami Dikshitar), and Ramnath took over the latter half. Both of them gave a convincing portrayal of Kalyani. They topped the kriti off with a brief niraval, followed by swaras. J Vaidyanathan, who has lived with music since birth, accompanied sensitively on the mridangam; Nerkunam Shankar (khanjira) complimented him well. 

 

Dance Season 2023

Kalakshetra’s December Festival          

Bhavani Ravindran

Kalakshetra’s 70^th Annual Art Festival began on 20 December, 2023 with an impressive inauguration ceremony featuring mridangam maestro Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman as the chief guest. He was honoured by Chairman S. Ramadorai and Director-in-charge Aneish Rajan.

In his inaugural address, Sivaraman paid great tributes to Rukmini Devi Arundale and recalled his association with the institution from a very tender age. Director Rajan spoke briefly of the important role of the Kalakshetra Art Festival in Chennai’s music season.

This year’s fare was a judicious mix of music, classical and contemporary dance, folk theatre, and a jugalbandi of flute and vocal music. Three productions of Rukmini Devi were also showcased, which always draws rasikas to fill the grand auditorium no matter how many times they have been staged.

Her famous dance drama, Andal Charitram, set to music by Papanasam Sivan, followed the inauguration. As the title suggests, it is the story of Andal, a young girl, and her devotion to the Lord. The story is well-known and an oft-repeated one. Since this presentation was first staged by Rukmini Devi in the year 1961, the productions have seen many artists perform the roles of Perialwar and Andal, and it is no coincidence that each dancer who donned these roles has done so with consummate skill, dedication, and total involvement. It redounds to the credit of Kalakshetra teachers in preserving Rukmini Devi’s legacy and leaving a lasting impact on the students without any noticeable change over time. A special mention has to be made to Prof. Janaradhanan, who has brought all these immortal productions to life; his contribution in reviving Rukmini Devi’s legacy cannot be underestimated.