Culture and Conversation

Anugrah Lakshmanan presented a short thematic concert dedicated to compositions in praise of Vishnu and his various manifestations. His co-artistes that evening were V.S.P Gayatri Sivani on the violin, Mannarkoil J.Balaji on the Mridangam and S.Krishna on the Ghatam. The concert began brightly with Swati Tirunal’s Aarabhi piece ‘Narasimha Mamava’. This was followed by a Tamil composition in Asaveri ‘Sharanam Sharanam Raghurama’. This composition of Arunachala Kavi is usually

The nuances of nishadam in Surutti make it a rather tricky note to navigate. It can frustrate a veena player who tries to produce the sound by pulling the string at the dhaivatam or panchamam fret. During descending phrases, it changes its shape to form a slightly lower note than in ascending phrases. Hence it is important to understand the intention and use it carefully, according to the phrase being sung. Senior vocalist S.Sowmya’s Surutti alapana interwove choice phrases o

Bharath Narayan started his recital for Mudhra with the Kambhoji Ata tala varnam ‘Sarasijanabha’. A good grip over layam was observed when he navigated the chiseled charanam and chittaswarams of this piece. This was followed by ‘Namami Vighna Vinayaka’ of CS Krishnaswamy Ayya in Hamsadhwani. The exchanges between Bharath and R.Raghul on the violin were sharp and firm when fast swaras were sung at ‘Kumara Sodara’. Bharath Narayan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement – The Hindu

Dr. R. Ganesh’s recital for  Mudhra  reflected the singer’s artistic maturity and thoroughness in concert presentation. A diverse selection of ragas, songs, languages and composers helped him steer the performance effectively. He was accompanied by Gayatri Vibhavari on the violin, J.P. Suriya Nambisan on the mridangam and N. Sundar on the morsing. Dr. R . Ganesh performing for Mudhra. Accompanying him are Gayatri Vibhavari on the violin, J.P. Suriya Nambisan on the mridangam

In the early 19th century, several attempts were made to recast the classical music tradition of South India. Constructing a classical music repertoire acceptable to the social and cultural milieu of those times required the positioning of certain compositional forms as core elements and relegating others to a lesser status in the artistic hierarchy. Padams and Javalis were the greatest casualties in this exercise. Thanks to the efforts of hereditary musicians and dancers fro

In 1998, the Governor of the state of Georgia in the United States of America decided to distribute free classical music CDs to every baby born in the state! This may have astounded many but what is even more surprising is that the decision was made in response to a study by a psychologist named Francis Rauscher who developed a theory known as the Mozart effect. The study basically suggested that early childhood exposure to classical music has beneficial effects on mental dev

Quite a lot has been spoken about mridangam legend Palani Subramania Pillai as his 115th birth anniversary was celebrated last April. Musicians have enthusiastically recalled how Subramania Pillai’s mridangam accompaniment blended seamlessly with the music. This effect mesmerised certain star vocalists such as Madurai Mani Iyer, who once while singing Tyagaraja’s ‘Enduku peddala’ stopped midway during the niraval at the phrase ‘Veda shastra’ just to listen to Subramania Pilla

The importance of the temple in sustaining instruments like nagaswaram and thavil cannot be stressed enough. Among the several instruments used in temples, the nagaswaram has the unique distinction of having been conceptualised to serve a dual purpose. Apart from being played on concert platforms, it is also a medium of announcement akin to instruments like the ekkalam and murasu. The nagaswaram, because of its sonorous nature, draws attention to the performance of temple rit