Having stationed outside of India for the last 30 months, I heavily relied upon Desi Radio App and YouTube for my Vitamin CM: Carnatic Music. The App brought surprise and delight as I kept discovering musicians and hearing quality music.
Upon arriving in Chennai, I decided to surprise myself by randomly walking into concert halls and listening musicians without prejudice. I noticed two big events unfold in September. One, birth Centenary of the Queen of Song, MS Subbulakshmi and two, 125th birth anniversary of Papanasam Sivan, aka Thamizh Thiyagayya. Both these legends took music to masses through evocative voice and lyrics. Could there be a better way to slip back into the Carnatic scene of Chennai?
Not wardrobe, but vocal malfunction
As the curtains went up during MS Subbalakshmi Centenary inaugural celebrations, the vocal curtains came down on this Sangita Kalanidhi. Her voice failed in lower octaves and remained muted in upper octaves. She wasn't able to deliver the five popular songs of MS Subbalakshmi leaving audience, organizer, and performer embarrassed and disappointed. An artist who could never have wardrobe malfunction was hit with vocal malfunction, giving a poor opening for the centenary celebrations. Her student Deepika Varadarajan was compering that evening, but Sudha refrained from seeking her support making her pompous introduction a mere hype like the weather forecast by Ramanan. Does Sudha realize that Carnatic music is about delivering on stage more than costumes and jewelry?
Two weeks later I walked into Narada Gana Sabha to hear songs of the legendary composer Papanasam Sivan. I didn't check the newspaper to find out the performer and was prepared to listen to anyone who could bring out the beauty of his lyrics. And when I reached the sparsely populated venue the curtains were still down. A few minutes later I heard the tambura sruthi, and musicians preparing their throat, instrument skins and strings to get into a divine unison that evening.
A choking Ramani
At 1700 hrs the legendary composers grandson, Ashok Ramani appeared on the dais, not as an organizer, but as a performer. I don't remember when I heard him the last, but I remember seeing him as a judge on Swarna Sangeetham, a TV show that picked the golden voice of the year. The second half of Ashok's first name, Ramani means beauty. But was there beauty in his voice and was he able to do justice to the lyrics of his grandfather? Probably this explains why Ashok has turned himself into an organizer, mentor, and a teacher.
Seeing my pain, my neighbor at the concert hall entertained me with trivia on Ashok Ramani's personal life, which I least care about. He showed me the impressive song list from Sanjay Subrahmanyan's concert, 2015 Sangita Kalanidhi designate, at the same venue from 24 hours ago. And finally when he ran out of patience and trivia facts, he remarked, "I hope it is a 90 minute concert".
Voice playing a truant due to age and strain is understandable, and Ashok and Sudha must understand that there is nothing wrong in turning into an organizer, composer, or mentor and having a vocal support for their concerts. Vidwan Late Shri. RK Srikantan and Vidushi Smt. Parasala Ponnammal were good teachers and in their eighties had a vocal support to enthrall a house full audience at Music Academy for three hours on a markazhi morning.
Now it's all about position
Just as I was recovering from the vocal assault on my ear drums, courtesy Ashok Ramani, it was time for the next surprise. And this time when the curtains went up, I was surprised by the position of musicians on the stage.
TM Krishna behaves like an egalitarian, not because he splits the remuneration with co-artists, cycles to sabhas, or opines to take Carnatic music to masses. This time around he has tweaked the definition of egalitarian by rearrangeing positions of pakkavadhyams on the dais; he sits to the left of the center and now his accompaniments face the audience. Indeed power play of another kind!
He began concert with a short thanam and delivered Thamasa ma in kuntalavarali in a sathwick style. But then the egalitarian outlook vanished when he asked Violinist Hemalatha to play a short aalaap before he delved into a viruttam Petra thaai thanai which ended in a Mohanam composition on Kapali, the most celebrated deity of Papanasam Sivan and not next movie of the matinee idol Rajanikanth. Shouldn't an egalitarian allow the violinist to decide what raga and/or song she wants to play rather than dictating to her?
Uttama Carnatic Villian
TMK rendition of Naataikurunji had a cooling effect (kulirichi) on the audience forgetting the warm, humid and parched September in Chennai. And when he started Swami Naan Undran I came to the edge of my seat not just to enjoy the lyrics of this pada varnam, but also catch a glimpse of his gesticulations that amplified the lyrics.
During the rendition of the anupallavi,
nAmAmrta pAnamE en jIvanamE enru nambinEnE
naTanamADum sEvaDi darishanam enru kiDaikkum enavE EnginEnE
TMK moved his right arm like a leg spinner and soon turned ambidextrous trying to move the curtain in front of him that was already open.
When he reached the ast two lines of the anupallavi,
senjaDADaviyil iLambirai deiva gangaiyum Oraravum Ada
iLa naghai tavazhum shevvidazhudan tadhIm ena ciTrambalam tanil ADum
Has TMK entertained an idea of wearing Kathakali mask to add beauty to his gesticulations and make his music more meaningful? But today TMK has announced to the Music Academy that he is ready to receive Natya Kala Acharya award. He is indeed a Uttama Carnatic villain!
After 30 months from being away, it is as much a pleasure to listen to random artists on the App as it is to randomly walk into concert halls. I realized that only artist positions and order of songs have changed, but the act and attitude remained the same. No pun intended!
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