Music Academy Dec season schedule 2013-14

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 15 Oct 2013, 18:35

Dear Rasikas,

Certain remarks are not befitting this forum. Characterising a vidwan's concert as below average means the person who is criticizing must have been an above average performer.Even if we assume that he is above average,it is better to keep them as personal opinion and not post in this forum.
Even very well established artists have their bad days.

KNV1955 · Post by **KNV1955** » 15 Oct 2013, 18:42

Posting.........have been avoided. Ask the person to remove the post :-Q X(

KNV1955 · Post by **KNV1955** » 15 Oct 2013, 18:54

My sincere hope all the morning performers in the list remain fit with no throat problem so that they can give their best. Neela Ramgopal is a very imaginative singer. I am looking forward to her concert & Seshagopalan (with MC & Narendran) & Santhanagopalan & Srikantan with Sivaraman & Vedavalli & TNK. On their day even with advancing age they can give stunning concerts.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 15 Oct 2013, 19:40

Dear KNV,

Thank you for your views.You acknowledge and encourage all the performers in spite of the unique position enjoyed by your father Sri KVN who attracted me to Carnatic music.I listened to him live for the first time at Bangalore Gayana Samaja in 1978 in the company of Lalgudi sir and Sri Palghat Raghu.There after I never missed his concerts wherever it was held at Bangalore,

shyamkalyan74 · Post by **shyamkalyan74** » 15 Oct 2013, 19:51

http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20663

Please go through the above link.This link was live review of v.shankarnarayanan's last year MA concert.
Please review the comment from our members like v. v.suresh etc which says clearly the concert was mediocre.

I felt it was mediocre all the way through. Just left me with the feeling that the performers were not yet ready for prime time!

Andolika RTP would be my pick of the concert. It was crammed in and lasted about 15 minutes.

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 15 Oct 2013, 20:41

shyamkalyan74 wrote:http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20663

Please go through the above link.This link was live review of v.shankarnarayanan's last year MA concert.
Please review the comment from our members like v. v.suresh etc

You shouldn't really judge based on one subjective review. May be I was having a bad day. It certainly seems like it when I re-read the review

KNV1955 · Post by **KNV1955** » 15 Oct 2013, 20:55

One talented youngster I missed out is Aishwerya Shankar. Pl do attend if she sings during season. Has ganam & weighty singing.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 15 Oct 2013, 22:33

Sureshvv,
From the horse's mouth! I am glad you chimed in.
I read through your frame-to-frame review and got the feeling that you were pleased with parts of the concert. The lighting was distracting to both those on the stage and to the audience, to add to your not so good a day!

I heard V Shankaranarayanan in the Cleveland concerts streaming and thought he gets better every time I hear him.

I know, we are all getting excited about the season, but do not want to fall in line with judges of contests in over-analyzing or criticizing performers--comment on them before we hear them this year. Understood, the judges of contests are not only competent, but are required to be that way (there too, someone like NSG, who also does it thoroughly but without making the kids nervous).

KNV,
Haven't heard Aishwarya Shankar. Will try to catch a concert of hers.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 16 Oct 2013, 10:39

semmu86 wrote:Is the morning Lec-Dem schedule also out or am I the one unable to find it

Semmu, I don't think it is out yet. I am looking forward to attending these as well.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 16 Oct 2013, 13:20

Few Comparisons in 2012-13 vs 2013-14 slots:
--------------------------------------------
1. We have violin concert of Lalgudi siblings who replace Mysore Brothers. There is always a rotation of violin artists. Additionally Last year , A Kanyakumari paired with Kadri gopalnath now she is pairing with Embar Kannan.

2. With respect to veena , last year there is revathy srinivasan , this year it is emani kalyani lakshmi nArAyana. Veena generally also has one slot.

3. Few musicians like Gayathri girish, viji subra, hyderabad brothers ,TNS krishna,saketharaman and prema rangarajan are making way for savita narasimhan,lakshmi rangarajan, mambalam sisters and sreevalsan menon . Incidentally all four savita narasimhan ,lakshmi rangarajan , mambalam sisters and sreevalsan menon have performed in the last few years in the evening slots .

4. We have Suryaprakash ,K gayathri both promoted for the first time this year. Best wishes to both.

5. I used to always think that other state quota is boxed to 1 . I was thinking sreevalsan menon had to give his slot to shertalai ranganatha sharma in the last few years . Nice to see both of them performing in the same year and it is indeed a very good move by music academy officials to not box with state quota. If you recollect last year I made a post that Sreevalsan had zero concerts at chennai,this year he has great one to start with. A stellar move in moving towards the direction of meritocracy irrespective of where he/she belongs.

5. VisakA hari is making way for Udaiyalur kalyanaraman . I guess kathakalekshapam, sangeetha upanyasam and namasankeerthanam are all nearly the same.(Attn KNV)

6. Interestingly on Dec 26th Morning , I see Shri RK Shrikantan performing . His age is nearly 93 to 94 , that is surely a miracle.

7. I am going with Kittappa's post of his remark of why TMK is not performing in academy . Last year TMK performed post Sadas.

8. In the afternoon slots , i see few musicians like pattabhirama pandit, ramakrishnamoorthy , amrutha venkatesh are performing for the first time in afternoon slot - all three are deserving. There are few more names , many of them are great artists and few are new to me.

Best wishes to all artists. Liked this year selection, definitely a nice job by Music Academy panelists.

Meera · Post by **Meera** » 16 Oct 2013, 14:07

The list is o.k in a way.But a few observations.

1.IMHO Bharat Sundar & Sriranjani NSG should have been promoted.

2.MahArajapuram rAmachnadran should have been included.Even Ganesh V doesn't feature in the junior slot.What reasons MA has for this wishful negligence !That family has given 2 SKs.

crntctt · Post by **crntctt** » 16 Oct 2013, 15:19

The noon slot seems to have some new entries. In a way I think it's a good practice to give opportunities to newcomers since there are numerous talented youngsters and many of them need exposure. Omitting some juniors like aishwarya vidhya etc one year to give way to possible newcomers is Ok in my opinion, as they have enough exposure and opportunities. Else, many newcomers with poor PR won't be able to get opportunities and subsequently wont grow.

Also, it did surprise me to see rithvik raja back this year.

Ramakrishnan murthy truly deserves the sub senior category. Looking forward to hearing neela ji, rks, etc.

gardabha_gana · Post by **gardabha_gana** » 16 Oct 2013, 15:44

Very nice to see Rama Ravi, Neela Ramgopal in the morning slots. Music academy should consider webcasting the morning slots for those of us not in madras. Also, nice to see Charulatha Ramanujam, Nalina Mohan accompany in the evening concerts. Manda Sudharani is performing - nice to see that!

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 16 Oct 2013, 16:25

The artists may deserve, but not on the basis that there were 2 SKs from that family.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 16 Oct 2013, 18:47

Rajesh,
Yes, not seeing Gayatri Girish and Viji Subramaniam's names in the list was disappointing. Several surprises in the evening slot with younger women performers.

Finally, Surya makes the grade

The 'state' consideration needs to be a small part of the selection, and I see it has worked this year. Looks as though they took time to make it a fairly mixed list, to include many.

Panthula Rama is not accompanied by her husband on the violin

I like to listen to their music together (an ideal blend). Good to see forumite Balaji on the mridangam, though! His playing will suit her very well is my guess.

A new name for me in the upa-pakka vAdyam: Tirukkannapuram Sowrirajan.

annamalai · Post by **annamalai** » 16 Oct 2013, 19:19

I think beyond the selection committee, quality/rating of performance etc paisa vasool is an important factor in the schedule; that too for evening slots. Sabha canteens are planning for each day evening menu

The popular, crowd puller artists will always be featured @ MA and all sabhas . Most popular artists perform 20+ concerts in December season sort of IPL, Champions Trophy cricket overload. The borderline players (Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwari , ...) and out-of-state artists are the problem.

Not sure if an artist like MD Ramanathan would get an evening slot in the current scheme of things. For the MDR concert @ MA, I do remember the ground floor had 150+ people. Same for TM Thyagarajan.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 16 Oct 2013, 20:03

arasi wrote:Finally, Surya makes the grade

Yes, I am happy to see that as well.
So, we have 2 of our ( reasonably active ) members who have evening slots at the Academy. That is something indeed.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 16 Oct 2013, 20:57

Music Academy has done well given the number of artists available.Seniors have been respected.TNK,RKSrikantan,TVS,Vedavalli
TNS are given each year which is good.All the good violin players have been included.Mysore Nagaraj is in the accompaniment category,So is Narmada.
Umayalapuram Sivaraman,M Chandrasekharan peform every year.Incidentally MC used to attend the morning concerts each day last year.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 16 Oct 2013, 22:13

Three Mysore violinists, for that matter. Nagaraj for TVS, Manju for Ravikiran and Srikanth for Abhishek.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 16 Oct 2013, 23:51

madam Arasi's observation about the 3 violinists figuring is correct.Last year Rudrapatnam Bros and Hyderabad bros were featured.
Generally Sanjay,Malladi brothers ,Tm Krishna,RaGa sisters,Bombay Jayashree find place in all major festivals and MA is no exception.
However this year TMk is not on the list and i cannot figure out the reason.Last year he had announced that all his concerts are free.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 17 Oct 2013, 04:27

arasi wrote:Three Mysore violinists, for that matter. Nagaraj for TVS, Manju for Ravikiran and Srikanth for Abhishek.

HN Bhaskar is a Mysuru man also!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Oct 2013, 04:34

Ah, didn't know that! Gothirililla, swAmi (mahavishnu)

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 17 Oct 2013, 05:27

Vittal Ramamurthy is also from Karnataka!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Oct 2013, 06:20

And H.K. Venkatram, a forumite too, and R.K.S (his grandfather settled in Chennai, I think).

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 17 Oct 2013, 11:37

Just looked at the list again to see few more points:
-------------------------------------------------------------
1. Generally there is quite a bit of rotation of accompanists some times creating a rare combination . I see for sanjay - Tanjore murugabhoopathy is playing and for abhishek- tiruvarur bhaktavatsalam is playing this year. One of the finest mrudangam players in today's era is neyveli venkatesh is not having any opportunity- that is kind of strange that venkatesh is not playing this year at academy.

2. Trichur brothers are not performing .They were singing in morning slot last year. I am assuming next year they will jump to an afternoon slot - some times there is a break for an artist and next year will turn out very well. Trichur brothers are fabulous

3. Meera - You have raised a good point on the exclusion of maharajapuram ramachandran. IIRC last time he sang in Dec 2010 morning slot.It is generally difficult to spot maharajapuram ramachandran even during other months atleast in chennai. A fabulous musician

jodha · Post by **jodha** » 17 Oct 2013, 13:48

Priya sisters missing !

MA doesn't consider the children of SKs.Neither Subasree Ramachandran nor TNSKrishna.Even TVS's son & daughter are performers now.But no luck it seems.

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 17 Oct 2013, 15:36

HN Bhaskar is a Mysuru man also!

Vittal Ramamurthy is also from Karnataka!

And H.K. Venkatram, a forumite too, and R.K.S (his grandfather settled in Chennai, I think).

I think this "tradition" to track artistes by native village/town/state is unhealthy for music as a whole. Also heartened to see that younger artistes have figured this out drop these appendages (similar to caste names from prior generations).

rupavathi · Post by **rupavathi** » 17 Oct 2013, 17:28

sureshvv wrote:I think this "tradition" to track artistes by native village/town/state is unhealthy for music as a whole...

What a wet blanket you are... trying to strip a rational discussion of its regional chauvinism and provincial prejudices! [-x

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 17 Oct 2013, 17:55

The analysis of artists from Mysore was only academic .No serious conclusions should be made.

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 17 Oct 2013, 18:55

rupavathi wrote: What a wet blanket you are...

Guilty as charged!

PS: by Saidapettai Rupavathi, I presume

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Oct 2013, 19:36

When I glance through the list, it looks as though they are bringing in more of non-Chennai artistes (there, regional and provincial chauvinism on the wane, it seems). I see more of Kerala names too.
Perfection (!) is hard to achieve, but I do see that the list reflects an open-mindedness. A well-shuffled deck of cards, one would say?

Yes, Neyveli Venkatesh could have been included. I did notice a few (?) accompanists being given more than one chance. Wonder why. They could have encouraged a few more of them by not doing so.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 17 Oct 2013, 19:48

Guruvoyuy Dorai - Mridangam does not find a place in MA list

B.Devnath · Post by **B.Devnath** » 17 Oct 2013, 20:38

glad to see balamurali and sumithra vasudev slotted at 4.15. they earned it !!

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 17 Oct 2013, 23:04

Rasikas,

Most of the musicians who get to perform in prime slots every year - The artists generally in their prime still are the ones to get Sangeethakalanidhi title in the years to come.
The following are generally featured every year:
Sanjay Subramanyam,OS Tyagarajan,NRavikiran,Malladi Brothers,Nithyasree,Bombay Jayashree,Unnikrishnan,RaGa sisters,Vijaya siva,Neyveli Santanagopalan,Aruna Sairam

TM Krishna is an exception perhaps this year.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 17 Oct 2013, 23:13

Perhaps I should add
Sowmya and Mandolin Srinivas too.This process may take the next decade.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 18 Oct 2013, 08:32

shyamkalyan74 wrote: This s.malavika is vijay tv airtel super singer fame one,not sk's daughter.Surya prakash got promoted to evening slot which he desrves rightly.
Wondering how v.shankarnarayanan got a chance this year inspite of his below average performance last year?

S Malavika trained in vocal music under Smt Padmavathy Ananthagopalan for years. She is currently learning from Vidwan V. Subrahmanyam, who is a disciple of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.

The S-K's daughter learnt Bharatha Natyam so not much chance of performing in December. Maybe in January but then she is pursuing higher studies in the US now.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 18 Oct 2013, 08:40

KNV1955 wrote:
Some feedback on Majusha Patil.

KNV

Manjusha Patil was featured in Svanubhava 2013 which was held in August in Kalakshetra.

She was the one who, when asked why she had 4 different instruments providing the drone, said she was searching for the perfect 'Sa' with those four.

That comment sent Uday Shankar into paroxysms of ecstasy who then detailed his experiments of attempting to align the sruthi of a tambura with that of a didgeridoo or some such thing....my memory is hazy on that point. You can look up that discussion in the topic Carnatic vs Hindusthani Music.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 18 Oct 2013, 08:51

sureshvv wrote

[

HN Bhaskar is a Mysuru man also!

Vittal Ramamurthy is also from Karnataka!

And H.K. Venkatram, a forumite too, and R.K.S (his grandfather settled in Chennai, I think).

I think this "tradition" to track artistes by native village/town/state is unhealthy for music as a whole. Also heartened to see that younger artistes have figured this out drop these appendages (similar to caste names from prior generations)]

Isn't BU Ganesh Prasad from Bangalore?

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 18 Oct 2013, 08:53

Harimau
Seriously, isn't that a bit like my trying to learn Tamil in Saidapet bus stand!?

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 18 Oct 2013, 08:58

Rsachi wrote:Harimau
Seriously, isn't that a bit like my trying to learn Tamil in Saidapet bus stand!?

Saidapet Tamil is probably miles ahead of Washermenpet Tamil! :p

But, I am unable to understand the reference. Are you talking about trying to find the perfect 'Sa'?

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 18 Oct 2013, 09:02

arasi wrote:
Yes, not seeing Gayatri Girish and Viji Subramaniam's names in the list was disappointing.

You could recommend their names to Nada Inbam!

PS. There I go, setting the cat among the pigeons. I shall now watch Older than Methuselah swing into action.

rupavathi · Post by **rupavathi** » 18 Oct 2013, 13:09

sureshvv wrote:Guilty as charged!

PS: by Saidapettai Rupavathi, I presume

Yeah, I'll take Saidapettai... now that Kolaikaranpettai has been renamed in (yet another) honour of our city's Ubiquitous Presence! B-)

And about the topic at hand: the Music Academy has a website (recently revamped very aesthetically) where annual conference schedules from 1935 are available. I suggest that some of the opinionators here who are energetically dissecting this year's schedule, spend some time going through the same. It will help you avoid coming off like a noob - unless that's what is desired - when passing off breezy opinion as fact. It will also help you realize that Carnatic Music in general, and the Academy conference in particular did not start around 2001, which is when Internet fora such as this one started becoming popular outlets for well-meaning yet ill-informed opinion!

)

vanamali · Post by **vanamali** » 18 Oct 2013, 17:17

Glad to see Ashwin Anand's (Veena) name in the list. He is extremely talented. I believe he is taking advanced lessons from Smt Vedavalli.

vichu1947 · Post by **vichu1947** » 18 Oct 2013, 17:51

Rsachi wrote:What is the current lobbying process to get a slot at MA?

Smt Mala Ramadorai , an unknown name in Hindustani Circle, got a prime slot in MA a few years ago. How ??

It was a package deal as part of heavy corporate sponsorship

Smt Mala is the wife of Sri Ramadorai, the MD of TCS at that time.

காசேதான் கடவுளடா

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 18 Oct 2013, 18:11

Yes Harimau,
Hoping to find the perfect SA by using four tamburas is the same as going to Saidapet bus stand to learn Tamil, thinking that it would help to find several people speaking the language there at the same time.

You see, I don't have too beautiful a memory of that bus stand as my sweaty and crowded bus trips through to IIT on Mount Road weren't exactly pleasant.

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 18 Oct 2013, 18:42

harimau wrote:That comment sent Uday Shankar into paroxysms of ecstasy

Whoa ??!! For the record I think four tamburas are an entirely bad idea

.

harimau wrote:experiments of attempting to align the sruthi of a tambura with that of a didgeridoo

Wrong again! It was with more traditional, mainstream instruments like the keyboard.

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 18 Oct 2013, 18:56

May be The Music Academy will have a parallel track for instrumentalists at the mini hall as a tribute to Lalgudi G. Jayaraman

vichu1947 · Post by **vichu1947** » 18 Oct 2013, 19:02

sureshvv wrote:May be The Music Academy will have a parallel track for instrumentalists at the mini hall as a tribute to Lalgudi G. Jayaraman

why tribute to only LGJ ?? why not MSG too ??

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 18 Oct 2013, 22:56

Sure. Why not?

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 18 Oct 2013, 23:58

Here is a great record already created.The Music Academy records show that Sri TN Krishnan made his debut in 1943 (listed as master Krishnan).I thought It must be TNK.
Till 1947,he is listed as Master and from 1948 onwards listed as Mr.He has performed continuously every year most of the times accompanying great Vidwans and later as duet
and trio concerts.He has performed from 1943 - 2013 without any break(?).He is scheduled to perform in this season also.
This is a marvelous achievement by any standards.
Assuming regular performance from 1948 till 2014 is 66 years of performance.
As per the records Sri LGj performed first time in 1948 and Sri MSG performed first time in 1954 at Music Academy.