M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Carnatic Musicians
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ragam-talam
Posts: 1896
Joined: 28 Sep 2006, 02:15

Post by ragam-talam »

ragam-talam wrote:Memorial event in Kerala:
http://www.kutcheribuzz.com/news/200905 ... nathan.asp
Btw, this article mentions the following:
"Vani"

divakar
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Joined: 26 May 2005, 06:06

Post by divakar »

coolkarniji,
yes! i downloaded both the clips.
thank you.

ignoramus
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Joined: 21 Aug 2006, 21:25

Post by ignoramus »

ragam talam - i have not seen the movie. i know that a clip of this movie is available on youtube as part of the documentary on Palghat Raghu.

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Post by rajeshnat »

Writeup about this movie saamam,should be a nice one
http://www.thehindu.com/mag/2009/05/31/ ... 200500.htm

divakar
Posts: 197
Joined: 26 May 2005, 06:06

Post by divakar »

thanks rajeshnat for pointing out the article..
nice picture too in the article. lovely ambiance to listen to the master. well, any amount of info about him or his music is insatiating..

bilahari
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:02

Post by bilahari »

Thanks Rajesh, it would indeed be nice to watch the film.

skutty
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Joined: 04 Nov 2008, 09:27

Post by skutty »

Hi,
I would like all of you to enjoy this almost one-hour documentary on MDRamanathan, made by a dedicated fan of MDR (Venkatasubramnian Viraraghavan) and passed onto Rama Varmaji a couple of weeks back. I believe that it is a labour of love and certainly deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Please do watch the videos, even though it is an audio-video:) as the comments are extremely enlightening.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 2824&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 6604&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 5459&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 2777&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 2400&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7917&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 1833&hl=en

Enjoy!

vasanthakokilam
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Post by vasanthakokilam »

Excellent. Great MDR appreciation material. Thanks very much Sri. Venkatasubramaniam Viraraghavan, Sri. Varma and skutty.
I listen to pantuvarali only in a limited fashion but I simply froze upon hearing his alapana in the second link. It is in a different plane altogether.

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Post by rajeshnat »

In the 6th part of the Venkatasubramnian Viraraghavan clipping, The thillana is mentioned as poorvikalyAni with the composer as ???.

The NiRi NiRi GaMa (Tillana) rAgam is Poorvi and the composer is Thanjavur Vaidhyanatha Iyer (popularized by MDR).

Little detour about MDR and their fans:
------------------------------------------------
This is excellent ppt and video and audio clipping. Though personally I am able to get the spell bound feeling of MDR in few ragas like kedaram and mAyAmAlavagowlai not with all other rAgas that a typical MDR fan describes.

I recollect my maternal thAthA who cried so much during 1984 and made me even take a bath when Shri MDR died . He always used to tell me I started with lot of ariyAkudi then went to semmangudi , and the day he started listening to MDR he felt he did not want to listen to any one else .

For about 8 years till my maternal thAthA expired in 1992 , I always used to ask him how come you moved from semmangudi to MDR(I was just interested in semmangudi then), he explained with all these anecdotes like what Venkatasubramnian Viraraghavan has put up like the way he splits up sangathis, the yadhukula kAmbOdhi and kedaragowlai difference etc, I did not get it then, I am not even getting it that much even now , but certainly there is so much of truthfulness in appreciation of MDR which only MDR rasikas can share.

In short for few rasikas like my maternal thatha and Venkatasubramnian Viraraghavan,this musician was nearly a god .

Another reference of MDR fan:
------------------------------------
About 6 years back when I was travelling by lalbagh express from bangalore to chennai , I was reading rAgas at a glance by SRJ. An elderly gentleman (iyengar nAmam easily 70+) was just observing me all the way from bangalore cant to kAtpAdi, I did not talk to any one even a single word. Then he asked me who is your most favourite carnatic musician without an iota of doubt out popped up madurai mani iyer.

Then I asked him the same question, he was smiling and thinking a lot . I immediately connected with the same contemplation of my maternal thAthA and I said Sir you dont have to say who is your favourite , I already know it from your expressions in your face . Then he was bit surprised and asked me who it was , I just said sAgara sayana vibhO where i split the sAhityam like MDR sAgara sayana and then did a little bit of MDR mimickry in that impossible male bass voice vibhO . He was zapped and he kept on telling all the way about MDR till central .When he was taking his turn of silence , I kept on bombarding about madurai mani iyer . For every diwakara tanujam serve, there was a sarasa sAma dhAna return. At the end he told me for a long time madurai mani was his favourite till he listened to MDR , just like how my maternal thAthA says SSI and then MDR.

I would like to firmly conclude that a whole generation of rasikas got just fed up with the speed of gnb,mmi and ssi and many like them, and many of them (not all) jumped on the contemplative bandwagon and this most perfect male voice vidwan MDR.
Last edited by rajeshnat on 23 Aug 2009, 12:52, edited 1 time in total.

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

Rajesh: Nice anecdotes. Let me try this imagery on you in return. You have been circling around MDR and the radius of the circle keeps on reducing over the years. Before long, you will be near that minimal radius, an event horizon. If you go past it, you are permanently trapped.

One such radius reducing song by MDR is Balagopala ( bhairavi ). The way he sculpts the word 'bA......la' may just do it :) ( http://sangeethamshare.org/hariharan/57-Bhairavi, look for MDR-03-bAlagopAla--bhairavi--Adi.mp3 )

bilahari
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:02

Post by bilahari »

I finally managed to view the MDR audiovisual presentation--it is really excellent. Is there any way to contact Mr. Viraraghavan to express my gratitude and request for more such presentations? The clips he presented were all rare gems--I especially enjoyed the pantuvarALi alapanai, filled with such tranquility and grace. MDR's neraval in vAtApi was also brilliant. The whole presentation was very well conceived. I enjoyed the MDR "bloopers" as well!

CarnaticMuse
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Joined: 04 Aug 2009, 05:06

Post by CarnaticMuse »

Amazing videos (viewing the second one right now)...

I was struck by the observation that MDR uses silence effectively and lets the listener fill in the music. This principle is used very effectively by the gerat masters in drawing and painting as well. First time I am seeing it in use in music. Impressive!

sbala
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Joined: 30 Jul 2006, 08:56

Post by sbala »

When it comes to the other greats like MMI, Semmangudi and GNB, we have several contemporary artistes who have taken the bani forward. However, I have not heard anyone who is even remotely close to MDR. Based on Rajesh's logic, there should be a good demand for MDR's kind of singing even now. But, there is no one who sings like that. Ive always wondered what MDR was like as a student. Surely, he couldn't have sung in front of his guru the way he sang in concerts. MDR was not just ahead of his time, he seems to be ahead of our times as well.

sivachinta1965
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Post by sivachinta1965 »

dear Rasikas

Is there any recording available of Smt. Shobhana Rengachari, an MDR Banini?

Sivaprasad

Ramesh Abhiraman
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Post by Ramesh Abhiraman »

Venkatasubramanian Viraraghavan's clips and observations about MDR's music in his series http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 1374542824 have just transported me to another plane. Rasikas, and Mr.VV thank you for the magnificent compilation, and interesting observations.

skandyhere
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Joined: 08 Aug 2007, 05:35

Post by skandyhere »

I had to share a midnight music experience. It happened last night, and I feel a strong urge to talk about it. And who better than other MDR fans to share it with! I hope to convey the wonder of his music and its effect it has had on me.

I had slept off with my headphones over my ears. Sometime in the middle of the night, I was woken. For quite some time, MDR's lilting music had been reaching my senses through my sleep. With no more than the slightest consciousness, I slowly tried to make sense of what I was hearing and what was happening. It was Sri M D Ramanathan's sublime voice reciting a very slow Bilahari (Paridanamichithe). It was an extraordinary feeling, an extraordinary moment. The way I describe it is bound to seem unreal and exaggerated; but it was an experience such as never experienced, perhaps due to my state of half-wakefulness. I am aware it might sound overly dramatic to some people, yet I am compelled to share my feelings.

It has to be heard on another level. It is not a song. It is not a performance. This is no intellectual effort, no groping for an occasional creative wave to ride on. This is sublime communication, unlike anything you have experienced in your state of conscious wakefulness. He is talking to you in a recitation, but not quite. It is like sage advice being fed intravenously; it is like truth being shown to you, but how; I have never experienced that either. It is as though the sound is a carrier of nobility, sublimity and peace all coded into it, but the analogy does not make sense. It is indescribable. It is an outpour, the source of which is incomprehensible, and hence, indescribable. You are moved. You experience communication at a level you cannot relate to anything else. You are shown a glimpse of what you know lies beyond grasp, mystic or divine, whatever you choose to refer it by. It simply is out of this world. And finally, you know this voice and this ethereal emanation cannot come from a mere mortal - it is a slice of god itself.

Entirely fantasy-like though my description must be, I wonder"¦ how is it that sometimes, he sings like God!
Last edited by skandyhere on 20 Dec 2009, 17:16, edited 1 time in total.

bilahari
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:02

Post by bilahari »

I urge MDR fans to listen to an extraordinary ninnE namminAnu in tODi here: http://www.sangeethamshare.org/rao_shar ... R-Live-02/

The neraval at SyAma kriSNa and subsequent kalpana swaras are all carefully handled in the mandra sthayi and completely brilliant. TNK with his bhAva-laden responses and Trichy Sankaran with sensitive accompaniment and a thani with a lot of sowkhyam embellish the piece wonderfully.

Sivaramakrishnan
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Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

I have been fortunate to attend all (annual)concerts of MDR at the haloed Trivandrum Navaratri Mandapam for more than 15 years from 1967. I would be interested to share my experience if members are keen. I see no recent postings in the page!

bilahari
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Post by bilahari »

Sri Sivaramakrishnan, please do share! I am all ears (eyes).

sakthi.balan
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Post by sakthi.balan »

Sri Sivaramakrishnan....Please share them. Me too keen to hear from you...!

pattamaa
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Post by pattamaa »

Sri Sivaramakrishnan - please do let us know whatever you know about legendary MDR. I am reading a book recently released, and will write my comments in separate thread. Tears roll in my eyes when i read the chapter written by Smt MDR.

http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... n-mdr.html

Sivaramakrishnan
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Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Friends, thanks for the response. I may not be able to provide any audio / video clippings ; but can share some great moments - in instalments!

My first experience of MDR's music:
1964: Trichur, Kerala , me 7 years old. (before moving to Trivandrum in 1965).
MDR was giving a kutcheri at the Samooha Matham in the Swaraj round near the famous Vadakkunnathan Siva temple. My father had always been a promoter of good music and who saw to it that all family members join a singing session in our house everyday evening with my mother on the Veena and brother on Mridangam(thanks to the 'TV less' good olden days). He had advised all of us to listen to the great music of MDR with full attention. But at the venue, I was 'whisked away' by my friends for playing outside the hall. Somehow, the music was flowing out and I felt it was unique. At one point, MDR started a song and it stunned me - a different experience. Somehow I managed to escape from my friends and sneaked towards that unique source of music. (I later learnt that it was the Pallavi of the Ananabhairavi kriti -O Jagadamba that 'shook' me even as a small boy.) T N Krishnan and Palghat Mani Iyer were the accompanists that day, I believe. I sat through the rest of the concert quietly with my parents and that was the beginning of my total surrender to the Utthama sangitam of Shri M D Ramanathan.

bilahari
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Post by bilahari »

Sri Sivaramakrishnan, it is very impressive that you managed to be drawn into MDR's music at the age of 7! Most MDR rasikas I have spoken to (and including myself) only gained an interest in his music at a later age, and mostly after listening to him initially, rejecting him, and then returning to him eventually. Please do continue your reminiscences.

Sivaramakrishnan
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Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Navaratri Mandapam, Trivandrum 1967
The divine atmosphere at the Navaratri Mandapam(NM) and the formalities to be followed (including dress code) need no detailing. Most notable is that Clapping (applause) is banned at the mandapam -one has to absorb the appreciation within!!

We were at the venue at 5.30pm itself for the invocatory Toadayamangalam performed by the Mullamoodu Bhagavatars. The 'concert Vidwans' arrived around 5.50pm. Shri MDR dressed in panchakachham presented a towering personality.My father and I had taken 'closest positions' to the Vidwans. MDR took 2-3 mints to fine-tune the Tambura. (The present day electronic Tambura-s which can be steady even at 'half kattai' sruti could have been a boon to MDR - I use to think often)

MDR began the concert with Kedaram. I don't have words to explain the impact of his sanchaara-s in the mandra staayi (the Raga was made for MDR?). MDR touched the Mandra Shadjam quite a few times durng the brief Raga aalaapana and that was sort of a revelation. 'Paramaananda Natana Maam Paahi' was the song. (As we used to sing it in our home, MDR's rendition was an eye opener !). Next kriti was 'paripaalaya maam' in Reethigoulai. I'm sure you can imagine my anubhavam.

The foundation for my addiction to MDR's music has been laid.

skandyhere
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Joined: 08 Aug 2007, 05:35

Post by skandyhere »

@Sri Sivaramakrishnan - For me, reading or hearing anecdotes, memories and tales of MDR is perhaps the next best thing to actually listening to His music. Perhaps I wouldn't be wrong to assume I'm speaking a lot of other people's minds. Please keep writing.

@Sri Pattamma - Thank you very much for providing the link to a page I never stumbled across all these days. Before my copy of the book reaches me, I'd really like to read your review. Eagerly waiting for your remarks and comments.

I'd also like to share an absolutely wonderful Amba Kamakshi masterpiece from MDR. The link leads you to the blog of a person called Srivatsan Laxman. My many thanks to Srivatsan for sharing this.

http://cid-561516137961ed9a.skydrive.li ... sAstri.mp3

CRama
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Post by CRama »

MDR was an inseparable part of the Navarathri Mandapom Trivandrum for many decades. His concert will be eagerly awaited by his die hard fans in Trivandrum who were in no small numbers. His concerts always had excellent accompaniments like Lalgudi, TNK, Palghat Raghu, UKS etc. The people who were regularly attending his concerts like Sivaramakrishnan will cherish that experience for their life time. But I also find that the number of his fans has increased multifold after his untimely demise.
He had his favourite list of songs for the Mandapom concert. He had rendered almost all the Navarathri songs as the main songs on the respective days. His customary mangalam in the concerts was the last charanam of the famous Kriti Bhavayami- "Kalithavara sethu bandham"in Madhyamavathi without any chittaswaram and in a different tempo which was also a favourite of his fans. He also had sung the entire Bhavayami ragamalike in some concerts which had a different flavour from the one popularised by Semmangudi/MSS. His fans will die for this song.
The concert in Navaratri Mandapam is very strict as to the timings. It will start at 6. P.M and end at 8.30 P.M. There will be a bell for the Deeparadhana at 8.30P.M. and the concert has to end at that time. One year,after the main song and thani, MDR was singing the great ragamalika Pannagendrasayana to be followed by his customary Mangalam. It so happend that while he was finishing the ragamalika, the bell rang and he had to sing Mangalam. MDR did not get perturbed. He finished the concert after singing the Mangalm. The Officer of the Palace who was in charge of these concerts expressed his displeasure in exceeding the time allotted to which MDR plainly replied : ""O appadiyanal kooppida vendame"". But the Royal family held him in high esteem and they did invite him for the concerts till his demisse.

Another incident. In the year 2001 or 2002, the Palace arranged the concert of Shri Abhishek Raghuram, an upcoming artist at that time, on the seventh day of Navarathri. The main song of the day was Janani Pahi in the ragam Sudhasaveri. AIR Trivandrum relays excerpts of the concert for 1 hour and 30 minutes on the same day - 9.30 to 11 P.M which is eagerly looked upon by music enthusiasts who can not go inside the mandapam for various reasons. We sat tuned to the radio at exactly 9.30 P.M thinking that AIR will relay excerpts of the concert of Abhishek Raghuram. But on that particular day, AIR did not broadcast Abhishek Raghuram concert probably because he was not auditioned at that time. But we were for a pleasant surprise. AIR did a very wise thing. They relayed excerpts of an old concert of MDR with TK Moorthy Mridangam singing the same Janani pahi as the main song. That concert was a heavenly concert which is treasutred by the people who recorded. (I have recorded ).

To the moderator. It will be appropriate to shift this thread to Vidwans and Vidushis as we will be mostly talking about MDR- the musician.

Sivaramakrishnan
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Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Thanks CRama for joining the discussion with lot of information. His observation that MDR rasika-s have swelled in number after his time, is quite true.

Skandyhere has put forward a candid point: He seems to say 'the proof of the pudding is in eating'. So let's listen to more and more of MDR.
My admiration for MDR did take me to a stage where I attempted to 'sing like him'. No mimicry this I swear, but was the outcome of MDR's influence on me! I 'sing the style' to myself or in very close circles!

Shall continue with the MDR experience in next!

gangar2758@vsnl.net
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Post by gangar2758@vsnl.net »

any comments on MDR MAMA 'S pAhi rAmadhoota?

Sivaramakrishnan
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Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

After a concert at Ernakulam in the eighties, MDR was escorted by the organisers to the Rly station. The train was late and MDR suggested them to return and he would manage alone. But one of them stayed back ( the bonus would be a close musical interaction with the maestro during the 'waiting time'). But it was not to be that day. Instead, he saw an affectionate father in MDR who wanted to take a gift home for his son! Despite a sincere offer from the organiser to bear the cost, MDR maintained that 'it won't be proper to do so' and paid for it (reportedly a ready made dress ) requesting the organiser just to help him make the right choice. Needless to say the 'Sabhawala' was bowled over by the simplicity of the great man!

(I ask for myself if it would be the same case with any other Vidwan / Vidushi!!)

vpp
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Post by vpp »

Is there any thillana composed by MDR in raga Kanada? any one have the lyrics?

thenpaanan
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Post by thenpaanan »

One hallmark of a great musician is that they are never static but constantly evolve and change over the course of a lifetime, constantly incorporating new ideas that keep the music from becoming repetitive. MDR, if anything, was a highly cerebral musician. Can folks here talk about how MDR's music changed over the years? Did his choice of ragas or kritis or handling ragas change? Did his voice change? In what ways did they change?

All these nostalgic memories of MDR make me eager to listen to a early tape of MDR. Are there any recordings of a "young" MDR in existence that help us compare them with the older MDR? Or alternately what is the earliest MDR recording that is known to exist?

-Then Paanan

Sivaramakrishnan
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Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

All India Radio must be having several recordings of MDR in his early years. I have listened to one such broadcast years ago where MDR had rendered a very rare daru varnam 'Eti... manmathakoti' in Sreeranjini (Composition of Tiger?). I had even written to AIR to broadcast it again, but not sure whether they played it again.

And another AIR national programme of the sixtees opens with the Durbar varnanm - A young MDR has sung in 1 kattai sruti. Anyone could help retrieve?

Yes, MDR used to sing 'very rare' kritis like the one mentioned above, during his early years. He settled down to only established kriti-s later.

One thing I can say: he was 'simply in love' with Kedaram and Reetigoula raga-s which perhaps 'went away with him'!!

And guess another musician who had the greatest regard for MDR : Yes, Sirkazhi Govindarajan! More about this , later.

srkris
Site Admin
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Post by srkris »

One thing I can say: he was 'simply in love' with Kedaram and Reetigoula raga-s which perhaps 'went away with him'!!
Nice way of putting it.

sakthi.balan
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Post by sakthi.balan »

Sivaramakrishnan wrote:
And guess another musician who had the greatest regard for MDR : Yes, Sirkazhi Govindarajan! More about this , later.
Looking forward to hear more about MDR.....

vpp
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Post by vpp »

Sivaramakrishnan wrote:All India Radio must be having several recordings of MDR in his early years. I have listened to one such broadcast years ago where MDR had rendered a very rare daru varnam 'Eti... manmathakoti' in Sreeranjini (Composition of Tiger?). I had even written to AIR to broadcast it again, but not sure whether they played it again.
http://www.youtube.com/user/mdramanatha ... v3NhGVre_4

this one?

ganeshkant
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Post by ganeshkant »

Yesterday bet.9-9.30 p.m there was a documentary on MDR in DD - Malayalam.

It covered right from his birth at Manjappara in Palghat to his death in 1984 at Chennai.

Interviews by his Manni,brother's sons,wife and disciples were all very touching.

He had lead a life of sorrows of various types which made him move towards music closer it seems.

devi
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Post by devi »

hope some one recorded the programme

Sivaramakrishnan
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Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Thanks so much vpp, for the link. I wish today's musicians popularise it!

ganeshkant, eager to know if someone has recorded the DD Malayalam documentary.

ignoramus
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Post by ignoramus »

Does this documentary start with a clip of an elderly lady listening to the radio ?

Sivaramakrishnan
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Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Once Sri Sirkazhi Govindarajan was winding up his concert when someone in the audience requested for a Tillana. 'Ni Ri Ga Ma Ga Ri Sa..' thus he began the poorvikalyani Tillana. Just after the pallavi, he paused to mention how MDR immortalised it. "Well, I can traverse any upper Stayi, but not the mandrastayi - the hallmark of MDR..... I learnt this only from his recording... this Tillana defines the greatness of the saptaswara-s and I recommend everybody to listen to MDR rendering this in a pace unique to him", said a humble Sirkazhi. The audience applauded- this time for Sirkazhi's devotion to MDR!

Nick H
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Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by Nick H »

So you have said, on several threads.

Suggest you check out the meaning of "spam"

girish_a
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 13:33

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by girish_a »

Slightly offtopic, but since we're talking of MDR, here's Johnny Cash singing "Country roads" with John Denver. I think Johnny's voice is similar to MDR's. How deep and beautiful Johnny's voice is! And how well he expresses the feeling in the song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C7rS2Cs ... re=related

thenpaanan
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Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by thenpaanan »

girish_a wrote:Slightly offtopic, but since we're talking of MDR, here's Johnny Cash singing "Country roads" with John Denver. I think Johnny's voice is similar to MDR's. How deep and beautiful Johnny's voice is! And how well he expresses the feeling in the song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C7rS2Cs ... re=related
Thanks for the wonderful pointer!

I have fantasized from time to time about singers from other traditions such as opera, barbershop choirs,etc singing CM kritis and how that might sound. Until now I had never included Cash in my fantasies, but clearly Cash to MDR is a very suitable comparison. Cash singing a CM kriti such as the bhairavi swarajati would be quite something to listen to.

Are there other such comparisons you would like to share?

-Then Paanan

girish_a
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Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by girish_a »

thenpaanan wrote:Are there other such comparisons you would like to share?
-Then Paanan
Well, I'm not aware of any other such comparisons, but in the same video, John's and Johnny's voices themselves are a study in contrast. Now, to which Carnatic artist's voice is John Denver's timbre the closest? :)

By the way, there's another rendition of "Country roads", again by John Denver, in which I think the bhava of the song particularly stands out. Give it a listen and let me know what you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukUL_I14GPw

There's something about the way he says "Mountain Momma", "painted on the sky" and such other phrases that is very ennobling. I don't know if it's only me, but this particular rendition, I found more beautiful than others of the same song.

Now we're really offtopic :)

rajeshnat
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Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by rajeshnat »


cienu
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Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by cienu »

Nice picture of MDR teaching some students of Kalakshetra.
But the article of Gowri Ramnarayan pertains to reminiscences of Sri Dhananjayan.
http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/history-a ... 449834.ece

ragam-talam
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Joined: 28 Sep 2006, 02:15

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by ragam-talam »

http://ramavarma.yolasite.com/unsung-genius---mdr.php
Prince Rama Varma wrote:When M.D.Ramanathan sang ‘Amba Kamakshi,’ the immortal swarajathi in Bhairavi by Syama Sastri for instance, he would seem to metamorphose into Syama Sastri to begin with. The transformation would continue magically till he became the song too… and Bhairavi itself. And finally things would come to a state where M.D.Ramanathan, his accompanists, the shruthi, Syama Sastri, the Swarajathi, Bhairavi ragam, Goddess Kamakshi herself and the sensitive listener, all fused together to become one single entity, brimming with music, completeness and perfection. It is this experience that I had in mind when I talked about “seeing God and showing God to others.”

ragam-talam
Posts: 1896
Joined: 28 Sep 2006, 02:15

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by ragam-talam »

Nice! http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com ... athan.html

Trichy Sankaran looks so young!

cpblog
Posts: 233
Joined: 07 Jul 2009, 22:01

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by cpblog »

ragam-talam wrote:Nice! http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com ... athan.html

Trichy Sankaran looks so young!
Ragam-Talam, you now have a choice deciding from the many artists alive today who did once 'look so young':

http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com ... olden.html (Mysore Nagaraj)
http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com ... enius.html (Lalgudi)
http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com ... flute.html (KSG, Rukmini, Upendran)
http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com ... hur-v.html (TVR, LS)
http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com ... iramu.html (BMK,Parur,TVG)

and how about Sir UKS (all over since 1963!) and Sir 'Vikku' (from 1965 when his hair didn't keep steps with his Ghatam! and well before his days with Shakti)

With a little more time maybe we'll be able to see how Baby Gayathri was once, when she fired up our imaginations!

Best Wishes, and Happy listening and Happy reminiscing!

sramaswamy
Posts: 366
Joined: 24 May 2006, 22:29

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by sramaswamy »

Beautiful pictures! Especially since most of the pages have current pictures as well, the contrast is wonderful. Thanks

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