Balamuralikrishna

Carnatic Musicians
K Nagarajan
Posts: 138
Joined: 09 Jul 2015, 22:19

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by K Nagarajan »

Thanks for the link.

I got the experience of attending the concert in person.

Mohana raga alapana ends abruptly but even to have the concert this far and
that too in the video format is itself very great.

Thanks once again.

CRama
Posts: 2939
Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by CRama »

thanks varsha. Excellent concert and audio and video well presented.Is the rest of Mohanam available.

varsha
Posts: 1978
Joined: 24 Aug 2011, 15:06

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by varsha »

Unfortunately No .

Aditto
Posts: 323
Joined: 20 May 2008, 20:31

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Aditto »

Varsha ji,

Do we have janani ninuvina in Reetigowla by BMK?

sweetsong
Posts: 556
Joined: 29 Nov 2009, 16:48

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by sweetsong »

A lecture from Doordarshan in 1989
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ccGhf4Y-cw

sweetsong
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Joined: 29 Nov 2009, 16:48

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by sweetsong »


Aditto
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Joined: 20 May 2008, 20:31

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Aditto »


Thanks a lot sweetsong. Thanks a lot :)

sweetsong
Posts: 556
Joined: 29 Nov 2009, 16:48

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by sweetsong »

You are welcome :)

Here is a rare video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZZhYEdpYrw

isramesh
Posts: 77
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 10:22

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by isramesh »

sweetsong wrote:You are welcome :)

Here is a rare video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZZhYEdpYrw
Thanks for the rare gem. By the way YouTube link for janani ninuvuna is not working.

Vinay
Posts: 34
Joined: 16 Apr 2009, 16:06

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Vinay »

isramesh wrote:
sweetsong wrote:You are welcome :)

Here is a rare video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZZhYEdpYrw
Thanks for the rare gem. By the way YouTube link for janani ninuvuna is not working.
Here you go: https://youtu.be/pMHK8GPj4FY?t=29m18s, Janani Ninnuvina as it should be sung!

sweetsong
Posts: 556
Joined: 29 Nov 2009, 16:48

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by sweetsong »


vsarmaiitm
Posts: 198
Joined: 18 Mar 2006, 10:35

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by vsarmaiitm »

The maestro's 86th birthday today. Wishing the maestro the best of health and long life
A great piece in Hamsageethe
https://youtu.be/0GlkQWZAv7g

Rsachi
Posts: 5039
Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Rsachi »

Sir, thanks for posting this. Many of us believe it is the greatest movie made depicting the life of a Carnatic musician. Directed by G. V. iyer, based on a novel of Tara su, it shows the life and time for a Carnatic musician in old Mysore state. Anant Nag and BMK have simply excelled in the movie. This scene is the last and climactic moment. I daresay BMK has given us many a feast in Bhairavi and even better than this one in his incomparable musical career.

One turns nostalgic and feels alas, such aesthetic moments are for ever lost to us in this day and age of 8 track Dolby DTS Imax movies, and Rahmanisation of music! As Pope said, "the moving finger writes...."

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by rshankar »

RSachi - you forgot Smt. MLV's lovely singing in the movie as well, and the dancing....

Rsachi
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Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Rsachi »

Yes, Ravi, of course, that young dancer who danced to MLV's singing was a girl with name Jayalakshmi Eshwar. We went and met her! She was a product of Kalakshetra and lived then in Bangalore (in 1970s).

Watch this here:
https://youtu.be/79_52-DNDTU

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by rshankar »

I have watched that clip. It's interesting that they had to show the heroine winning that encounter - she sucked as a dancer!
I think Jayalakshmi Eashwar moved to New Delhi later on.
I do remember thinking that it was one oddity in an otherwise accurate historical movie - to have used a style of bharatanatyam that would not have existed during the times this movie was set in!

Rsachi
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Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Rsachi »

You're right. Everyone felt so too. But remember it is fiction, not history. There is Himadrisute also of Shyama Shastri sung in the movie, I think his compositions came to light much later than this time of history.

The competition was not WON by the local. The dancer ftom Tanjavur taunts that no one is there in that place to compete with her. The local devadasi feels taunted, dons anklets, and makes mistakes. Anant Nag, the hero of the movie, comes to her rescue. The Tanjavur dancer says that the competition was between her and the local, hinting that his stepping in to save the day was uncalled for.

The chieftain does not pronounce the winner. He honours the Tanjavur dancer first generously. He simply gives a place in his court to the local dancer and singer. This episode is to take us to the story of their love affair afterwards.
G. V. Iyer was a perfectionist. Remember he made movies of Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva etc. also in Sanskrit.

If anything, I feel BMK has not done his very best in this movie!

Post edit: Ravi, do you think the Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam with its adavus was prevalent in 18th century?

RaviSri
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Joined: 10 Apr 2011, 11:31

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by RaviSri »

Remember he made movies of Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva etc. also in Sanskrit.
Sankaracharya was made in Sanskrit, Film on Ramanuja was made in Tamil and on Madhwa in Kannada, all of course, by G.V.Iyer.
do you think the Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam with its adavus was prevalent in 18th century?
What Kalakshetra followed was essentially the Thanjavur style, what Rukmini Devi learnt from Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai, his son etc. The Thanjavur 'style' of Bharatanatyam was established and codified by the Quartette, disciples of Dikshitar, in the early 19th century. Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram was a grandson of one of the Quartette on the distaff side.

Rsachi
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Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Rsachi »

RaviSri,
You're right about the other movies' languages. Thanks. I rechecked just now.

I watched only Adi Shankaracharya. I couldn't lay my hands on his movies Bhagavadgita and Swami Vivekananda. Please confirm/correct my impression that those movies are in Sanskrit.

I need you to explain in detail and educate me if the dance in that video is really the old style of Bharatanatyam from early 19th century. My conversations with several Kalakshetra artistes have given me the distinct impression that the dance forms extant before Rukmini Devi/Kalakshetra were quite different and lacked in clarity of advaus, a geometric perfection in movement, unexaggerated and subtle abhinaya, and simple costumes. The musicians were also, in the past, apparently positioned at the back of the dance artiste, standing and moving around.

When Hamsageete was released, we all felt that the dance scene, although very well depicted, took liberties with the historicity of the dance forms.

By the way here are interesting details about the locations used while filming Hamsageete.

http://karnatakatravel.blogspot.in/2014 ... a.html?m=1

Also, I didn't feel comfortable with the use of Shyama Shastri's composition/s in the song. Please elucidate your thoughts.

kvjayan
Posts: 62
Joined: 05 Apr 2014, 17:08

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by kvjayan »

Vinay wrote:
isramesh wrote:
sweetsong wrote:You are welcome :)

Here is a rare video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZZhYEdpYrw
Thanks for the rare gem. By the way YouTube link for janani ninuvuna is not working.
Here you go: https://youtu.be/pMHK8GPj4FY?t=29m18s, Janani Ninnuvina as it should be sung!
Interestingly, this rendition of Janani Ninnuvina forms part of an 'ADITYA MUSIC Sangeetha' album entitled "Ninnu Joochi (Thyagaraja Krithis) II Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna II Thyagaraja Krithis". Other krithis rendered are, Ninnu Joochi (Sowrastra), Ninnu vina gathi (Kalyani) and Parama Paavana (Poorvi Kalyani). Just wonder how these krithis came to be labelled as Thyagaraja Krithis.

RaviSri
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Joined: 10 Apr 2011, 11:31

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by RaviSri »

G.V.Iyer's film on Vivekananda is in Hindi and on Bhagavad Gita is in Sanskrit. Both are available on youtube.
The musicians were also, in the past, apparently positioned at the back of the dance artiste, standing and moving around.
Quite true. Musicians, including the nattuvanar would move along with the dancer behind her. It was Balasaraswati'sguru Kandappa Pillai who put an end to this practice in the 1930s. He and the musicians remained seated to the right of the dancer. He also convinced Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai (Pandanallur Thata) to start doing likewise. Kandappa Pillai also was a grandson of the Tanjore Quartette like the Pandanallur Thata.
the dance forms extant before Rukmini Devi/Kalakshetra were quite different and lacked in clarity of advaus, a geometric perfection in movement, unexaggerated and subtle abhinaya, and simple costumes.
This is a baseless, audacious and mischievous statement which the Kalakshetra people are fond of making. There is no truth in it. These people lay the entire credit for the renaissance of Bharatanatyam at Rukmini Devi's door which is ridiculous. All these myths were exploded later. i'll explain tomorrow.

Rsachi
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Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Rsachi »

RaviSri, I look forward to it!

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by rshankar »

RaviSri wrote: What Kalakshetra followed was essentially the Thanjavur style, what Rukmini Devi learnt from Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai, his son etc. The Thanjavur 'style' of Bharatanatyam was established and codified by the Quartette, disciples of Dikshitar, in the early 19th century. Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram was a grandson of one of the Quartette on the distaff side.
What Smt. RDA learnt from Sri Meenakshisundaram Pillai was the Pandanallur style, wasn't it?


If I understand this correctly, I think (as RaviSri has stated) that most of the styles of bharatanATyam in vogue today can trace their origin to the quartette (TQ) - however, the naTTuvanArs who succeeded them did make modifications: I am amazed that these masters, with no formal training in kinesiology, and just their very well developed sense of aesthetics made subtle but very distinct changes in the way the hands were held (e.g., rounded in the vazhuvUr style, straight and angular in the pandanallUr style etc.), the body was presented to the audience (at an angle versus straight on), and the movements/aDavus were executed (many variations here, including jumps), and created their own uniquely individual styles - the pandanallUr style, the vazhuvUr style, the tanjAvUr style (I suspect that this is the one that is most faithful to the TQ's style), the kAncIpuram style etc. I am not sure how the mELattUr style and the Mysore style evolved from the TQ's. Over time, I think two things have happened - even as many more changes came into being that differentiated the styles, dancers started to learn from teachers from different styles and began evolving blended styles, with blurred distinctions.

The kalAkshEtra style was a based on the pandanallUr style: One distinction between the pandanallUr style and the kalAkshEtra style that even lay rasikas can appreciate is the way the taTTimeTTus are executed. There are many more differences that are evident to dancers.

Vinay
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Joined: 16 Apr 2009, 16:06

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Vinay »

kvjayan wrote: Interestingly, this rendition of Janani Ninnuvina forms part of an 'ADITYA MUSIC Sangeetha' album entitled "Ninnu Joochi (Thyagaraja Krithis) II Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna II Thyagaraja Krithis". Other krithis rendered are, Ninnu Joochi (Sowrastra), Ninnu vina gathi (Kalyani) and Parama Paavana (Poorvi Kalyani). Just wonder how these krithis came to be labelled as Thyagaraja Krithis.
You are right, I first listened to it in a cassette with those songs. Here is its inlay card:
Image

I don't know at what point during its re-release(?) it got mislabelled as "Thyagaraja Krithis". None of them is Thyagaraja's! And by the way, Ninnu Vina is one of the finest (and different from the ordinary) compositions in Kalyani. These two krithis (Janani and Ninnuvina) have given me immense joy and afterwards, immense sorrow at the thought that Subbaraya Shastri had not composed more!

RaviSri
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Joined: 10 Apr 2011, 11:31

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by RaviSri »

As rshankar has explained, all the styles in vogue in Tamilnadu are derived from the Thanjavur Quartette. There were slight differences in the adavus, each made according to the Natyacharya's own perceptions and manodharma. The various styles or bhANis that we get to hear of now (personally, I dont' consider style to be equivalent to bhANi, which has a deeper meaning and content, either n music or in dance) were named after the respective villages from which the gurus hailed, Pandanallur, Vazhuvur etc.

Rukmini Devi learnt not only from the Pandanallur Thata and his son Chokkalingam Pillai but also from Kattumannarkoil Muthukumara Pillai. What she did was to eschew the sringAra aspects of Bharatanatyam totally and emphasise the bhakti aspects. Most dancers of those days considered sringAra to be the greatest rasa as far as dance was concerned. Balasaraswati used to call this dance "cleansed" of sringAra as pApAthi nATyam (brahmin dance). In the early 1940s itself you had Bharatanatyam Kamala, the one and only Kamala, dancing into the hearts of rasiksa as Baby Kamala. She had her adavu training from Kattumannarkoil. And later learnt individual items from Vazhuvur Ramayya Pillai. The dance world recognised her as the principle artist of the "Vazhuvur bhANI", though she did not change what she had learnt from Kattumannarkoil. This itself proves that there was very little difference between the various gurus belonging to the Thanjavur bhANI.

Rukmini Devi's contribution to dance was the change she brought about in the costume worn by dancers. Earlier dancers wore the pyjama. It was Rukmini Devi who made the change to what is widely prevalent now. Plus her beautiful dance dramas.

(I'll continue)

RaviSri
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Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by RaviSri »

Pandanallur Thata taught many students in the 1930s and 40s. Among them were Mrinalini Sarabhai, Ramgopal, the Bangalore couple U.S.Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi. These students started dancing in the 1940s itself. Similarly with the Vazhuvoor school. Apart from Kamala, Ramiah Pillai taught Vyjayantimala, Radha (Viswanathan) and Anandi (Ramachandran) and many others. They also started dancing in the 1940s. Kamala had her debut in 1939 and after that, inspird by her dance, thousands (yes, truly thousands) of parents wanted their daughters to learn dance. Many parents named their new born daughters as Kamala. And as Baby and Kumari she danced into the hearts of the rasikas. And these rsikas were created by Kamala. Most people belonging to the orthodox families would never have dreamt even watching dance, let alone send their daughters to learn the art. If any one person has to be credited with the revival of Bharatanatyam it has to be Kamala.

E.Krishna Iyer, a secretary of the Music Academy in the 1930s and 1940s was instrumental in arranging dance programmes at the Music Academy. Kumbhakonam Bhanumati, Varalakshmi, Balasaraswati and a few others performed for the Academy at its Annual Conferences in the 1930s itself much before Rukmni Devi even started learning dance. Now, if Bharatanatyam was a vulgar art not worthy of being seen by rasikas, would the Academy have arranged such programmes as early ass the 1930s. If the Devadasi community were dancing in a vulgar manner as alleged by Rukmini Devi and her cohorts, would respectable people of society have attended the programmes at the Academy which they did in large numbers? The Academy would not have been allowed to even stage such programmes. Also, Bharatnatyam was the name given in the programme book of the Academy even in the first year that it arranged such programmes. Purandaradasa hsa a song in which he used the word "bharatnAtyagaLu". So much for Rukmini Devi's and Kalakshetra's claim that they "cleansed" Bharatanatyam of all vulgarity, "brought respectability" to the art and that Rukmini it was who named the art as 'Bharatanatyam'. Empty claims these were. And these claims are still being perpetrated and the naive believe these blatant lies.

Rukmini Devi, as I said before changed the costumes, made them beautiful and produced beautiful dance dramas. This was her contribution. She also threw out 'sringArA', the most important of all rasas in dance, any Indian dance for that matter. Kalakshetra dancers, as a result, miss out on the most vital aspect of dance.

All said and done many can be credited with the revival of Bharatanatyam. First of all Kamala, then the various gurus of Thanjavur, Vazhuvoor, Pandanallur, the Music Academy and Rukmini Devi too.

What was prevalent before the Tanjore Quartette codified and refined Bharatanatyam were prabhandas, padas and other such items. The Quartette it were who introduced the alarippu, jatiswaram, shabdam, varnam, padam, javali and thillana format. They were the true revolutionaries. And in this Muthuswami Dikshitar's role as their guru and mentor was not a small one. Dikshitar, in recognition of their seminal work in dance gave the Quartette the title "Bharata sreShTTargaL"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

In the film Hamsa Geete we get to see the modern Bharatanatyam and not the old style that existed before the Quartette. As for your other question RSachi, I think we can allow a sensitive film maker like G.V.Iyer a little liberty in the matter of using the Shyama Sastri song in the film. This is my personal opinion, of course. Light though the singing of Balamurali is, he did not spoil the song I think.

shankarank
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Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by shankarank »

That was not the only pejorative we invented. tIrtam, agni hotram also not only changed meanings - but became pejoratives!! Who is vulgar? Good job!!

Pundit, mantra are already management buzzwords and freely used in the media!

Old Tamil movies featuring dialogues from Mudaliar households freely used the term with no implication of vulgarity or pejoration.

Rsachi
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Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Rsachi »

RaviSri,
Thank you.
1. Thanks for mapping the course of popularisation of Bharatanatyam before and independent of "Atthai".
2. I have also heard that great as the role of Rukmini Devi was in creating the Kalakshetra phenomenon, Kamala and Balasaraswati have also made great contributions. Especially KVN has told me that Jayammal and Bala were the greatest singers he had heard! Kamala's career graph is well documented I think.
3.Yes, I respect G V Iyer and I like Hamsageete very much. Balamurali was also hailed for his singing in this movie, I do believe his Bhairavi finale could have been better. But who am I to judge a Balamurali!?!
4. I do think the success of Kalakshetra was based on three BIG factors :A. Rukmini created a well trained team dancing to her special and elegant version of Bharatanatyam B. The dance drama which harnessed mythology and story-telling grippingly, with great sahitya C. The wonderful music that Sivan, Vasudevachar and others created for her. In a "sanskritised" way, Rukmini was the equivalent of Cecil de Mille or a director of Bolshoi.

This is a good discussion. Thank you

About sringara, I have written elsewhere in rasikas. I find the way Odissi dancers present Ashtapadis so much better than the way Sringara comes across from the most famous of current Bharatanatyam stars. The mime and abhinaya of the angry or erotic nayika, combined with our steps and music, has an effect to my mind of lowering the subtlety and aesthetics of Sringara. It is just my opinion.


PS: And perhaps these most recent posts really have nothing to do with the one and only great Dr. Balamuralikrishna.
So my apologies to anyone upset by this digression. However I must again thank you RaviSri for stating some historical facts.

PPS: By the way I learnt that Rukmini's father was the famous historian Nilakanta Sastri!

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by rshankar »

Yes, Sachi, her father was indeed the scholar and theosophist, Sri Nilakanta Sastry.

I agree that SRngAra presented in oDissi is indeed beautiful, but I believe that the late Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan (Ganesan), our MKR's cousin, and her cadre of disciples (not merely students), chief among whom is Smt. Priyadarshini Govind, present some of the most stylized abhinaya in bharatanATyam. I've had the pleasure of attending and reviewing Smt. Priya's performances elsewhere. In addition, I love the elegant elan of Smt. Alarmelvalli's abhinaya too.

IIRC (Cienu can correct me if I'm wrong), his mother and Smt. Anandi were students of VazhuvUrAr before Smt. Kamala.

Talking about bharatanāTyam costumes, I think that it was the Sris. Sadasivam and Krishnamurthy families' decision to use the stitched 5-piece costume designed and debuted by Smt. RDA (in 1935 or so) for the arangETRam of their daughters followed by its adoption by Smt. Kamala, that ensured its popularity. Smt. RDA worked with an Italian seamstress on the Theosophical Society's campus to give shape to her designs.

I think it was Dr. Padma who came up with the concept of the 'sAri costume'.

In addition to the costumes, Smt. RDA also introduced the elegant 'temple' jewelry associated with bharatanATyam these days.

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by rshankar »

Sri Krishna Iyer that RaviSri mentions was more than just a patron of bharatanATyam who introduced it to the MMA - he learned the dance form and presented it in strI vEsham (attired in female garb) on the stage. IIRC, the MMA came out with a beautiful souvenir with his biography.
He may in fact be the person who first called this dance form bharatanATyam.

IMO, the plural 'bharata nATyagaLu' of Sri Purandaradasaru refers to all of India's classical dance forms that evolved from the single pan-Indian dance form described in bharata's nATya SAstra.

Rsachi
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Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Rsachi »

Ravi, which kriti of Purandara Dasa has this reference, please? I need to study the entire composition.
Thanks!

RaviSri
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Joined: 10 Apr 2011, 11:31

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by RaviSri »

Rsachi and rshankar, Rukmini Devi's father was not the historian K.A.Neelakanta Sastry who belonged to Kallidaikurichi in Tirunelveli district and who taught history at Banaras Hindu University, Presidency College and at the Madras University. Rukmini's father was also Neelakanta Sastri, but he was an employee of the PWD department and a theosophist. Incidentally Rukmini Devi's father belonged to Tiruvisainallur near Kumbhakonam, and mother Seshammal belonged to Tiruvaiyyaru.

RaviSri
Posts: 512
Joined: 10 Apr 2011, 11:31

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by RaviSri »

Sorry, I cant remember which song of Purandaradasa now. I'll try to find out

vasanthakokilam
Posts: 10956
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by vasanthakokilam »

Found this through a google search.

From: http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/oppilia ... 00004.html

>In this song, sri purandara dAsa has described the way
>shri krishNa dances on the hood of kALinga sarpa once
>in his childhood.
>
>ADidanO ranga adhbutadindali
>kALingana phaNiyali |p|
>
>Meaning :
>
>ranga played on the hood of the kALinga
>incredibly (since He was a child then).
>
>pADidavarige bEDida varagaLa
>nIDutali dayamADutali nali
>dADutali beNNebEDutali krishNa |a|
>
>Meaning :
>
>krishNa, was dancing on kALinga giving
>all the people their wants who prayed Him,
>asking for butter.
>
>amburuhOdbava akhiLasuraru kUDi
>ambaradali nintu avar stustise
>rambe Urvashi ramaNiyarellaru
>candadim bharata nAtyava naTise
>jhaM taTa taka dhiM tadhi niNi tOM endu
>jhampe tALadi tumburannoppise |1|
>
>Meaning :
>
>In the skies, all the devatAs together started
>praying Him, apsarAs like rambe Urvashi started
>dancing bharatanATya playing jham taTa...
>
>suraru pushpavavrusTiya kareyalu
>sudatiyarellaru pADalu
>nAgakannikeyaru nAthana bEDalu
>nAnAvidadi stutimADalu
>rakkasarellaru kakkasavane kaNDu
>dikki dikkige ODalu |2|
>
>Meaning :
>
>DevatAs showered flowers on Him, all the
>gOpIs sang in praise of the Lord, nAgakannikAs
>begged for mercy in various forms, asurAs
>seeing the scene fled in all directions.
>
>cikkavanivanalla purandara viTala
>venkaTaramaNa bEga yashOde
>binkadoLetti muddADe shri krishNa |3|
>
>Meaning :
>
>If this is done by (child) krishNa, He cannot
>be a (mere) small kid, He is purandara viTala,
>so, O yashOde, please come fast and caress Him.
>
>


RaviSri
Posts: 512
Joined: 10 Apr 2011, 11:31

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by RaviSri »

candadim bharata nAtyava naTise
Yes, this is the song. Thanks vk. T.S.Parthasarathy, in the 1980s, had quoted this as bharatnATyagaLu naTise, at a Music Academy morning session once.

Sreeni Rajarao
Posts: 1283
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 08:19

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Sreeni Rajarao »

Varsha avare,

What a serendipity this discussion has turned into!

A recording of one of my favorite songs (so many reasons! one of the navaratna songs of Purandara dAsaru, tuned in Arabhi by my Father Veena Rajarao, a song that takes me back to my childhood days, ) and that too a recording of Vid Kurudi Venkannachar ( I wonder how many people even know this name these days)........ I am thrilled!

Thank You!

For a long time, I have been meaning to initiate a thread for this song under Sahitya section and upload some recordings. I will do that soon, and I want to include this beautiful recording also.

Thanks again!

Sreeni

Rsachi
Posts: 5039
Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Rsachi »

Thanks folks!
Yes, ADidanO Ranga is a song I have heard many times, for many decades. It has a brilliant sahitya, details of which I had forgotten.
The song says the apsaras in devaloka danced Bharata Natyagalu, and pleased Tumburu! I have seen images of Tumburu playing percussion. He is also said to be a music and dance preceptor to Rambha, Urvashi etc.

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by rshankar »

According to the myth, Siva is supposed to have taught the details of dancing to the Apsaras. This reinforces my opinion that the phrase 'bharata nATyagaLu' refers to the dance form in the nATya Sastra - a precursor to all the other 'classical' dance forms of India - or as Dr. Padma S would have it, 'bharata nATuagaLu' refers to the dEsi form of the dance (that she's reviving as bharatanRtyam) and all the other (neo)-classical dance forms are mArgi evolutions of the one dEsi form.





sweetsong
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Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by sweetsong »

From one lion to another! One of the best tributes ever.

Rsachi
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Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Dr. Balamuralikrishna - A Contrarian View

Post by Rsachi »

Dr Balamuralikrishna – A Contrarian View

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After the passing of the legendary musician, Dr.BMK, almost everyone, which includes laymen, media persons, musicians and rasikas, have all poured out their adoration in words, songs, and memoirs, almost non-stop.

A rasika touching 90 years, about 75 of which have been in active listening to Carnatic music, remarked yesterday to me, “How come, when Palghat Raghu or KV Narayanaswamy passed away, not even one hundredth of media space was devoted to tributes and memoirs, compared to BMK?”

This question itself says a lot.

I am about to do something here that will make me unpopular and discordant amidst this monsoon of eulogies. I want to state here what I think is the quintessential “dislikable” element in Dr.BMK and his music.

The fundamental element in music is aesthetic, or rasa. But it is not for nothing that we always mention goodness along with beauty (and truth). The triumvirate is called Satyam Shivam Sundaram. The element of goodness comes from a fundamental value of giving and loving. In both, there is an inviolable principle of subordinating oneself to the other.

The absolutely fabulous Long Play album of Dr BMK of Jayadeva Ashtapadis contains a song, “Tava virahe, Vanamaali, Sakhi seedati Raadhe” meaning: “Oh Radha, Krishna, wearing a garland of wild flowers, is charring away, pining away, in separation”. You can listen to Dr.BMK singing this song in his inimitable way on You Tube: https://youtu.be/yTKnpz_kkbg

That longing, that feeling that “I am nothing, without you”, is at the core of love. This love has to speak through every note and moment in our music, for the music to stir the soul and melt the heart.

The trouble with Dr.BMK and his music, for me, is that as I imagine him singing that wonderful line, “Tava virahe, Vanamaali, Sakhi seedati Raadhe”, I can see him with a smirk, an unmistakable arrogance, an underlining shout, “See how well I am singing this line, Raadha, I am sure you couldn’t have expressed it any better”.

Dr.BMK has himself spared no efforts to communicate his unshakable self-image of his musical supremacy, how music was his slave and not his master, as it were.

When one has this smirky insufferability as the core of one’s personality, truly, the whole world is perceived as revolving around oneself. It is as if the whole world is merely a tool to be used for one’s self-glorification.

Have you ever wondered why we never say God uses the world to amuse Himself? We say this whole universe is His eternal leela or play. But we don’t say, except in a nindaa stuti (which is always meant to convey the exact opposite of the words), or in a wild rage, “God, you Smirky ***, how dare you delight in my torment or anguish? Is all this merely a kind of amusement for you? OK, I am done with you. Enough of your self-loving orgy”.

Now I give Dr. BMK too much credit to think that he wasn’t aware of this effect he had on a lay listener like me. How can I not recognise his intelligence, mastery of the Carnatic idiom, his musical expressiveness, and a 80 year-long performing career. But he just stopped short of winning my heart, or stirring my soul, because I felt that I was being used by him for his own musical amusement. You see, for me, a child’s “I love you” greeting card means a whole lot more than a sonnet monogrammed and signed off as “with love from Shakespeare, the world’s greatest litterateur”.

So I say, “Dear Dr. BMK, enough of this self-loving orgy.”

kvchellappa
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Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by kvchellappa »

Lovable piece, expression-wise, candour-wise and as regards that eagerness to uphold music. But, one's self-love and self-importance may not nullify his worth. He had qualities that endeared him to others.
There was a dance programme of Padma Subrahmanyam. She spoke and said if any singer would sing, she would do extempore abhinayam. There was silence. No one came forward. To break the awkward silence, BMK walked up to the stage and there was applause. He took the mike and told Padma that she should not do such things. That picked a hole in the balloon of expectation of the audience and must be Padma too. He understood the mood and said, 'Since you expected me to sing, I will'. He did alapana of Thodi and Padma did abhinayam.
He used to attend the concerts of several youngsters and encourage them. They in turn used to sing the songs composed by him.
It is inevitable that there would be icons. This one was justified perhaps.

Rsachi
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Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by Rsachi »

KVC,
I witnessed that Padma demo at MA I think :)
I am myself many times swept off my feet by BMK's music. That ashtapadi is one such!

rajeshnat
Posts: 9907
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by rajeshnat »

Rsachi wrote: A rasika touching 90 years, about 75 of which have been in active listening to Carnatic music, remarked yesterday to me, “How come, when Palghat Raghu or KV Narayanaswamy passed away, not even one hundredth of media space was devoted to tributes and memoirs, compared to BMK?”

This question itself says a lot.
# Fundamentally BMK was media savvy . Palghat Raghu was not for sure or may be had a very slight media expectation.Just to state facts , when Raghu Sir was given SK in the dias you know who was seated , TM Krishna. I felt it was condescending - remember you have to show in media consumption eyes that you are the ** exclusive ahA oHo ** of CM . Awards like SK continue to get maximum media attention and few younger musicians stole the thunder . BMK continued to show , Palghat Raghu did not . Also there is no way a mrudangam artist can have that much media attention

# With Respect to KVN (people like Rsachi can tell more), towards the last few years KVN music was kind of diluted in content , atleast I think he should have not sung that much with his daughter(Male and Female artist joining together is disastrous - even semmangudi-msamma divine is not musically rich as much their individual collection). So the last few years of KVN was a faded KVN and there was not much recollection of the greatness of KVN music in the last few years.

# Compare that to BMK , he maintained his voice and his cheerfulness . I donot have that much liking to BMK music . Just as an anecdote about 4 years before i was working for few months in KaulaLumpur , I did not go to BMK concert then . But i was told that it was a commercially ticketed concert and so many went to hear him. I fundamentally feel cinema thiruvilayadal success and sivaji acting all earned the significant brownie points to BMK . About 10 or 13 years before TMS and BMK somewhere were reminiscing about Oru naal pOduma (BMK ) and Paatum Naane Bhavamum naanE (TMS) and the whole TN diaspora was gA gA ing in a big turnout in chennai . I was thinking that song Paatum Naane is useless and Oru naal poduma was partly useless song- infact musically that must have been swapped .Infact I think baliah could not bear the shruthi and flat note singing of TMS :) and that is why he ran , even though all of you in cinema thought Sivaji scared Baliah with his musical acumen :P . Even Chinna kannan azhaikiran of BMK was a poor second when compared to Thalaiyai kuniyum thAmaraiyE (SPB). But with oru naal poduma he earned few million rasikas for life .But I guess BMK connected more and more to uninitiated and partially initiated rasikas and they are the majority.

It does not matter what a 90 year old rasika who is listening to CM for 75 years thinks - what matters is his other 89 friends of this 90 year old who will still go gA gA with Oru nAAL Poduma and refuse to think that CM is beyond Oru naal PodumA.

ALso Palghat Raghu passed away on June (A very dry period), KVN passed away on April (another dry CM period) . Dr BMK gaaru continued to be media savvy even during death (he died in Nov/Dec).Media coverage of musicians is more in Nov/Dec that is a fact. Camouflaging age and continuing with steady state of music is a gift that BMK got it from GOD.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9907
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by rajeshnat »

Rsachi wrote:KVC,
I witnessed that Padma demo at MA I think :)
I am myself many times swept off my feet by BMK's music. That ashtapadi is one such!
Which year did this Padma demo happen sachi, by any chance is there any clipping . I appreciate the guts of DR BMK to sing on stage impromptu - what confidence he must have had to sing without accompaniment

I think in 1995 to 1997 , one of my bosses boss used to listen every day in his car- BMK ashtapadi. He almost retired from service than, he felt that number touched his heart . He may be one of those friends of the 90 year old rasika. Looks this bmk ashtapadi is a MEGA hit . For me I did not know then that there is 24 ashtapadis , I graduated from 1 to 24 ashtapadis after i heard this BMK collection.

kvchellappa
Posts: 3598
Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

Re: Balamuralikrishna

Post by kvchellappa »

It was in MA. Maybe 1974-78 sometime.

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