I have started a new topic on Vijay Siva in the "Vidwans and Vidushis" section. He is a wonderful representative of the DKP/DKJ style. This link below , I found it extremely interesting
Whole heartedly welcome this addition to this section. A fine artiste, with a great and sincere love for Carnatic Music, and a subservience to the larger purpose that it fulfills for all of us. I am a big, big fan.
Cienu,
Thank you for the link. I did not know so many things about Vijay Siva! All I know is that his music is of such high quality and that listening to him is a fulfilling experience for me. While DKP and DKJ are so much in our thoughts now, we can find solace in knowing that there is Vijay Siva who bears their banner and walks their path proudly.
The pictures are a delight--to see young VS grow in front of our own eyes as we see them! I guessed he was sharp, but did not know he was a child prodigy. And the lovely family and guru family (his sister marrying J.Vadyanathan and their coming together as one family).
His humor is something which I relished too (in the interview)! The few times I have met him briefly, I found him to be a no-nonsense, straight-forward person who is helpful too. He has no airs, attends concerts of others when he is free and is very simple in his ways...
Vijay Siva is my very good friend for a very long time since my college and YACM Days. Actually four of us Started YACM - myself, vijay, karthikeyan (flute vidwan and disciple of Dr.Ramani) and RK Sriramkumar. All of us were co-students in Vivekananda at that time. I know vijay since 1983 and i have observed him to be very hard working, sincere and honest. whatever he does he does it with lots and lots of homework coupled with diligent thinking. Even a smallest portion of a briga is well practised and executed to perfection. I fondly even remember those days when he used to go by cycle to the sponsor's location for getting sponsorship for YACM which was a dedication in itself. another striking feature of Vijay's personality is that he used to send post card to the accompanying artistes about the songlist that he is going to render for a particular concert at least 15 days in advance so that any clarifications can be sought from him and even if you need any special recordings from him he used to provide. I have never seen this type of personality with any other musician and it is very unique to Vijay Siva. He is always pleasantly dressed for concerts maintains his voice very well with lots of care and he is highly disciplined musician. No wonder his concerts never have been a failure for several years now and it has been steadily on the raise. He was also very young when he was awarded 'A' grade by the AIR (i think he was 23 or 24). He was also a drama artiste having acted in a few dramas. I still remember his "Vinatha Suthavahana" in Jayanthasena his swara passages for "Mathabhedamane".
It is a pleasure to play for him in stages as he is a perfectionist his sruthi shuddha is excellent and his kalapramana is tight packed which provides a very nice platform for accompanying artistes to play with ease and comfort.
I like his rendition of 'Nadha Vindhu kaladhi namo nama' , From MMU 2007 .
Note, this is a deviation of the topic, but can someone please list the ragas of MSS'S Nadhavindhukaladhi and Vijaysiva's (It says Chenjutitti and Nadanamakriya??? )
Last edited by vallaki on 20 Jul 2009, 23:21, edited 1 time in total.
mridhangam wrote:another striking feature of Vijay's personality is that he used to send post card to the accompanying artistes about the songlist that he is going to render for a particular concert at least 15 days in advance so that any clarifications can be sought from him and even if you need any special recordings from him he used to provide.
that's so generous of him!!
mridhangam sir, nice anecdotes!!
VijaySiva is known for his dicipline and orderliness,clarity of ,akarams, and the diction,. One can write the lirics when he is singing ,it used to be very clear. The ,layam, in him is amazing,being a mrudangist also he enjoys his music like a water stream.His concert will be always outstanding.
The greatest quality in an individual is his humility, this is an attribute I found in Vijay anna in abundance. As one of the students of Manoj anna I've had the privilege of having had few words with him. The discussions will always be laced with his trademark humour and point blank answers which is another praise worthy trait we have to emulate. I remember Vijay anna asking me to go for the concerts of Sanjay and Krishna as he felt they were doing really well as vocalists. He had no inhibitions whatsoever in doing so. In this world of all lobbying and advertisements he is a crest jewel who had stood his ground with his conviction and integrity intact. As for his music I'm too ignorant to comment, I'll stick to what Mridhangam sir told.
The entire class of '91 (the year when Shri DKJ passed away) is superb. Many excellent artists from his school - Shriramkumar, Vijay Siva, Balaji Shankar(sadly decided to give up music), J. Vaidyanathan (Shri DKJ's son). They are keeping the "Damal" tradition alive and bright. That speaks volumes about what great teachers DKJ mama & Pattammal were.
In my earlier post I had misquoted SSI about DKJ's death. The actual quote from SSI on the day of DKJ's death was ' I FEEL A GREAT LIBRARY HAS BEEN BURNT DOWN TODAY"
SORRY FORUMITES FOR THE MISQUOTE!!!( I can hear an asareeri from heaven by SSI chiding me on my misinterpretation of a pithy comment from him!!!!
He is a great Speaker On the demise of his guru a condolence meet was arranged at Narada Gana Sabha and on that occasion he spoke about his guru with a lot of feeling and his language was Shakespearean.A programme in honor of his Guru was conducted at 50 50 club and all his disciples (those mentioned above included) gave a concert lead by Vijay Siva It was an amazing concert a fitting tribute to a musical giant. A copy of the recording of that concert is available ,but thanks to the rules of the forum and issues of copy right and objections raised by Vijay Siva this gem even audio clips cannot be shared.and it cannot be uploaded in sangeethamshare site.Bye Ragjay
Last edited by Ragjay on 12 Nov 2009, 11:05, edited 1 time in total.
Nice review about Vijay Siva. He is one of my all time favouries. I remember his Devamanohari RTP in MA last year. Though, short it has got all the ingredients. His MA concert, this year, with Dr.Trichy Sanakran conveys the quality of this musician. TS plays only for him in the MA is another highlight.
The first question went straight to the heart of it. Vijay Siva says "One needs to train under a voice guru for deeper understanding. But some basics can always be followed like singing with the spine erect and the entire body relaxed; using a well-tuned tambura; and open throated singing."
Are "voice gurus" available/identified as such? I am intrigued -- I had never heard this term used before in the context of Carnatic Music. Furthermore, even though it makes obvious sense, I find that, in practice, it is not as easy as it sounds to keep the entire body relaxed while singing. Or, for that matter, to do open throat singing and at the same time "flush the nasal tone" (as he says in response to later question about high register singing). But I am no expert.
Do other practitioners on this forum have experience with these questions?