Sahithyapriya - Series on Muthuswamy Dikshitar

eesha · Post by **eesha** » 15 Jul 2009, 19:28

Dear All,

Welcome to another edition of "Sahithyapriya". "Sahithyapriya" was conceived, under the auspices of Sangeethapriya,with the aim of bringing into focus the "sahithyam" of a krithi while it is being rendered and listened, While it is sheer joy to listen to pure classical carnatic music, an understanding of the meaning of the sahithyam and the context in which it was created leads to enhanced listening pleasure. One gets to experience the full import of the bhakthi laden krithi in its full glory. "sangIta jnAnamu bhakti vinA" says Saint Thyagaraja.

Music without devotion is futile. The first step in this process for the music lovers is to understand the meanings of the kritis that are rendered. With this in mind "Sahityapriya" is planning to organize a series of Lecture-Concerts on the Krithis of Sri Muthuswami Dikshithar.

In this series, select compositions of Muthuswamy Dikshitar shall be rendered by Mrs. Radha Parthasarathy and their meanings shall be explained along with pronunciation details by Dr . N. Veezhinathan. We indulge in an exercise of dwelling in the sahithyam of the kritis, explaining the greatness of the content, the composer and his diction and the way the words should be split and sung with stress at appropriate places.

The first in this Dikshithar kritis series will be on

Date: Saturday, July 18, 2009
Day: Saturday
Time: 6.00 pm
Venue: Mahalakshmi Temple Hall, near Sangeetha Restaurant, R A Puram

On the stage

Dr. N.Veezhinathan was the head of the department of Sanskrit at Madras University for many years till he retired. An authority on Advaita philosophy, he has numerous sanskrit research works to his credit.
It is also to be noted that Dr. N.Veezhinathan was the person behind the correct diction and pronounciation of the great MS Subbulakshmi in many of her sloka albums.

Mrs Radha Parthasarathy, learnt music under the stalwarts Sri. P.S. Narayanaswamy, Papanasam Dr. Rukmini Ramani, Sri. S. Rajam and Thanjavur Sri. Sankara Iyer. Graded "B-High" by AIR in Carnatic and Devotional music, Mrs Radha Parthasarathy has performed in all the leading sabhas in Chennai.

Mrs Radha Parthasarathy will be accompanied by Sri R. Rahul on the violin and Kumbakonam Sri Swaminathan on the mrudangam

All are welcome

- SS

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 15 Jul 2009, 19:54

I t must be a very interesting programme; since I do not stay in chennai, I have to satisfy myself with feed backs from those who attend it.Thanks for informing.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 16 Jul 2009, 06:36

A question to eesha,
Did Mrs.Radha Parthasarathy work as a music teacher for a brief period in a school in Adyar? Because, I remember a teacher by that name. Please inquire and tell me as soon as possible. Thank you!

eesha · Post by **eesha** » 22 Jul 2009, 22:20

The audio recording of the programme has been uploaded. It can be accessed under Featured Concerts of www.sangeethapriya.org

Album ID L0019 under concert type Lecdem

- SS

eesha · Post by **eesha** » 09 Aug 2009, 07:55

Dear All,

Welcome to the second programme of "Sahithyapriya" on Muthuswamy Dikshitar Kritis. "Sahithyapriya" was conceived, under the auspices of sangeethapriya.org,with the aim of bringing into focus the "sahithyam" of a krithi while it is being rendered and listened,

In this series, select compositions of Muthuswamy Dikshitar shall be rendered by Mrs. Radha Parthasarathy and their meanings shall be explained by eminent Sanskrit scholar Dr . N. Veezhinathan. We indulge in an exercise of dwelling in the sahithyam of the kritis, explaining the greatness of the content, the composer and his diction and the way the words should be split and sung with stress at appropriate places.

The second programme in this series will be on

Date: Aug 23, 2009 (Vinayaka Charurti Day)
Day: Sunday
Time: 6.00 pm
Venue: Raga Sudha Hall, Mylapore
Theme: Ganapathi Vidhanam

On the stage

Dr. N.Veezhinathan was the head of the department of Sanskrit at Madras University for many years till he retired. An authority on Advaita philosophy, he has numerous sanskrit research works to his credit.

It is also to be noted that Dr. N.Veezhinathan was the person behind the correct diction and pronounciation of the great MS Subbulakshmi in many of her sloka albums.
Mrs Radha Parthasarathy, learnt music under the stalwarts Sri. P.S. Narayanaswamy, Papanasam Dr. Rukmini Ramani, Sri. S. Rajam and Thanjavur Sri. Sankara Iyer. Graded "B-High" by AIR in Carnatic and Devotional music, Mrs Radha Parthasarathy has performed in all the leading sabhas in Chennai.

All are welcome

Regards
Sridharan

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 09 Aug 2009, 15:34

eesha · Post by **eesha** » 09 Aug 2009, 18:03

srinivasrgvn wrote:Sridharan, Haven't you noticed that I asked something? Can you tell me the information ASAP? You can always use the forum mail if you feel the info is confidential.

It appears from your profile you are Chennai based. You are invited to attend the programme and in that process ascertain whether this Mrs.Radha Parthasarathy is same as the person who you know earlier.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 09 Aug 2009, 19:03

sandhya_anand · Post by **sandhya_anand** » 25 Sep 2009, 14:10

Hello,

Can anyone please tell me when is the next saahityapriya lecture by Sri Veezhinathan? i would like to know the adress too.

Thank you.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 25 Sep 2009, 19:03

Here you go: This information is available on the sangeethapriya site. I just copied and pasted the information from there.

sangeethapriya wrote:Upcoming Music Programme
Our next Sahithyapriya programme on Dikshitar Kritis on Monday 28th September 2009 , 7 PM
at
Srinivasa Gandhi Nilayam
New No:332, Ambujammal Street , TTK Road, Teynampet, Chennai

Eminent sanskrit scholar Dr N. Veezhinathan will explain a set of Devi kritis which will be sung by Mrs Radha Parthasarathy

All are Welcome

sandhya_anand · Post by **sandhya_anand** » 29 Sep 2009, 09:13

Thank you Mr Sankar.

I attended the lecture which was inspiring and a must listen to the musicians and the rasikas alike. Kudos to Mrs Radha Parthasarathy for singing the compositions asthetically as well as taking care of 'sandhi' and 'padaccheda', when we don't even find a single musician today singing the lyrics with correct pronunciation.

The only drawback of the show was the very poor mic system.

Best wishes to Sahityapriya to organise more shows like this.

Regards

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 29 Sep 2009, 09:27

sandhya_anand wrote:when we don't even find a single musician today singing the lyrics with correct pronunciation.

Isn't this an extremely sweeping statement with absolutely no factual evidence to back it up?

laks1972 · Post by **laks1972** » 29 Sep 2009, 13:43

prashant wrote:
sandhya_anand wrote:when we don't even find a single musician today singing the lyrics with correct pronunciation.
Isn't this an extremely sweeping statement with absolutely no factual evidence to back it up?

Perhaps. In your opinion, anyone you can think of , who sings perfectly as per correct pronounciation and correct splitting of words ???

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 29 Sep 2009, 14:30

There are more than enough examples - just off the top of my head Sangita Kalanidhis Smt. R. Vedavalli, Sri Nedunuri Krishnamurthy and Sri R. K. Srikantan, Smt. Parassala Ponnammal, Sri N. Vijay Siva...

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 29 Sep 2009, 16:18

tkb · Post by **tkb** » 29 Sep 2009, 17:56

I also attended this session and it is indeed a great effort taken by volunteers of Sahithyapriya. I think sandhya_anand's is probably voicing out her concern with regard to singing the lyrics with correct pronunciation and i hope she is not disrespecting any one in general. It is indeed a good concept for youngsters to attend this concept programme to know the value of singing with perfection and also knowing the meanings as detailed by Dr N. Veezhinathan. Yes this particular session had some audio problems and i am sure the team will look into it and do up next time.

Special mention on the violin artist who sounded brilliant in spite of the fact that he did not have a mike. The violin was audible throughout and was appreciated by many who had attended the session. Understand he is from the school of great Sri Lalgudi sir.

sandhya_anand · Post by **sandhya_anand** » 04 Oct 2009, 11:34

Hello Prasanth,

I have no intentions to hurt anyone's feelings or disregard any musician. I was just expressing my appreciation to Mrs Radha Parthasarathy for doing her part perfectly. And I didn't mean the doyens whom you were talking about at all.

If at all the young and upcoming musicians could give some more importance to lyrics and meaning of kritis, it would be the best tribute that they pay to our great composers.

Once again, et me extend my best wishes to Sahityapriya for organising such programmes.

Best Regards