Padmashri, SK, Prof. KVN's 86th Birth Anniversary @NGS from

[thanjavooran]

Ariyakudi KVN's birth day celebrations at NGS started exactly by at 1710 hrs with the vocal concert of his disciple .
H.S. Prashanth. vocal
B. Anantha krishnan violin
B.R. Srinivsan mridungam
Saveri sarasujada varnam
varali seshachala nayakam P,N and S
nattaikurinchi ekkalatilum maravenae P and S
keeravani kalikiyundae R,P,N,S and T
sindhu bairavi ramanai tharuvai
suruti vanga kadal
paras thillana
In general the performance was good but for very very poor presence of rasikas [ only 10 ] The main hall darwfed the audiance.
Around 18 35 hrs the regular proceedings started with usual lighting of Kuthu vilakku by the guests. Anuradha conducted the show.
Following are few points noted
Invocation song by the disciples of KVN and Padma Narayanaswamy
Welcome address by Anuradha.
Udupi Laxminaryana
NGS Krishnasamy
V.P. Dhananjayan
Shantha Dhananjayan
DD A. Natarajan
Padma narayanaswamy
The above were on the dais.
Invocation song by the disciples of KVN and Padma 'Sarojanapa '
Ponnadai to the guests by
Prashanth to Udupi Laxminaryanan
Udupi to V.P. Dh
V.P. Dh to NGS Krish
NGS to DD Nat

In welcoming address Anuradha mentioned that
Udupi is always fond of composing new items. He has enormous guru bakthi and regarded Kancheepuram Ellappa mudaliar very much. He would have become a Vedic/ sanskrit pundit had he not chosen music as his career. Woodlands Krishnarao was instrumental in bringing Udupi to Kanchipuram Ellappa mudaliar. He entered cine field initially as a dancer and acted in more than 150 filmsin Telugu and kannada konkini and urudu. It was Shivaji Ganesan who brought him to tamils films. He has received Kannada kalaimamani 2002 and later 2003 from tamilnadu.

Udupi
His speech was in tamil
He was a dance master. since sangeetham includes dance hence he is a sangeetha vidwan too. Natyam is called sangeetham . Without music no dance as w/o paint there is no painting. In NG sabha always there are programs in music and dance and this NGS is a befitting place for such functions. KVN was a versatile vidwan with sahithya,laya and sruthi bhavams. One should have an able guru and KVN was blessed with his guru kadaksham. Only with Guru's blessing one can attain mel sadjam.

NGS Krishnasamy

He was in close association with KVN only for 12 yrs . He was having pleasant look , clear mind and pure heart besides quiet behaviour. His debut performance was at thiruvaiyaru in 1940. His voice was soukyam and sruthi suddham. Knowedge of sahithya helped him to form a unique style. He was a prof at carnatic music college for 10 yrs and went to US in 1964 and served there also as a prof. All honours came to him voluntarily. His singing of kritis of Gopalakrishna bharathi and papanasam sivan was praise worthy.

DD A. Natarajan

He has been allotted only 3 and half mints and will try to cover all his memories of KVN. Udupi has written a book about Guru bakthi and it aptly fits on KVN. In 1963 when he joined at Tiruchi AIR for a concert, Ariyakudi was present. Union Infmn and broadcasting Minister Gopal reddy was to inaugurate the function. On arrival when he saw Ariyakudi , flatly prostrated on his feet at the entrance itself to show his regard. At tamil izai sangam in 1975 only for the sake of direct relay between 20 and 21 hrs he sang 7 to 8 tamil songs cutting short his regular concert schedule. This was his calibre. His last concert was at Rashtrapathi bhavan with President Naryanan as chief guest. Only selected audiance were present. His association with him for 40 yrs made him a good rasika and got inspired by his flawless music.

smt Srilatha Vinod before delivering vote of thanks by Rama Ramanathan honoured Smt Padma narayanaswamy with ponnadai.

For this function also the hall was totally empty may be due to another dance program at the mini hall.
VP Dhananjayan's dance program of KVN's 'Enna thavam seidhanai' followed after this inaugural function.

Thanjavooran

[arasi]

Thanjavooran,
A pity that such an eminent vidvAn's birthday celebrations drew a pitiable number of audience. Was it a rainy day? Poor publicity? Fear of speeches? I thought Anuradha's name (of soap opera fame) would have drawn some crowd.

[cacm]

Dear A,
Have you considered the drawback of ARI& KVN probably being the two great vocalists of our era being celebrated?- joke - but very sorry & almost dejected.....vkv

[samrit]

Namaskaram

Did someone post this event in youtube.com? Appreciate it.

[kssr]

At the end of the day, it must be realised that people come for the concert. Even if they had played the recordings of some of the best songs of ARI or KVN there would have been a better crowd. I am sure that Prashant with more training and better performance will also be able to draw crowds in his own merit in future.

It must be an eye opener for people who celebrate "centenaries" and birthdays of masters of yester years. People do not come for listening about the masters but to listen to the masters.