Aug. 15 - Bharat Ratna MSS

[Rsachi]

Many thanks to Vid. Radha Vishwanathan, Cienu and Navaneeth Krishnan for making this Independence Day memorable. The Purandara Bhavana in ISS resonated with MSS music, memoirs and movie clips. Over 2 hours of another world, another time.

Next to her is her tambura!
Highlights of Navneeth's narration, photos and music clips:
- MSS singing rapturous Todi raga in 1956, with brilliant nadaswaram-inspired gamakas. When she begins the raga, you wonder if it is a nadaswaram playing!
- The Mayamalavagowla ragam and tanam in 1972 KGS with VVS. I felt she is the uncrowned empress of MayamalavaGowla. I believe she took the tambura into her hand as she got into the 'zone'.
-The Meera film song with great emotive impact (http://youtu.be/D3t2Qwp1cF0)
-The way she walks in on to the UN stage...elegant, brisk, lovely, nay divine!
-The way she takes the bow at the end of the concert
-The way she sings Sakala Graha Bala in 1964 at Hampi in an all-Purandara concert
-The way she sings Srikaanta Enagishtu in Kaanada in 1988 RSM
-The way she has sung Dolayam... incredible!Watch it on YouTube: http://youtu.be/G2tZT_IFffY

There were many other pieces, Viruttam, Radha's singing Pallavi, O Rangashayi video.......endless melodies, eternal memories, a TRUE BHARAT RATNA.

[arasi]

Rsachi,
Thank you for sharing.
Navneeth looks impressive as the MC.

Cienu,
Waiting for clips from you...

[Rsachi]

Navneeth was more than the MC..he was the collector, compiler, editor, script writer and narrator. He is himself a senior student of Vid. TK Murthy and Vid.Radha. He used two computers, one for photos, one for videos and his script.

[rshankar]

Sounds like a wonderful, wonderful experience. Thank you RSachi for the promt reporting!

[vs_manjunath]

It was really a very enjoyable and memorable tribute to one and only one Bharat Ratna MSS.

[cmlover]

A great independance day treat!

[raghavt]

A unique and nice way to start the Independence Day.

The ambience was perfect with the Tambura placed gracefully on the platform. I was all along looking at it and comparing with the Tamburas that were in the clippings and pictures, was trying to check whether both were the same

For me Dhenuka(Teliyaleru Raama...) and one of the Ragam Tanam Pallavi rendition were striking. Percussion team (TKM and VNagraj as Cienu Sir told me) were ripping apart giving the electrifying effect making me out of control... Clear recording and perfect balance of the mics (in the actual concert) made it more enjoyable.

Excellent presentation by Shri Navneet Krishnan. He stopped and started at the right points in between the video/audio clipping-plays. I liked the '6th element' remark, that was the right word to describe MS's music.

I expected "Amaani Maanado" piece from the Vishnusahasranamam would also be played after the explanation as to how MS had asked the recording company not to retake it since the line started only with Smt Radha singing it... just an expectation but certainly not a shortcoming

Feeling very happy that I was able to attend the function, a breather from this boring office life.

Thanks,
~ Raghav.

[Rsachi]

Dear friends,

Must also mention:
Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer commented that MSS's voice had a built-in Veena, the reason why she was so perfect in all the microtones.
Also that MSS's tanam i mentioned before was so evocative of a master Veena player, with all the musical majesty and strident rhythm of the Veena.

And before MSS pulled off the Herculean task of perfectly rendering the 72-mela raga masterpiece of Mahavaidyanatha Sivan, people were wondering how she would accurately split the words without sacrificing either the raga names or the meaning. To which Kanchi seer replied, after all it was MSS, so she would surely accomplish it, no worries.

Another episode: when MSS sang at the Mahamaham in Kumbhakonam, it was such a big success that Maharajapuram Vaidyanatha iyer removed the gold kada he had received there the previous year and promptly gifted it to MSS.
.....

[vs_manjunath]

Maharajapuram Vishwanath Iyer or Vaidyanatha Iyer ?

[Rsachi]

Yes, Vishwanatha Iyer! My typo. Thanks Manjunath.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Cienu: Nice function --only your Patti can evoke such admiration and dedication spanning several generations. Just curious--do you still have the two Tamburas--Lakshmi and Saraswathi or are they still in Kotturpuram? I recall your Mom and Patti were so fond of the 2 tampuras.
Any thoughts about assembling the memorabilia(from kalki garden Days thru Kotturpuram Days) for a Museum highlighting Mama and MS Amma's collections?
I recall the photographs in the small living room of the Kotturpuram House--a veritable kaleidoscope of Dignitaries across all fields--national and International--if you can retrieve them and display them on the forum as a collage of pics I am sure forumites would be delighted.

Both Mama and MSAmma genuinely cared for the Country more than any other artist to my knowledge and it is but appropriate that she be remembered on such epoch-making days!! How low have we fallen in the political world where patriotism has become a dirty word!!

[cmlover]

I recall the photographs in the small living room of the Kotturpuram House--a veritable kaleidoscope of Dignitaries across all fields--national and International--if you can retrieve them and display them on the forum as a collage of pics I am sure forumites would be delighted.

Excellent suggestion!
cienu!
How can we get a copy of Navaneeth's video presentation?

[Pratyaksham Bala]

.
Photo of the living room!
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/12/17/stor ... 420500.htm
"....The walls of the room, however, were replete with memorabilia consisting of photographs, spanning nearly seven decades of the 20th century, of great people like Mahatma Gandhi, U. Thant, Chakravarti Rajagopalachary, T. T. Krishnamachari and many others, whom the great lady had met during her illustrious career ..."

[Rsachi]

Dear rasikas,
Maybe most of you know this, but I was surprised yesterday to hear that some of the famous MSS renderings were actually tuned by one Vid. Kadayanallur Venkataraman. I just found this wonderful article by Gowri Ramnarayan in the Hindu:
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/02/20/stor ... 430400.htm
I am deeply moved by the story and especially these words:
Kadayanallur was as much a perfectionist as MS herself. That is why his presence made her recording sessions produce flawless results. He would be present at rehearsals too, to edit, suggest and fine tune. For her concerts, he aligned her Lakshmi and Saraswati tamburas to tranquil resonance. Sometimes he accompanied MS on the tambura. Few realised then that the man behind the drone had so much to do with the music presented.

[rshankar]

.http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/12/17/stor ... 420500.htm

PB, thank you for the link.
These words really touched a chord, especially with the discussion we have been having on the lakshaNa gItes of Purandara Dasaru..

M.S., in her voice, had been endowed with one of the greatest and priceless gifts from God. She nurtured His gift with utmost care and in all humbleness and had used it not as something which was hers but His. And whatever she achieved through it, she placed it back at His feet.

A very practical demonstration of the philosophy preached in the gIte - 'kereya nIranu'....'hariya karuNadoLAda bhAgyava hari samarpaNe mADi bratukirO'!

[cienu]

Thank you all for your kind wishes. Please find below a report in today's "Deccan Herald"
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/272 ... es-on.html

[arasi]

A young man who was there says it was like going to a spa for rejuvenation. An older person in the audience would perhaps have said, it was like bathing in a holy river...
Whatever one says, her music was unique. Even supposing she weren't gifted with her honey voice, she would have made it a serene, spiritual, elevating experience for us all, singing the way she did with her heart and soul.
Like coming out of a spa feeling rejuvenated too. Why not?

[Rsachi]

Arasi, well put!
Anyone who has been on a Himalayan pilgrimage comes back rejuvenated, reinspired and 'remembered' a word in English that one needs to coin to describe the meaning of 'smarane'. That is the meaning of heritage, be it your 'Oh bharatiyare' or MSS.
And one can live that entire experience by just listening to MSS! 'Hari SmaraNe Mado Nirantara'...