Violin Maestros Mysore Nagaraj & Dr. Manjunath

[violinram]

Amazingly gifted Violin Maestros Mysore Nagaraj & Dr. Manjunath, the sons and disciples of renowned violinist Sangeetha Vidhya Nidhi Prof. S. Mahadevappa, were child prodigies who matured quickly to emerge as one of the top ranking violinists in India today. Their exceptional musical talents were first revealed at the tender age of 9 when they stormed into the music world and swept the music lovers & critics off their feet by their extraordinary musical acumen and technical virtuosity. Acclaimed as child prodigies with astonishing musicianship, Nagaraj and Manjunath blossomed into some of the leading instrumentalists in the contemporary musical scene. Their marvelous imagination and technical versatility made them brilliant Violinists in the annals of Carnatic Classical Music.

[ganesh_mourthy]

I love their playing really. do they not play quite like parur style?

[mahesh3]

Mysore Nagaraj is my favorite violinist. The way he makes his violin sing for krithis (I remember a wonderful Shanmughapriya with Sanjay, his more recent RTP in Suddha Dhanyasi, and a TMK concert where swarams in Begada were just spell binding). This last one was AIR telecast, and is available on sangeethapriya. So, rather than compare Mysore Nagaraj to LGJ or MSG, we need to look at the contemporary music scene.

What really makes him stand out? Ofcourse, he has the imagination, talent and seems absolutely at home with the violin. But, where he makes his mark is perhaps as the last remaining instrumentalist of note in an era where violin concerts seem a thing of the past. Mysore Nagaraj is astute at using the proper shruti for his violin, unlike most contemporary violinists, and this really adds to the appeal of the violin not only in accompanying but also as a solo instrument. Perhaps, that explains why most people no longer have the patience to listen to a violin concert where shruti is improperly set, and the instrument ends up sounding croaky. Good jockeys will do well on good horses, but not on broken down nags. He is the best jockey, and as a good workman, he knows his tools. The only other violinist that stands out as quality while also knowing how to tune his violin is Varadarajan.

[arasi]

Well said, Mahesh. Nagaraj has been been an asset as an accompanist for as long as I have known him. His violin is sweet sounding, has a richness to it and while he can respond to vocalists from any school, I have not heard him overplay.
As for Manjunath, it is his imagination, virtuosity and liveliness.
Yes, Nagaraj and Varadarajan share that quality when it comes to Sruti. They easily make it to the top in the category of accompanists.
Of late, I notice that the brothers play a bit fast here and there. That seems to be the trend, anyaway

[money]

Their music stands out in another sense.When the style of the many instrumentalists are getting corrupted by the infusion of fusion and gimmickry, they have stuck to the traditional path and play classical music in its pure form.They should be commended for that
Secondly their accomplished mastery over the instrumental aesthetics is amazing.Like the great violinists Lalgudi, MSG and MC, their gamakams have a very slippery quality about them which are very thrilling.
The tonal quality which makes us sit up the moment they put the bow on the strings.
The speed they can generate when required withiout loss of any tonal quality or apparent strain.
Sruti sudham.Their swarams are always at their precise positions.
This instrumental mastery combined with pure classicism makes them one of the most outstanding violin duo.

[viswam]

They are really great Violin Vidwans with widely contrasting styles of rendition.I am happy to have listened many of their concerts.

[visaalam]

I love their playing really. do they not play quite like parur style?

Yes they do, which is a good and difficult bani to follow

[Sam Swaminathan]

The brothers have a healthy combination of both MSG and Lalgudi styles neatly interwoven in their presentations. This makes it even more pleasurable to listen to.

[S.NAGESWARAN]

I have become a fan of Sri Mysore Nagaraj and Sri Mysore Manjunath long ago. The tonal qualities of their violins are super and they stick to the traditional Carnatic style.

I have heard the violin accompaniment of Sri Manjunath accompanying Sri B.N.Suresh flute recital at the Ganesh festival at Hassan 20 years before when I went to Hassan on official duty.

At that young age itself Sri Manjunath was accompanying like Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman.
Sri Manjunath changes in his playing with strong bowing when he plays violin duet with Sri Nagaraj.
Many a time when Sri Nagaraj plays an accompanist he used to play like Sri MSG especially while playing Thanam.
When Sri Manjunath plays as an accompanist many a time he used to play like Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman with lot of vallinum and mellinum which will be very pleasing to the ears.

As of now they are the best accompanists and thier duets are also one of the best.

S.Nageswaran

[cpblog]

Inviting you to a 1988 U.Shrinivas concert at "Parvathi", Mysuru with Mysore Nagaraj , Vellore Ramabhadran and Bangalore Venkataram http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com/

[laks1972]

......
Many a time when Sri Nagaraj plays an accompanist he used to play like Sri MSG especially while playing Thanam.
.....

That is because, they learnt Parur style violin techniques from their father , S. Mahadevappa, who learnt the style from HN Narasimha murthy, who in turn learnt them from Parur Sundaram Iyer and MSG.

Though there is not acknowledgement to this fact in their website ......

[Abhimanam]

laks1972: That is because, they learnt Parur style violin techniques from their father , S. Mahadevappa, who learnt the style from HN Narasimha murthy, who in turn learnt them from Parur Sundaram Iyer and MSG.

laks1972, as far as I know, having seen and moved with their family from close quarters, Sri Mahadevappa did not learn from HN Narasimha murthy (is it HK Narasimhamurthy??). He learnt under Sri Puttaswamappa, brother of the legendary violinist T Chowdaiah. Nagaraj and Manjunath have developed the Parur style and Lalgudi style on their own and not from their father

[laks1972]

is it HK Narasimhamurthy??. He learnt under Sri Puttaswamappa, brother of the legendary violinist T Chowdaiah. Nagaraj and Manjunath have developed the Parur style and Lalgudi style on their own and not from their father

Sorry, yes I meant HK Narasimhamurthy.

You may check with Sri HK Narasimhamurthy whether it is true or not.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Small correction - Sri. T Puttaswamayya (not Puttaswamappa) was Sri. T Chowdaiah's brother.

[cpblog]

Dear Rasikas,

To hear and see a photo of a very young Mysore Nagaraj (15 or 16?) please see http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com ... olden.html

[matterwaves]

Wowww thrilled to see a young Nagraj, with his characteristic head tilt

[rajeshnat]

Q&A with the immensely talented violin brothers.
http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday ... 732756.ece

[musicmantra]

Totally agree. Mysore Nagaraj & Dr.Mysore Manjunath are undoubtedly one of the best Violinists our country has produced.They are really unbelievable and amazing. I have witnessed in many concerts how they can pick any raga, even requested right there, and elaborate it as if they practiced it for one month ! they are unquestionable violin maestros with huge fan following.