The Hindu article, on the state of Hindustani Music in Chennai,with Dr.M Narmadha and Lakshmi Sreeram

[Anupamar]

Dear All,

Please find the link to an article in The Hindu Friday Features, discussing the state of Hindustani music in Chennai, with Dr. M Narmadha and Lakshmi Sreeram.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp ... 725922.ece

best regards

Anu

[cacm]

VERY WELL WRITTEN ARTICLE & ITS REFRESHING TO NOTE THAT TODAYS MUSICIANS EXPRESS & EXPLAIN THINGS IN A SUCCINT & CLEAR FASHION.....VERY REFRSHING...VKV

[HarishankarK]

Anooradha Sriram and Sriram Parasuram spring to mind. They have been treating the Chennai audiences to Carnatic+Hindustani Jugalbandi concerts for over, what 10 years now? And they are good too and command a decent audience. Not sure whether they performed during this years season.
Today they, i think are the only regular link between Carnatic and Hindustani music in chennai.
Otherwise bhajans and more recently Abhangas are included in concerts usually in Hindustani ragas.

[munirao2001]

I read the article and have a mixed feelings.
On the past,
The Kings of princely states of Mysuru, Tiruananthapuram, Tanjavuru, Vijayanagaram took a great liking to HM genre and extended their support to Pandits and Ustads. Nizam of Princely state of Hyderabad had also extended his support to HM. Dharwad-Hubli became a HM centre mainly due to the great Pandits and Ustads spending their time and developing the Guru-Shishya parampara. All these developments were much before the Madras City taking interest in HM genre.
On the present
Bengaluru in South India has become most happening city for HM, mainly due to the efforts of Pandits and Ustads based in Bengaluru.

On the HM and CM genre,
CM does contain the importance for the Svara and Svarasthanams, its purity. It is much more challenging due to the beauty of importance for the anusvaram. The unique feature being the well developed gamakams and enhancement of aesthetic experience. It demands expertise on Vilamba, Madhyama and Turita layam-Kaala pramanam and exceptionally expertise on ati vilambam. Well developed Kalpita Sangitam is only edifice for the Kalpana sangitam. The opportunities and challenges for manodharma sangita with Aalapana, Tana, Niraval, Pallavi and Svara prastara is at a much higher levels than any other genre of music, including HM.
The practice and its rasikatva of CM should not lead to wrong judgments and conclusions.

On lack of support for CM genre
The HM patrons and rasikas do not extend the well deserved support to CM and also to the Maestros of both CM and HM. The abysmally poor remuneration offered to the artists in South India, except for the immensely popular Pandits and Ustads, do not encourage HM artists to seriously consider performing in South India. Freebie culture of rasikas in South India is also discouraging.
For the change to happen, the good initiative of UTTAR-DAKSHIN has to receive a very high priority. With out the clarity and understanding of the artists and building the support systems, changes can not happen.

munirao2001

[Nick H]

The sad state of support for heavy-weight music from the North could be seen at the Academy yesterday evening. Could it have been the worst-attended performance of the Academy Season? I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me.

It was an incredible rudraveena Drhupad concert. It was a unique musical experience.

I can understand that people might not have wanted to pay for tickets for something that is not a favourite, but, out of the many who bought their tickets for the previous concert, plus season-ticket holders, etc, how come there are so few that even have the curiosity to hear this very different music?

I'm not suggesting that they might have enjoyed it: I'm not sure that I did, and I certainly did not enjoy it in the way that my hearing, tuned to carnatic, would have enjoyed one of my carnatic favourites. It wasn't necessarily about musical pleasure, it was a bout musical experience.

And, even though I can't use the word "enjoyed" in the conventional sense, I am haunted by it still, 24 hours later. I'm so glad that I did not miss it.

[KNV1955]

Nick I fully endorse your post. Even for Venkateshkumar a great Hindustani vocalist year before last the attendance was very poor. I was in balcony & there were totally 25 people. Infact I am for having 2 Hindustani concerts in Academy & one of them must be vocalist. They should be slotted on a Saturday night. I don't know whether having HM on 31st night is the reason for poor attendance. Talking of heavy-weight music till 15 years back except for MS Subbalakshmi & later Maharajapuram Santhanam no musician had more than 60 to 80% of the hall filled. Only now I am seeing huge crowd year after year for RaGa; TMK; Sanjay; Aruna Sairam; Sudha; Jaishree. The best time for Carnatic Musicians in my life time.

[rshankar]

Nick,
Glad that you were able to attend...and being 'haunted' by the music for hours and even days after is a state many rasikas hanker after....my problem with many concerts (I attend many more than I write about) is that the experience is fleeting....I forget what I felt during the concert even as I walk to the parking lot...the rare concerts are the ones where I get home in a fugue state with no memory of having paid tolls, or taken the right exits! And even rarer are the ones where the experience remains for 24 hours or more! So, I'm very envious.

By the way, in CM concerts in north India, what's the audience like...I mean, if one were to ignore the South Indians from up there?

[Nick H]

... my problem with many concerts (I attend many more than I write about) is that the experience is fleeting

And, in the excess of the Season, do you find that jumbled gets added to fleeting? I do!