music season sale at Shankara Hall

meena · Post by **meena** » 28 Dec 2005, 14:27

read that Saraswathi Stores is holding 'Margazhi Thingal', a music season sale at Shankara Hall. Special offers and discounts are also given.
chembai/kji do u know if saraswathi store has a website? if so can u pl. post the URL.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 28 Dec 2005, 21:52

No, as far as I know, they dont have a website. But if you are looking for particular recordings, I shall be able to buy them on your behalf at Sankara Hall.

pramodh · Post by **pramodh** » 29 Dec 2005, 01:07

Do we know when the sale is on till? I am coming to Chennai on the 15th Jan. Hope it would still be on!

meena · Post by **meena** » 29 Dec 2005, 01:54

chembai
thanks for the offer. was interested if they had a site so could browse their collections and check/bookmark.

pramodh

u are landing wee bit late

"Saraswathi Stores is holding 'Margazhi Thingal', a music season sale at Shankara Hall, Alwarpet. More than 1000 albums of all leading brands are available here. Special offers and discounts are also given. Demos of dance DVDs are also presented.

The sale is on till New Year's day."

as posted on http://www.kutcheribuzz.com

pramodh · Post by **pramodh** » 29 Dec 2005, 11:42

Oh dear, thats a real shame!! I know this question has been asked before. Apart from the shankara Hall sale, which other shops do chennaiites recommend? ( havent been to Chennai for > 5 years and have lost track)

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 29 Dec 2005, 12:35

Sankara Hall Sale.
My heart skips a few beats everytime the sale opens now.
For 20 years my Dad used to arrive in Chennai two days in advance(the sale always starts on 16TH Dec and ends on 2nd Jan) and would keep visiting that place even when the banners were being put up and the stalls being made ready.You can guess who would make the first purchase..

Over the years the type of stuff on display has changed and this year was no exception.
So here are some of the salient points which may be of interest to you sitting far away.

1.For the past couple of years it has been predominantly a sale of the AVM releases.Even on other days AVM has an outlet at the rear of this Sankara Hall.
2.The practice of releasing Special concert albums for a year (BY AVM) has been dispensed with.You must have seen those double cassette albums(Santhanam,TNS...) crudely packed and tracks mindlessly clipped to fit a concert to EXACTLY 45 minutes plus 45 Minutes.Those albums are History.

3.A couple of years ago they even tried bringing out an academy concert as an album,the very next day.How times change.I can now listen to the juicy concerts on those small Voice recorders hiding in the pockets of friends ...
4.For newcomers who want to build a good stock of Music, the 10% discount is an attractive option.
5.This year has seen Tamil VCDs , Hindi VCDs (I mean movies) hog most of the limelight.Real Vintage stuff.Prices start from RS 99 and end with Rs 149.
6.Videos (VCDs) on dance is a big attraction.(That is for you ,Ravishankar...)
Lots and Lots of them.
7.Tonnes of tapes on Devotional Music,Therapy....
From Acne to Cancer, Trikala Sandhyavandanam, Chants , Boy that is a HUGE MARKET if the Response at the Billing Counter is any Index.
8.Hollywood Movies-VCDs.
9.Accessories -Bags ,pouches,Belts Cases,Blank CDs DVds...

My Mother who used to be annoyed at the way her Husband and son spent money (even though only once a year) cannot believe that I came out Clutching only a VCD of the Movie Fiddler on the Roof and nothing else.

Most of the stuff can be purchased from Essen Musicals at Eldams Road , a small distance away.

If required, any of you who are interested in select topics and are willing to buy through the net, please do indicate your general line of interest here.The companies making them are few and all have websites.For Example Hindi VCDs are mostly through Shemaroo..I will post details here.
For example if some one wantsto know about the tamil movies or the Dance VCD/DVDs, I can get the details and post it here.

kaumaaram · Post by **kaumaaram** » 29 Dec 2005, 14:26

Cool...

Terrible... even y/day when I passed by that way, I could understand the crowd pouring in.

For the past two or three years, Music World has started undertaking a similar exercise at chettiar hall, on the opposite of Narada Gana Sabha. Whatever be the topic, the collection is huge and tremendous.

If mothers got annoyed, I think the wives will curse. You need to resist the temptation of buying with great difficulty.

Kaumaaram

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 29 Dec 2005, 20:42

Yes coolkarni is right... movies dominated Shankara hall this year, and I came away without purchasing anything, although I saw some nice movies which I would have otherwise purchased...

I went there expecting a lot more music releases like in the previous years, but the disappointment made me come away empty handed.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 29 Dec 2005, 22:07

Kulkarni sa'ab,
I definitely want to know about the dance VCDs...Especially a new one by Bharatalaya students choreographed by Prof. Sudharani Raghupathi to thillAnAs composed by the late Madurai Krishnan, sung by Sudha Raghunathan...
Thanks (to you and Chembai) for your descriptions...I lived the experience vicariously through your eyes! I WISH I WAS there: I would be willing to brave even my wife's curses (I would ceratinly deserve a 'param vIr chakr' for that!) because after all, isn't the best part of fighting temptation the point when you give in?
When you say vintage movies, what exactly do you mean? Golden Oldies? Wow! I am sure Chithra, CML and many others (including I) would be interested! I have been looking for 'sivagangai sImai', pArTHiban kanavu', 'madurai vIran', 'rANi samyuktha' etc...mainly for their dance sequences.
Ravi

meena · Post by **meena** » 30 Dec 2005, 00:44

shankar

my father ordered for me, few cassettes from KMBC- produced by bharatalaya. i have the thillana too (only hitch was one cassette i could not play, dont recall which one- damaged, made no sense to send it back- from here- mail cost!

(over this winter break i got my few collections of cassettes i had collected here out from storage, trying to learn how to convert to mp3. but give me sometime i shall send u the bharatalaya ones if u are interested)

Kji
The fiddler on the roof, i recall seeing it first in Plaza theatre, b'lore. And went to watch it few times just to learn the songs. One classic movie, worth spending $ on it. After coming here seen it many times on TMC movie channal and now own a DVD copy.

knrh05 · Post by **knrh05** » 30 Dec 2005, 01:28

rshankar,
Try Raj Video Vision, near Anand Theatre (which no longer exists) on Mount Rd. They sell VCDs of old movies. I got about 15 last December. They have really old ones - Mangamma sabatham, Aburva Sahothargal, Chandralekha and others from the 40s and several 1950s movies. Their website is http://www.rajtvnet.com/. They have their collection listed.

knrh05

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 30 Dec 2005, 03:58

knrh05,
Thanks for the information. I will definitely look into it. I remember a scene from chandhralEKa where TR Rajakumari tries to escape the villian (sashAnkan) by becoming atonic: it was wonderful to watch! Some awesome movies, those!
Meena,
I have the cassettes that Bharatalaya produced, but the tape on thillAnAs I am looking for is a VCD/DVD that was advertized last week on Kutcehribuzz. Kutcheribuzz is however, not a vendor, otherwise I would have ordered it from them (through Janaky Subramanian). I am just being impatient: I am sure websites like Kalakendra will feature it shortly!
Ravi

meena · Post by **meena** » 30 Dec 2005, 04:12

shankar

can u pl post the thillana vcd/dvd link. I could not find on kutcheribuzz site.thanks

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 30 Dec 2005, 06:31

Meena,
Check this link out:
http://www.musicandchants.com/album.asp ... text=dance
Ravi

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 30 Dec 2005, 06:43

Meena,
Did you see this on the KB site? A piece of the Nauka Charitham is the last piece on the DD VCD 100 years of bharatanatyam.

Doordarshan's VCDs on Pancharatna Kritis

Doordarshan has been releasing CDs and VCDs of the concerts and dance performances from its archives to the public. Recently, DVDs and VCDs of Saint Thyagaraja's Pancharatna Kritis and the 'Nauka Charitam' have been brought out.

Chitravina Ravikiran has introduced the annual Thyagaraja Aradhana celebrations held at Tiruvaiyaru (Thanjavur dist., Tamil Nadu) in the VCD.

Five kritis of Pancharatnam are compiled from the DD recordings of five different year's celebration. It gives the viewers an overall glimpse of the annual aradhana in which a large number of musicians take part at the samadhi of this saint-composer on the banks of the river Cauvery.

Nauka Charitam', one of the two musical plays composed by Thyagaraja, is an imaginary excursion of Lord Krishna with the Gopis of Brindavan in a boat on the river Yamuna. This is presented as a dance drama in the VCD, choreographed by Radha and presented by her alongwith her students.

The VCDs are priced at Rs.295 and are available at all Doordarshan Kendras.

If you wish to buy these albums, you may also do so through the Shopping section on [email protected]

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 30 Dec 2005, 10:46

rshankar
will get you details of the dance dvds.
I should have gone yesterday, but TNS's recital made me forget everything.
Some of his Hamsanadam was so new to me, It is still ringing in my years.
I had a nice fourth row seat , and and I could not help wondering ,again and again, whether he is really The last of the Titans.The Effort he makes to experiment and give of his best was so vivid to me as i watched from so close.
Narada Guru Swami-Kanakangaka(Kanakangi)-kamalambam-Anandabhairavi-next a krithi i was hearing for the first time in Hamsanadam(seetharama...)
For the first two hours he was like a young colt refusing to be bridled and by the time he closed , he was in full flow.
If only he could curb those Sruthi lapses........

meena · Post by **meena** » 30 Dec 2005, 11:20

shankar thanks for the link, so its the same songs i have on the cassettes but now in dvd/vcd!

I have seen the DD VCD's ads , i did get to watch good 20+ mts of the ashtapadi by kalanidhi narayanan and tillana by alarmel valli on some site that someone has posted the link on narthaki. Well the post has been deleted- guess due to copyright stuff!

kji
do post the concert reviews for us, and only 4th row? by now u should be in the VIP/front row

just kidding!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 30 Dec 2005, 14:00

rshankar(and others too)
Some info on the dance related DVDs.
Most of these releases point to the following few sites.

http://www.softsolutions.co.in/products.html

http://swathigroup.com/

http://www.kalakendra.com/?cat=1

http://invismultimedia.com/products.html

Meena
My lack of formal knowledge of music makes me scared of those first few rows.
It is so difficult to hide your palms if you do not know how to keep the talam ,you see..
Care for an anecdote?
Years ago my boss (an accomplished Homeopath in alwarpet) asked me (ordered??)
to accompany him for a late evening Hindusthani Concert at a friends place.He had cured the Host's (one Mr Nair) relative of a malignant growth in the throat and this was some kind of a thanksgiving evening.As we drove in to that beautiful house in Annanagar, My boss revealed that the patient had been a cook at Allaudins khans place (father in law of ravisankar and father of ali akbar khan) and was a bit musician himself.
While the hosts were busy with the preparations and my boss deep in business conversation, the artist of the day asked me for my Farmaish (Wish list)
It was too late to escape. I managed a feeble (miya malhar ) and fortunately he took a liking to the request.
What followed was a brilliant recital -on the harmonium.For someone used to enjoying music from a distance ,things started to get difficult.
Closing of my eyes was out of question because people had started to trip over me, thanks to some liquid diet they were having.
Within an hour the cream of malayalam movie singers and music directors were trooping in and I was the centre of attraction , with my requests!!!
What followed was mind boggling music.Jeyachandran sang for an hour or so ,very very soulfully.A music director who had just won a national award for his work in a tV serial , was begging me to hear about his next project.
One thing stood out that night..Film Music Directors understand Hindusthani Music in a manner which we can never comprehend from our position.from the malhars to the kanadas, to the basanth and bahars,they were grabbing instruments from each other and creating something there.
And i was there in the First row ,so to speak !
It was 2AM when we said good bye and by now the hostess was singing Bayyan Na dharo so soulfully.
As I accompanied (ever so carefully) my Boss back to his quarters (I now understood why he needed company for the evening) ,so many images were whirling in my mind.THAT WAS A LIVE CONCERT.

Reviewing from a distance is so easy, especially when one never understands the labour that goes into a performance.I will never be able to achieve such reviews.

But my experiences with this years festival , I think all of us who have been here, we should narrate here.
I certainly have something interesting to say regarding how artists percieve our interactions in these forums and outside it .We will wait for the curtains to come down ..

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 30 Dec 2005, 15:10

A lovely anecdote, Kulkarniji. Being face-to-face with artistes while they are performing is a unique experience. I have been privileged to be present on a couple of occasions while Sri Nedunuri planned a concert. He sings snatches of ideas he has for the stage, songs he plans to sing, and gives insights on raga lakshanas, sangathis and swaram singing to his disciples and any other student of music present. What a pleasure that was.

Your last para was especially interesting. I look forward to hearing more from you on that topic.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 30 Dec 2005, 21:11

coolkarni

Life in the celebrity row has its perils!
Watch out for the loss of your innocence

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 30 Dec 2005, 21:57

Kulkarni sa'sab,
THANKS for all the information! Your descriptions are so vivid, they are fantastic. Keep them coming, regardless of the 'row' you were sitting in.
endha'row' mahAnuBavulU, andhariki nA/mA vandhanamU!
Ravi

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 30 Dec 2005, 21:58

Meena,
Check out thiruppavai.com
It has a few video clips of Andal's compositions choreographed by a disciple of Sarasa. This season, the DVD was released.
Ravi

meena · Post by **meena** » 31 Dec 2005, 04:15

Kji

'Care for an anecdote?'

u know thats what i enjoy abt ur posts. Keep them coming. U should put them all on paper, it will be a good read!

sankar

is it the right URL? cannot access the site.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 31 Dec 2005, 06:17

coolkarni

welcome to anecdotage

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 31 Dec 2005, 10:07

CML,
'dotage' indeed!...Speak for yourself..(I have my tongue planted firmly in my cheek)......
Meena,
I just used this address to get in:
Try this:
http://www.thiruppaavai.com/
Ravi

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 31 Dec 2005, 11:04

<<U should put them all on paper, it will be a good read!>>

Meena.Most of my stuff is already on paper (I used to send long weekly reports to my dad for decades , covering concert scenes and the general life from Chennai).The deal was that he had to keep feeding me stories from my native place,scenes from marriages, upanayanams,cremation on the river banks,scenes from annual death ceremonies ,reviews of kannada movies and magazine articles,novels read......)
Now that he is not around anymore, I have both the sets.the ones i wrote and the ones i received.Such a precious set!

I did one final set though before stopping the practice of writing down such thoughts.an account of my final 100 days with him as a cancer patient.One chapter for each lesson revised or taught to me.Without a trace of fear or regret or whatever ...
For all the 100 beautiful(traumatic then ,but beeeautiful now) days we spent together .
Music does come in this, quite often like the account I gave of Mr nageswarans dumping of thousands of Music tapes early on in this forum , or the aura surrounding the last track he recorded for me of KVN -Puuniyam Oru Koti-which I uploaded sometime back with a 30 minute nerval.

So i will keep them coming at appropriate times !!
Unless some one complains..

meena · Post by **meena** » 01 Jan 2006, 04:23

Kji

glad u have the precious set of ur dear father. i have learend something worthy here. thanks

"Unless some one complains.." hope not that again

Just curious/wondering are u/anyone- public, still allowed to carry a taperecorder to the concerts hall? for u have mentioned in ur earlier posts u have carried a recorder.
here they announce before the program that video taping/photography/recording of any sorts are not allowed.

meena · Post by **meena** » 01 Jan 2006, 04:32

shankar

thanks, i have posted few links on the dance related thread, There are many such sites but there is one site that carries indian classical dance videos - most were performed by senior artists, abt 50+ clips, most were in black/white, full concerts , somehow its missing from my bookmark. i guess u may know abt the site, if u do could u pl post the URL.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 01 Jan 2006, 09:23

Meena,
I am not aware of the site...but if you remember the site, please let me know.
Thanks.
Ravi

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 01 Jan 2006, 10:53

<<Just curious/wondering are u/anyone- public, still allowed to carry a taperecorder to the concerts hall>>

In this part of the world we do not wait for instructions..
But glad you brought this up.I was about to mention this in my 2005 season update thread , which i plan to start tomorrow.
This year was the most tecnnologically advanced experience.Friends would ring me at great moments in concerts -on the mobile- I could savour snatches of Tns's Bagesri RTP and Hamir kalyani RTP -for few minutes though.
A large number of enthusiasts have been recording using the Voice recorders with the usb port..wonder what is the techincal name for that innocuous looking device..
I do plan to acquire one by next December,Not for outright violation of those performers rights,but more in the spirit of capturing the mood inside.
Anyway wait for my first update tomorrow.I start with Ajoy Chakraborthys concert at KGS (YES with AUDIO CLIPS !!!!!)
CML
North does meet South, though at Kolkatta.We knew that he has been training in CM under Balmurali, But wait till you hear his thillana ....

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 01 Jan 2006, 21:08

Here is the balmurali thillana sung by ajoy chakraborthy , in two tracks.

http://rapidshare.de/files/10202192/1.mp3
http://rapidshare.de/files/10202440/2.mp3

Will write a detailed post tomorrow with another clip of Sindhu Bhairavi.. a classy effort of 30 minutes with a whole range of colours to the raga - from a western mode to an iranian version...

As i write this , I can hear on my mobile balmurali singing the same thillana at a concert..may be they had a revsion class yesterday...

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 01 Jan 2006, 21:09

coolkarni

You just tickle our imaginations. Can't wait to hear you exploits during the season. Do start the thread and share the stories (yours as well as hearsays). I trust it is OK to share audio clips since Kutcheribuzz is already putting them up at their site!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 01 Jan 2006, 21:24

Just was hearing Ajoy! Couldn't agree more on the influence of BMK in Ajoy's rendering but the tabla in the place of mridangam is a give-away!