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SEASON 2011-12
THE MUSIC SEASON
Lukewarm season at the Academy
V. Ramnarayan
in flautist Shashank whose New Year
concert was marked by a meditative
approach that enhanced his obvious
virtuosity and mastery of the flute. Mala
Chandrasekhar’s flute recital was well
structured and well executed, offering
high aesthetic value.
Padmavathy
Ananthagopalan
and
Jayanthi
Kumaresh
collaborated
seamlessly to hold the audience in thrall,
with Jayanthi showing admirable restraint
to ensure an ideal concert experience.
Ganesh and Kumaresh
T
he 2011 Chennai season at the Music Academy featured
occasional sparks of genuine brilliance, sometimes from
unexpected quarters. Some musicians dispelled preconceived
notions about them with their excellent performances, while some
others disappointed the expectant listener.
Among the seniors, vocalists Sangeetha Sivakumar and the violin duo
Ganesh-Kumaresh exceeded expectations, with Sangeetha giving one of
the more satisfying vocal performances of the season.
The violin brothers focused on accomplishing rasanubhava of
a high quality, confining fireworks to their own creations titled
Ragapravaham. In this apparent makeover, they found a kindred spirit
Mala Chandrasekhar with Sukanya Ramgopal (ghata)
Savita Narasimhan justified her elevation
to the senior slot, and we hope she works
at getting even better in the years to come.
Amritha Murali and Nisha Rajagopalan
gave further notice to the Academy with
some immaculate musicianship that they
deserve to follow in Savita’s footsteps.
Another vocalist who has it in her to earn
a promotion, Sumitra Vasudev, was not
quite at her best, for some inexplicable
reason.
Sudha Ragunathan,Vijay Siva, the Malladi
Brothers, S. Sowmya and Chitravina
Ravikiran did not disappoint their
audience, though none of their concerts
reached great heights. Aruna Sairam’s
was a thunderous performance, but less
in evidence were the mellow resonance
and restraint we have experienced in her
music in the past.
T.M. Krishna strove hard to maximise
the raganubhava quotient in his concert,
but he too fell short of the high standards
he has set for himself. The Varali raga
alapana he sang in isolation was the
subject of much heated debate, which
finds a place elsewhere in this issue.
While
Sanjay
Subrahmanyan’s,
Bombay Jayashri’s and Ranjani-Gayatri’s
concerts were among the successes
l SRUTI February 2012
SEASON 2011-12
Padmavathy Ananthagopalan and Jayanthi Kumaresh
of the season, two other vocalists – Kunnakkudy
M. Balamuralikrishna and to a lesser extent Sikkil
Gurucharan – gave lacklustre performances not in
keeping with their reputations as leaders of the young
brigade. While Balamuralikrishna seemed to have
suffered considerable diminution of his once-strong voice,
Gurucharan displayed an apparent reluctance to use the
full power of his asset.
Pantula Rama was another singer who fell short of
expectations in terms of vocalisation, while Manda
Sudharani, evidently suffering from a sore throat, struggled
to stay aligned to sruti.
A star who promised much was Abhishek Raghuram,
whose vocal pyrotechnics earned ecstatic applause time
after time, but left the traditionalist less impressed.
Ranjani and Gayatri
Ramakrishnan Murthy was the outstanding junior
vocalist of the season, with an emotive depth that made
his concert a delightfully nuanced one. T.S. Pattabhitram
Pandit proved a worthy disciple of KVN, if still in the
imitative phase. Sandeep Narayan drew a full house
and gave an energetic performance, but we have heard
him sing better. Vignesh Ishwar showed promise.
The surprise package in the 1.45 pm slot was
M.K. Sankaran Namboodiri, the once-child prodigy
vocalist from Kerala. Surely his must be close to the
best voice in Carnatic music today? Apparently on
an earnest comeback trail, his is a career trajectory
well worth watching closely.
A strong votary of naayanam, Sruti was delighted
last year to accord some prominence to Vyasarpadi
Kothandaraman’s morning opening concert steeped in
the deeply evocative sounds of the temple instrument,
but this season’s nagaswaram duet by Sheikh Subhani
and Khalisha-Bi-Mehboob turned out to be a
different kind of experience – focussed rather more on
showmanship than desirable.
To put things in perspective, the standard of performance
at the Music Academy was far higher than the Indian
cricket team’s recent show in Australia, but a considerable
way behind Australia’s sweeping success. The following
pages will feature more detailed coverage of the music
and dance season at the Music Academy and elsewhere
in Chennai.
PHOTOS COURTESY: THE MUSIC ACADEMY
10 l SRUTI February 2012