Carnatic classicist remembered
GUDIPOODI SRIHARI
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Chittoor Subramanyam Pillai was remembered by his disciples and followers.
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TRIBUTE Excellent presentation of Sri Krishna Parijatham.
Late Chittoor Subramanyam Pillai was a doyen among the great Carnatic classical vocalists of Telugu land and one who was bestowed with the title `Sangeetha Kalanidhi' by Madras Music Academy. He was on the music faculty of music college of Annamalai University, Sri Venkateswara Music and Dance College at Tirupathi, Central College of Carnatic Music, Madras, Raja's Music College, Tiruvayyar and Ramananathan Music Academy in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was one of the earliest vocalists, who cut 78 RPM records of Columbia Recording. Credit also goes to him for writing the popular Telugu Jaavali, Madhura Nagarilo in Ananda Bhairavi and popularised it to the extent it found place even in the repertoire of a Kuchipudi dancer.
Madurai Somasundaram and Chittoor Ramachandran were his disciples, besides Lokanatha Sarma, T. Sita and his own daughter Revathy Ratnaswamy. Credit goes to Revati for organising the Jayanti of her father under the banner of her school, `Sri Subramaniam Sangeetha Kshetra', for two days at Thyagaraya Gana Sabha, last week.
She arranged special events, on both the days of which a rare `Tala Vadya Katcheri' (Percussion concert) conducted with Konnakkole (vocalisation of rhythmic syllables) by the noted multi-faceted percussionist, Thaumanavar was a special attraction. P.V. Ramanamurthy on mridangam, Chittoor's great-grandson, C.S. Venkata Raman on kanjeera, Tiruvarur K. Venkatesh on ghatam and Madurantakam Arul on the morsing were the stars of this programme, displaying scintillating percussion art.
Dance tribute
The concluding delight was Kuchipudi ballet, Sri Krishna Parijatham by Shobha Naidu and her disciples. Sobha figured in the main role of Satyabhama, while her disciple, Sujatha Murthy played Srikrishna. Saraswathi Purnima was Rukmini and while Nithya figured as Narada. The hallmark of this presentation was dramatic expression in song and dance and excellent movements on the stage. Mahankali Mohan conducted the show with precise nattuvangam to PRC Sarma's mridangam support. Vocal support by Amalapuram Kanna Rao and Lavanya Latha with perfect melodic expression of each word of the well written script made the ballet more absorbing.
The second day of the Jayanthi was marked by a group singing by Revathy Ratnaswamy and her disciples. Poosarla Manorama on violin and P.V. Ramana Murthy on mridangam supported well. The concluding event was a fine vocal by young Kashyap Mahesh Dwaram Satyanarayana Rao on violin and P.V. Ramana Murthy on mridangam lent support.
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