Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

CHAT CORNER

Thematic concert is my favourite

Subhashini Parthasarathy

Among the well known mother-daughter duos in Carnatic music, Nirmala Sundararajan and Subhashini Parthasarathi make a rare pair — both have successfully completed their doctorates in music. Subhashini Parthasarathi who still continues to learn from her mother is well known for her in-depth knowledge of padams and javalis and also for her thematic concerts. At a conversation in her house she dwells on memories of her gurus and her thoughts on music …

My mother was an accomplished singer. So even before knowing what music is, I knew a lot of songs. Formal learning began when I was five. We lived on Harrington Road, and P.N. Raghava Rao, a friend of Ramnad Krishnan, used to come home and teach music. It began with simple kritis. A very soft and friendly person, he made learning enjoyable. Those were the days, when festivals such as Sri Rama Navami, and Tyagaraja Utsavam were celebrated in our house, during which time it was music all day. The gaiety is still vivid in my memory. Chamber concerts were held and my guru and his musically-inclined friends would perform. N.M. Narayan (NMN) and Thanjavur Sankara Iyer were also part of the group. These concerts at home and their group singing inspired me a lot. As a student of Good Shepherd School there weren’t many opportunities for participating in Carnatic music competitions and it was during my school final, that my arangetram took place. T. Kesavulu and M. N. Kandaswamy Pillai were my accompanists. The encouragement the two top-ranking artists gave me, is something I’ll cherish forever.

After Ramnad Krishnan passed away, my mother began attending Raghava Rao’s classes along with me. It was at that point of time that we realised we could make a good mother-daughter combo on stage. Raghava Rao wanted me to continue my lessons with TMT, after his death. I joined TMT for training, and simultaneously pursued my Bachelor’s in Music at Queen Mary’s College. I took part in several competitions and won some. Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Madurai Sundar and GJR Krishnan were some of my contemporaries whom I met at the competitions. I went on to complete my Masters in Music. Mother took me along with her whenever she went to Mukthamma’s place to learn padams. Never did I take those visits seriously then. Only later did I understand their beauty. The training under Mukthamma was of great help and in fact it sowed the seed in me to pursue my doctorate in padams and javalis in Carnatic music.

I perform solo and also join my mother on stage. The same goes for lec-dems too. Thematic concert is my favourite. And one of the memorable performances was the Navagraha thematic concerts I presented with my mother at Raga Sudha hall — nine concerts, 22 kritis each. Manoranjani, with kritis depicting sringara rasam, was another. Divya Prabhandam, Meera bhajans, pada varnams, padams and javalis were all part of this theme. Again the thematic concerts on Tyagaraja were a runaway success. Covering 225 rare Tyagaraja kritis in as many ragas was quite a task. It took us nearly nine months but it was worth it because the response was unbelievable.

Being straightforward and principled artists, my gurus have taught me all the values. They were very understanding. Of course you needed to be pucca in your practice and present properly the kritis taught. In music, learning never ends. I still continue classes with my mother.

I have eight school and college students learning from me. I like interacting with them and I teach them in traditional style. In our days as a student we were not allowed to use the recorder during classes. Now things are changing. The device has become part and parcel of a student’s paraphernalia. They do come and learn in person but students also tape the sessions to enable them to practise at home.

I enjoy the saint poet’s kritis a lot. Tamil songs, Divya Prabandham in particular, are also my favourites. I have tried niraval and swaram for Divya Prabhandam which drew appreciation from many. I love to concentrate more on thematic concerts and am planning to release them as albums. Padams and javalis of various composers are also my favourites. People might look down upon them because of the sringara rasam they depict, but my view is different. I want to promote padams and javalis in a big way.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail