True connoisseur
T.K.GANAPATHY
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C.R.Gopinathan, who passed away recently, was a genial figure in Coimbatore’s music circle.
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C.R. Gopinathan
Affectionately called Gopi Mama or Gopi Anna, C.R.Gopinathan who died on the night of October 30, will be missed by the music fraternity of Coimbatore and entire Tamil Nadu. He hailed from a family steeped in classical values. Even while young, C
arnatic music was a passion. He could identify ragas and compositions with effortless ease and was a regular at the annual Thiruvaiyaru Tyagaraja aradhana and at the music concerts at the Madras Music Academy during the December festival season. Clad in a spotless, white dhoti and sporting an angavastram round his shoulders his dignified presence in the first row in any cutcheri drew many towards him to compare notes on ragas, compositions and composers. A stickler for time, he saw to it that a cutcheri started at six in the evening and ended at nine. A slight hum from the vocalist was enough for him to name the raga and the genre. There is not a single musician who has not enjoyed his hospitality. Right from their reception at the alighting point till their departure, Gopi attended to their needs at his own place.
As a member of the festival committee, he proved an asset to the Coimbatore Kendra of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The auditorium in Mani High School wore a solemn look at the musical tribute for C.R.Gopinathan, ‘Kaatrinile Kalandha Geetham,’ organised by Sree Krishna Sweets.
Soulful music was rendered by Abhishek Raghuram, Sangeetha Sivakumar, T.M.Krishna, Vijay Siva and Sudha Ragunathan with their accompanists, VVS Murari (violin) and Arun Prakash (mridangam). Muthuswami Dikshitar’s kriti, ‘Maamava Pattabhirama’ in Manirangu sung in unison towards the end was poignant.
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