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Pace determined by meter

With reference to the review of Shankar Mahadevan's "Venkateshwara Suprabhatham" published in the Chords & Notes column in MetroPlus dated July 11, Carnatic musician T. M. Krishna writes:

I found the review of Shankar Mahadevan's Venkateshwara Suprabhatham extremely interesting. I must confess that I have not heard this album and therefore will not comment on it. But the reviewer's reference to M. S. Subbulakshmi's rendition was what made me extremely surprised.

The reviewer has mentioned `While MS sings at a much faster tempo and mostly without any background score, this man sings at just the right pace where each and every word is delivered with rare grace.'

This gives the impression that the reviewer feels MS is too fast and without grace; that at that pace the words are not clear. To say that this comment is absolutely ridiculous will be mild. The pace in such traditional renditions of shlokas is determined by the meter of the lyrics. There are various meters like gayatri, jagati, etc., and there is a traditional method in rendition in terms of speed and emphasis. The pace sung by MS is in perfect conformity to that. Secondly, the lyrics and pronunciation are crystal clear and every difference between ba, bha, etc., can be heard. This is what we call perfect enunciation. If MS's rendition is not graceful, then what is?

In my opinion the references to M. S. Subbulakshmi's rendition lacked insight and were totally uncalled for.

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