MY FESTIVAL
I miss the serious rasika
|
As there were no home recording facilities, one had to wait for ayear to listen to stalwarts.
|
It was in 1956 that I performed at the Music Academy during December season in the junior slot for the first time. Though there were only a few other Sabhas, it was always considered prestigious playing a concert there, even in those days. It was even more special because my concert was scheduled in the periya pandal where normally only kutcheris of senior artistes were held. V.V.Subramaniam on the violin and Tiruchi Sankaran on the mridangam were my accompanists that day. And the best thing to happen was my guru T.R. Mahalingam and mridangam wizard Palani Subramaniam Pillai listening to me standing outside the pandal, lest their presence inside should make me feel nervous.
Coming to know about it only in the end, I was thrilled and at the same time moved by the interest they had in my development. This year it is my 50th outing at the Music Academy.
Those were the days when the rasikas were really serious about attending season concerts and it was not just a fad. As a student of Carnatic music I had always looked forward to the season because that was the only opportunity to listen to stalwarts. As there were no home recording facilities, say tapes, CDs, etc., one had to wait for a year until the next season. Raga delineations, swaraprasthara and the patterns and pallavis of those doyens had to be stored in memory to improve skills. Of course every season was helpful to learn a rare kriti too. The concert duration was longer. People stayed. On the contrary today durations have become shorter and the rasikas too do a lot of Sabha hopping in the same evening. I miss the serious rasika.
In one of the music festivals at France I requested the organiser to interpret the programme in French as it would be easy for them to appreciate the fare. But the organiser thought otherwise. The concert went on and the audience was listening in rapt attention with no movement whatsoever. After about two hours we came to the end and played the traditional mangalam in Sourashtram. It was all over but none moved. I did a namaskar. Still all were glued to their seats. Both, the audience and we on the stage, stared at each other. I signalled to the organiser and told him to announce that the concert was over. It was good that he agreed at least to do this. He did so and the crowd rose and gave a standing ovation. Had he accepted my suggestion earlier and made announcements in French this kind of a comical situation would have been avoided.
In one of the season's concerts at the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha where I had to play the tanpura for my guru T.R.Mahalingam, I reached the venue much ahead of time. The ticket checker at the gate insisted on my buying a five-rupee ticket. I paid and got in. My guru who was already there, was calling out for me. Realising the mistake Dr. Mahadevan of the sabha apologised and insisted that I take the refund. This still lingers in my memory.
(As told to V.BALASUBRAMANIAN)
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Music Season
