|
Music Season
MY FESTIVAL -- T.N. KRISHNAN
‘There is quantity rather than quality’
When I started performing in the Madras Music Season, there were just a handful of sabhas. It was in 1940 that I first played at the Music Academy. Later I started playing at Tamizh Isai Sangam and at The Indian Fine Arts Society.
When I played with Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Madurai Mani Iyer, G.N.Balasubramaniam, T.R.Mahalingam and others, people would travel across town to hear us. But now each colony seems to have its own sabha, and traffic congestions makes travelling difficult. So people stay in their own area. I am very happy though, that there are numerous sabhas, because artistes have more opportunities to perform and earn.
The increasing number of artistes is partly the effect of TV. Everybody becomes a celebrity overnight. It is good in a way, but it is also true there is quantity rather than quality. An artist appears on TV for a short while, might click for that short period, and become popular before even realising it. That is why some artistes give short recitals. They are used to the short TV slots, and can only do that on stage!
The other thing is, concerts lack spontaneity. Everything is prepared beforehand. The sabhas’ season tickets are sold out. It is all clientele-based, as they have an annual membership. Even the artists are decided at the beginning. Everything is readymade!
For the audience, attending music concerts is something like eating out. Nowadays, dining at restaurants is quite common. Not much cooking is done at home and good and bad don’t matter. So with music. Any product is accepted and saleable. The preference for foreign goods can be found in music too. People present orchestras, call it new music, and so on. But you cannot say this is bad. It is the trend.
But music is a temple. You can’t destroy a temple. To visit it or not is a personal choice. Then again, modern temples are made of marble, whereas old temples were of rock. Music has changed in the same way. What, however, is good is that music is thriving.
(As told to Anjana Rajan)
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Music Season
|
