Thanks to Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam for giving us a pleasant evening on Sunday 10th June. It was the occasion of the release of Cd sung by Vijayalakshmi herself. The unique feature in this Cd is that 20 Apoorva gems of the trinity has been dealt with.
Vijayalakshmi’s uncle Bombay Balachandar had been instrumental in finding out these gems . Hindu Murali graced the occasion. Veterans S. Rajam, P.S. Narayanaswamy, S.R. Janakiraman,Dr. Srivatsa were all present to felicitate the artist. Not only that, T.R.S and Jayalakshmi Santhanam were present in the audience.
S.R. Janakiraman as usual gave a speech immersed in knowledge and praised the artist for her laudable efforts.
P.S. Narayanaswamy emphasized the point that every popular artist of today should make it a point to sing atleast one or two of the composition every concert . He also humbly stated that it was not possible for him to do it as he was not giving kutcheries. Mr. Narayanaswamy was surprised that where from Balachandar could get all these treasures and he openly stated that he was willing to learn from him.
Then, Veteran Rajam gave a speech full of experience and it was very interesting. It was amazing that in this age he spoke so clearly without even a single shake. Rajam in his speech agreed with PSN that these type of rare songs should be sung in every concert. He told that in those days artists feared to sing new songs and would sing only the 40 same songs again and again as they were afraid that their reputation would be spoilt as they depended wholly on music for their survival. He was of the view that nowadays things are different and artists can take the liberty of trying out new experiments. Then, speaking about Bombay balachander he could find that this balachander was in contrast with his brother the late veena Balachander. He, with a sense of humour, stated that his brother used to be a victim of short temper while this balachander seemed to be calm and composed. His brother used to find fault with the compositions and used to question about its composer while this balachander was finding out new gems and giving to us. He emphasized the point that as far as the music is pleasant to the ears we should appreciate it and stop researching to find faults in it. Even the old songs which are in use for years, nobody was close to Thyagaraja by his side when he composed it.
Dr. Srivatsa in his scholary expertise speech , said that he was happy with this CD. He told that Gowlipanthu without the Prathimadhyama would have been apt if it had been stated in the CD as the 15th Melakartha Janya.(In the CD 51st melakartha janya has ben mentioned). Vijayalakshmi thanked Srivatsa for his expertly comments and reminded him that there was a discussion (debate) in the Music Academy previously about this topic and Mr. Janakiraman was also there in the panel and a solution had not been arrived.
There was a concert by Brihadwani group(including Vidushis like sankari Krishnan singing live some of the apoorva krithis in the CD, following the function.
I was impressed at the function and the striking points were:
I had known vijayalakshmi to be only an expert singer and musicologist but I came to know of her organisational capacity on that day.
The way she presented her speech was exemplary.
Her presence of mind was amazing and she was very careful in honouring each and everyone of the stalwarts not missing any of them in the audience also. She spoke about the characteristics of the veterans quoting her various experiences with them. (By the way, S.Rajam and TRS are her Gurus)
The speech of S. Rajam proved that he was a great scholar and allrounder.
The observing capacity of PSN where he questioned Vijayalakshmi why she had missed to honour the girl who had sung the prayer. When Vijayalakshmi told that it was her own daughter, PSN told her that she had to be called to the stage and be praised. I was unfortunate to miss Miss Sankari’s prayer as I was a little late to the function.
The Brihadwani group sang the songs impressively in fusion together . They were given only the notation and not allowed to hear the CD before. They were able to sing the songs with the given notation successfully.
The comperer Mohan Santhanam did quite an outstanding job though he was humble
enough to state that he was in the training period and had a lot more to learn.
Hats Off to Vijayalakshmi to bravely implement a new venture.
All in All a pleasant memorable evening.
CD Release of rare gems by Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam
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rshankar
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manakkalsriram
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