Some North to South loving

lifeisasong · Post by **lifeisasong** » 07 Apr 2009, 19:50

The Darbar festival (http://www.darbar.org.uk/) has been going on in London at the prestigious Southbank Centre. There has been a mix of Carnatic and Hindustani musicians. Aruna Sairam was performing for the first time in London.
Several North Indians, i.e. Punjabis, walked up to her and expressed how much they enjoyed her performance. I thought I would mention it here, as sometimes there is a feeling that North Indians do not appreciate Carnatic music. And the appreciation was not just for the Kalinga Nartana tillana but a sedate piece in Lalitha et al. I don't have the entire song list to post just yet in the Kutcheris section, hopefully someone else will come up with it.

Ganesh and Kumaresh have been here as well and Smt. Manorama Prasad's students also performed at Southbank. I heard some auntijis comment in the Ladies that they (the students) were very "tayyar" and that the taalas of the South were just fantastic.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 07 Apr 2009, 20:55

Good to know of the festival.

The South Bank Centre was where I came to love Indian music; it is a special place for me. I'm especially happy to hear of friends and students of friends performing there.

Wish I could come and watch!

lifeisasong · Post by **lifeisasong** » 07 Apr 2009, 23:22

Hi Nick
Yes, it's a relief to hear music there, because the acoustics are so much better than some of the other places where Indian musicians are invited to perform, such as back rooms of temples and school halls!
It's nice to hear Carnatic at Southbank-there have been khayal and Dhrupad performances there for a while. Only they are always shortened versions

But even at Southbank the amplification for the percussion for all the concerts was too much for me and some others. But really loud amplification for mridangam/tabla goes down well with the Indian audience.