DECEMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL

I am in Chennai on a short holiday. Sunday, 25th December 2011 turned out to be a “Triple Treat” for me. I went for three different concerts in Chennai by three great singers – Smt.Vishaka Hari, Smt.Aruna Sairam and Sri.T.M.Krishna.

Morning at 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. I heard Smt.Vishaka Hari on “Andal Kalyanam”. She started the discourse at exactly 10 a.m. and ended it at exactly 12.30. It was 150 minutes of extraordinary discourse on the birth, growing up and marriage of Andal. The ease with which she narrates with a slight tinge of humour is a real treat to the ears. She sings very well and I find traces of the great legend Smt.M.S.Subbulakshmi’s voice in Smt.Vishaka Hari.

After lunch and a two hour break I went to Kamaraj Arangam on Mount Road for Smt.Aruna Sairam’s kutcheri. There was a huge crowd outside the auditorium. I was telling my wife it looks like we have come for Ilayaraj’s concert. I was stunned by the huge crowd that had gathered. The auditorium was full and people started occupying the aisle and since the aisle was full people started filling up the stage itself. There was continuous clapping when Smt.Aruna Sairam was singing “Maadu meikum kanne”. She also rendered my other favourite song “Enna kavi paadinaalum”. There were so many requests from the audience and she was quite responsive to the audience.

From Kamaraj Arangam we dashed to Vidya Bharati to listen to Sri.T.M.Krishna. Though we were late and arrived only at 8 p.m. we were lucky to be there as the concert was till 9.45 p.m. He is a fantastic singer and has tremendous amount of energy. The Violin, Mirudangam and Gatam support was very good and he gave them enough opportunity to demonstrate their individual skills. He would develop into a legend and will be one of the greatest singers of Carnatic Music. At the age of 35 he has already touched great heights as a musician and has a long career ahead of him.

The Music Season is Chennai is really an exciting opportunity for music lovers. The katcheri at various locations starts at 8 a.m. in the morning and goes on till 9.30 p.m. You can hop on from one sabha to the other as there are plenty of Autorickshaws operating at every sabha. Each location has a tie up with some catering company and there is excellent vegetarian food that is available throughout the day.

Most surprisingly the audience is a mix of all age groups which is a very good sign as a decade ago there were doubts on the popularity of Carnatic Music. It is a good sign to see so many youngsters at the Katcheri and it is also a great treat to watch the youngsters perform. Though the television was blamed a decade ago for pulling the audience I feel it is the same Television which is now helping to strengthen the popularity of Carnatic Music. Television programmes like Ragamalika, Thakadhimithaam, Airtel Super Singer, etc., have really done the trick to kindle the interest in people for classical music.
In summary for music lovers Chennai is THE DESTINATION to be in during December.

T.P.Anand, Dubai, U.A.E.
27th December 2011