Thyagaraja shows the Right Royal Way

Vid. Neyveli Santhanagopalan
K. Puttu Rao Memorial Festival - 2012

TEXT BY R. SACHI

As the K. Puttu Rao Memorial Festival 2013 gets under way in Mysore, we are happy to share here the concert from the 2012 series of Vid. Neyveli R. Santhanagopalan.

Vid. Santhanagopalan (b. 1963, Tiruchirapalli) pursued musical training under many distinguished musicians including Chembai Anantharama Bhagavatar, Vid. Srirangam Ranganathan, Vid. Tanjore Sankara Iyer, and Vid. T. N. Seshagopalan. In 1985 he toured Russia along with Vid. Seshagopalan. His music is in great demand in India and abroad, as he is known for the purity of tradition, creativity and an attractive presentation style (* Ref 1) He is proficient on the veena and is a composer. He is also active as a panel judge in televised talent shows.

In this concert he is ably accompanied by Vid. Govindaswamy, Vid. Shivashankaraswamy, and Vid. Manjunath. Vid. Santhanagopalan presents Kamavardhini and sings “Sada Enna Hrudayadalli” in a very emotive way. This concert garnered a rave review that we had featured in the last year’s report ( * Ref 2 ). The main piece presented in the concert is the famous song “Chakkaniraja”in the ever-popular Kharaharapriya. In this song, Saint Thyagaraja extols the right royal way to salvation and says ( * Ref 3 ),

Thyagaraja also states how he shuns serving those on the evil path in “Durmargachara”. This Ranjani song is also featured in this concert.

Concert Details

K. Puttu Rao Memorial Music Festival, Jaganmohan Palace, Mysore – Sept. 2, 2012

Vid. Neyveli Santhanagopalan – Vocal
Vid. M. S. Govindaswamy – Violin
Vid. Shivashankaraswamy – Mridangam
Vid. Manjunath – Ghatam

Song List

01 Vanajaksha-Atatala Varnam – Kalyani – Pallavi Gopala Iyer *** 02 NadaTanumAnisham-Chittaranjani- Thyagaraja *** 03 Saadinchane-Aarabhi- Thyagaraja *** 04 SadaEnnaHrudayadalli- Kamavardhini- Vijaya Vitthala Dasa *** 05 Ramabhadra Rara-Anandabhairavi- Bhadrachala Ramadasa *** 06 Durmargachara-Ranjani- Thyagaraja *** 07 RamanakkuMananMudi-Hindola – Arunachala Kavi *** 08 ChakkaniRaja-KaraharaPriya- Kharaharapriya *** 09 Tillana-Behag - Papanasam Sivan

References

1. Karnataka Sangeetha Vishaya Vishwakosha – Dr. V. S. Sampathkumaracharya, (pub. D.V. K. Murthy, Mysore)

2. Report-on-Sri-K-Puttu-Rao-Memorial

3. The Spiritual Heritage of Thyagaraja- C. Ramanujachariyar (pub. Ramakrishna Math, Chennai)

2013 - K.Puttu Rao Memorial Music Festival

Inviting all 'Rasikas'

Respected Rasikas,

We thank all of you who honor us with your kind presence day in and day out on this blog. We wish through you, to include many others.

We further request you to make your kind presence felt at the observance below:

We also wish to thank many of the Vidwans and Vidushis who will be performing with their virtuosity and learning, in truth to their great tradition. We wish to thank many of their great lineages, in parents, grandparents and teachers who have imbibed in them.

As this occasion is for the remembrance of a great music connoisseur, the 'Pitru'( ancestor ) of our Host Mr. K. Srikantiah, we also invite remembrances of many of the great musical 'Pitru(s)', who were once with us, and who commandeered the very same platform.

A Vibrant Musician from Andhra – Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana

The year 2013 has witnessed already the passing of many doyens of Carnatic music. Vid. Satyanarayana passed away recently and we quote excerpts from The Hindu below.

Mahamahopadhyaya Padma Bhushan Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana was born in 1923 at Anakapalle in Andhra Pradesh. Nookala was spotted as a young talent and came under the initial guidance of Vid. Balamuralikrishna’s father, Vid. Mangalampalli Pattabhiramayya. At Vizianagaram he learned to play the violin from renowned musician Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu. But the influence of Dr. Pinakapani made him take up Carnatic vocal. Nookala’s personality changed as a musician under Dr. Pinakapani’s tutelage.

Over the years, Nookala became an icon in the field of Carnatic vocal. His analytical approach to music was stupendous and he passed on the same to his students, making their knowledge of musical science complete. Ahead of his times, Nookala was engaged in comparative studies of western and Hindustani music, and was an active author and even teacher on Skype to his overseas students.

Sri K. Srikantiah draws our attention to a special quality of attractiveness in Nookala’s music and also his impeccable diction in Telugu and other languages. Indeed Nookala is a vibrant musician from the great land of Andhra Pradesh.

In this concert, we also feature Vid. M. A. Krishnamurthy on the Ghatam. This artiste also passed away recently. He was a very popular ghatam artiste and played with all the stalwarts of Carnatic music. Trained under Vid. P.G. Lakshminarayana, he played the mridangam as well as ghatam.

Sri K. Srikantiah recalls fondly his association with Parvathi and mentions that he must have performed over 60 times in Parvathi concerts over many decades. Vid. Krishnamurthy also served as a staff artiste on AIR, Bangalore.

Vid. Krishnamurthy’s cheerful presence on the concert stage will be missed by many.

The other stars featured in this concert are Vid. Palghat Raghu and Vid. T. Rukmini.

CONCERT DETAILS

Parvathi Ramanavami Concert, Mysore (12 April 1976)
Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana ------ vocal
T.Rukmini ------------------ Violin
Palghat Raghu ------------ Mridangam
M.A.Krishnamurthy ------------ Ghatam

SONG LIST

01. Vatapi –Hamsadhvani- Muthuswami Dikshitar 02. Bantureethi – Hamsanada – Thyagaraja *** 03. Brovabhaarama – Bahudaari – Thyagaraja *** 04. Nee pogadakunte- Shubhapantuvarali – Thyagaraja *** 05. Anaathudanu kaanu – Jingla – Thyagaraja *** 06. Ranganaathude – Sowrashtra –Ponniah Pillai *** 07. Kaddanu variki – Todi – Thyagaraja *** 08. Undedi Ramudu- Harikambhoji – Thyagaraja *** 09.Chellare – Ahiri – Thyagaraja *** 10. Ramakatha Sudha – Madhuvanti – Thyagaraja *** 11. Sri Ramachandra Kripalu – Tulsidas Bhajan *** 12. Kapi Madhuripunaa – Jayadeva Ashtapadi *** 13. Dooru Maduvarene – Behag – Purandara dasa ***