The pick of the year
The best of the Margazhi season this year
It’s that time of the year in Chennai when ladies bring out their beautiful Kanjeevarams and gentlemen their silk jibbas (kurtas). Rasikas (aesthetes) fly in from across the globe, timing their yearly breaks with the music season to enjoy the kutcheri (concert) sessions and delicious fare served at the canteens.
This month, the pioneers and mavericks of Carnatic music will be in great form once again. Vocalist T.M. Krishna started the season with the release of his film One in the US and India on 5 December. It provides a sensory and visual experience of being part of an audience, and we see Krishna performing in natural settings with an audience.
Aruna Sairam, who is known for her themed concerts, missed a season last year, but she’s back this year.
An interesting performance symposium this time is Malavika Sarukkai’s Lotuses Blossom: The Creative Process, presented by Karthik Fine Arts. Over four days, artistes, writers and dancers like Aniruddha Knight, Gauri Sharma Tripathi, Aditi Mangaldas, Anita Ratnam, Arushi Mudgal and Shijith Nambiar will showcase performances and lecture demonstrations.
Another highlight is an ode to the divine feminine by US-based Bala Devi Chandrashekar; she will present a piece based on Sri Tripurarahasyam and bring Devi Bala Tripurasundari to life.
Anitha Guha is presenting a two-part Mahabharat production titled Vana Viraata Vijayam that features 30 dancers. Beginning with Draupadi and the five Pandavas heading into exile, it culminates in the 13th year of exile. With lyrics and music by Neyveli R. Santhanagopalan and P.R. Venkatasubramanian, this is a highly anticipated production.
Meera is the theme chosen by Urmila Sathyanarayanan for her solo performance while the Dwita: Duality Of Life is what Rama Vaidyanathan will showcase with Dakshina Vaidyanathan. NaMaargam, launched by Krithika Subrahmanian, will present the dance theatre Swappnam, with music by maestro Ilaiyaraaja, and a special appearance by C.V. Chandrasekhar. In case you have missed Lakshmi Ramaswamy’s Sundara Kandam earlier, make sure you catch it this season. It has 54 dancers from three generations of performers.
Sandeep Narayan, who has received the Best Vocalist award from The Music Academy, Madras, over the last few years, is on the list of many rasikas this year. Sid Sriram, a young US-based Carnatic singer who came into the limelight thanks to music composer A.R. Rahman, is also here this season and youngsters are looking forward to listening to him.
Over the years new forms of art have been included in the December season. One of them is the Harikatha (storytelling through music, poetry and philosophy). Dushyanth Sridhar, the emerging Harikatha artiste in Chennai, will be rendering the Meera Charithiram. The Upanyasams (interpreting and narrating stories from the Puranas and epics) include Rukmini Kalyanam by Dhamal Ramakrishnan and Perundevi, and Sri Krishnam Vandhe Jagath Gurum by Nagai Mukundan.
Music lovers unable to attend these programmes can watch the websites that are streaming them, either live or later. iCarnatic is set to webcast the Charsur Arts Foundation concerts of 18 artistes, to be held at The Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall. The Bharat Sangeet Utsav at the Narada Gana Sabha are streamed online on Kalakendra.com and some of the talent promotion concerts at Mudhra Fine Arts are webcast on www.paalam.in/tv
PURE SOUND
A film in which T.M. Krishna performs in natural settings:
Coinciding with the Margazhi season, vocalist T.M. Krishna, the enfant terrible of the Carnatic music world, has released his film ‘One’ in theatres across Chennai.
The film, directed by P. Jayendra, is a presentation of the artiste in pristine natural settings around the country. We see his rendering of ragas blend with voices from nature. To convey the complexity of sounds in the film, the Dolby Atmos system was used in locations such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, making it possible for Jayendra to place or move sounds anywhere in the movie theatre, including overhead, resulting in a multi-dimensional sound experience. Krishna said in an interview in November to ‘The Hindu’, “The sound is as it was… in the woods and hills at early hours and through the day, [and I was] physically, emotionally and intellectually responding to what is around (me). To add to that you hear every leaf, the wind, water, all being a part of the music itself."
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