Bade Ghulam Ali Khan once told the legendary Carnatic vocalist M.S. Subbulakshmi, “You are not Subbulakshmi, you are Suswaralakshmi!" (Goddess of pure note). To have his words etched for posterity, Subbulakshmi’s grandson (son of Radha Vishwanathan), V. Shrinivasan, started the Suswaralakshmi Foundation for Classical Music and Performing Arts in Bengaluru, nearly a decade ago. The Foundation is organising the 100th birth anniversary tribute to M.S. Subbulakshmi at The Music Academy today, 5.30 p.m.
The M.S. family has a close association with the Academy, as both M.S. and daughter Radha Viswanathan rendered the first concert in aid of the Academy's Building Fund in October 1955, after the then Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation of the present building.
Says Mr. Shrinivasan, managing trustee, Suswaralakshmi Foundation, “My 82-year-old mother, who lives with me in Bengaluru, is nostalgic about her decades of bonding with M.S. amma. Her memories of the benefit concerts for the Music Academy also provided a good reason to have the centenary celebration at the Academy."
A rich archival anthology of M.S. with 500 photos tracing her melodic history, apart from a 30-minute video-documentary of her life and achievements will be the highlight of the event at the Academy. The pictures are from the private collections of the family.
On the occasion, mridanga vidwan, T.K. Murthy, and violin maestro V.V. Subrahmanyam, who were part of the M.S.-entourage for nearly five decades, will be honoured with the Suswaralakshmi Subbulakshmi Lifetime Achievement Award
A daughter recollects...
It was in 1993 that Radha accompanied M.S. for the last time. With that a strong bond that created a record of sorts for the longest association on stage and recordings came to an end. Today, the contented musician lives with the cherished memories of her own dancing career and her association with M.S.-amma from when she was a four- year-old.
Physical ailment may have curtailed Radha’s movements but she is happy to travel back in time and share her experiences.
“My voice lost its timbre after my operation in 1994. I managed to gather myself over the years. It helped me teach my grand children Aishwarya and Saundarya keeping the M.S. school alive,” says Radha. “Amma was too busy to teach, she considered herself a student all her life,” she adds.
“Amma and I never missed our classes even when we were star performers,” says Radha. “Our teachers included Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer for serious ragas and kritis, Musiri Subramanya Iyer for pallavi and to make sure that our style was an ideal blend and T. Brinda for padam. We also learnt Dasara padas from several persons in Karnataka. We learnt about a thousand together, some of which were not even presented due to my ill health. However, I am now teaching them to my students,” says Radha.
What she remembers most is the richness in her raga delineations with chiselled brigas and improvisations in the upper octaves. “Semmangudi would often tell amma “Kunjamma, just stay at Gandhara, it is heavenly’,” recollects Radha.
Radha is excited about the Chennai event. “I can re-live those days. I am waiting to see the people of Chennai after a long time,” she adds. “Radha had accompanied M.S. in the first concert at the current building of the Music Academy accompanied by R.K. Venkatarama Shastry, T.K. Murthy and Kothandarama Iyer. In the audience were Jawaharlal Nehru, T.T. Krishnamachari, Rajaji, Kamaraj amongst many other public luminaries. Pt. Nehru’s words on that occasion, “Who am I, a mere prime minister before the Queen of Music!” is part of history.
The memory of the concert is still fresh in Radha’s mind. “We sang Melaraga Maalika, magnum opus of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan,” she points out. “Amma’s last concert was also at the Music Academy in 1997 when she was 81 years old. But of course, she is immortal, with millions of people starting their day with Suprabhatam and Sahasranamam rendered by Amma,” sums up Radha.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Governor of Bengal, N. Murali, president, The Music Academy, Cleveland Sundaram and Gowri Ramnarayan will speak on the occasion, and felicitate the awardees.
S.Aishwarya, great grand daughter of M.S. Subbulakshmi, will pay a musical tribute.
