Music Season 2021 Reviews

SEASON 2021-22 - ONLINE CONCERTS Although I enjoyed the live concerts, I relished many virtual recitals too, and some of them are reviewed hereunder. The senior slots in the Music Academy had a duration of 90 minutes, and junior and sub-senior slots were of a duration of 60 minutes. Ramakrishnan Murthy is one musician who gives us steady music in an endearing voice; spreading saukhyam throughout the concert. Rama nee pai in Kedaram with some sparkling melkala swaras provided a brisk start. Murthy embarked upon a poignant Lalita alapana, with many rakti phrases in the middle and upper octaves. The song was Nannu brovu Lalita in viloma Chapu tala, with its own charm and gait. The niraval at Uma sree Meenakshamma brought out the allure of the raga.

Instrumental concerts @ the Music Academy The inaugural session of the Music Academy conference and concerts 2021 was marked by a nagaswaram concert by S. Kasim and S. Babu accompanied on the tavil by G. Rajan and M. Vijayakumar. The vidwans began with Tatvamariya tarama in Reetigaula (Papanasam Sivan) with a compact swaraprastara in the pallavi. Hiranmayeem Lakshmeem sada bhajami in Lalita followed. Next was a breezy alapana of Saranga for Neevada ne gana. Swaraprastara also consisted of a few beautiful avartas in keezhkalam for this kriti in khanda Chapu. Kedaragaula (Paraakela nanu) was the main kriti handled with perfect adherence to the sahitya. The raga was well-handled and proved that the duo have inherited many playing techniques, including the long karvai vasippu (sustained notes) from their grandfather Sangita Kalanidhi Sheik Chinna Moulana.

SBKK’s ‘Ram’ continues to enthral generations Delhi’s Ramleela, now in its 65th consecutive year, played to packed audiences in the capital through the Dussehra month of October. Originally enacted with a live orchestra in Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla grounds, Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra’s iconic production, now termed simply Ram, assumed a legendary hue. Creditably, it has been witnessed by most of India’s Prime Ministers. Much has changed in the dance-drama over the decades, but much has also remained the same. The original script derived from Goswami Tulsidas’s Ramayan was rewritten in the mid-1990s in ‘khari boli’ to cater to a modern Delhi audience who could not fully comprehend the Awadhi dialect. With this came the necessity to recompose the music, to fit the new sahitya. The music of the over two-hour production had to be painstakingly re-recorded.

Lec Dem Mela 2021- Focus on personalities The annual Lec Dem Mela organised by Sruti in association with The Music Forum, Chennai, is an event fondly looked forward to by music enthusiasts. Annually supported by the Shriram Group, it is thoughtfully curated to deliberate on important aspects of our music and bring clarity and conclusions on the chosen subjects. The Lec Dem Mela was held at the Arkay Convention Centre on three days—18,19 and 25 December 2021; there were six sessions with a guest of honour on each of the days. This Lec Dem Mela was an in-person event with reasonably good attendance. The topics chosen were contemporary, appealing to a majority of music lovers. The appreciable part of it was that there was a good attendance of music students for the lecdems.