The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Missing the maestro

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Monday, Sep 22, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Missing the maestro

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: A forehead adorned with vermillion circle bordered on the sides with thick, white curving line of sacred ash was the trademark of one of Carnatic music’s most friendly faces. No festival was complete without TV channels broadcasting his concerts.

Kunnakudi R. Vaidyanathan was a virtuoso whose passion for the art was exceeded only by his zeal in reaching out to the masses. “I am a departmental store. Listeners can take whatever they want,” was how the maestro chose to describe himself, said R. Krishnaswamy, Secretary, Narada Gana Sabha, whose association with Kunnakudi spanned several decades.

Speaking at a condolence meeting here on Sunday, Mr. Krishnaswamy said that in his attempt to take Carnatic music to a wider audience, Kunnakudi never diluted the art. His attempt was more than successful as demonstrated by his countless rasikas. Kunnakudi performed in over 5,000 concerts, scored music for around 50 movies and also composed dance-dramas. This level of achievement reflects his energy and hard-work, said M. Krishnamurthy, Secretary, Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, where Kunnakudi started the Raga Vaibhavam series. The series, in which each session was dedicated to one raga, became popular in Karnataka too. As secretary of the Thyagabrahma Sabha, which organises the Thyagaraja aradhana in Tiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur, Kunnakudi had started the practice sessions to ensure harmony among artistes from various locations, who were probably performing together for the first time, said Y. Prabhu, Secretary, Krishna Gana Sabha. He said that it is unimaginable that he won’t be conducting the aradhana in the future.

To film the Thyagaraja aradhana scene in the Tamil movie Anniyan, it was Kunnakudi who orchestrated everything, said Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, the mridangam maestro. The meeting was also attended by members of Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan’s family.

In a heartfelt speech Muthukumar, from Moser Baer who had recorded various albums with Kunnakudi, spoke for everyone assembled when he said, “The music will miss him. The December Season will miss him. The Narada Gana Sabha canteen will miss him. We will all miss him.”

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