'Pramanam' a unique audio-CD having 12 songs of the Trinity was brought out by R. Vedavalli. N. Murali, Senior Managing Director, Kasturi and Sons, and president, Music Academy, released the CD, the first copy of which was received by Umayalpuram Sivaraman. Vedavalli, T.M Krishna and D.R. Santhanam, Senior Member, the Music Academy, were also present on this occasion. K.S. Sudhakar of Swathi Soft Solutions welcomed the invitees and said that it was a great honour to be associated with a project that was of immeasurable value to the whole community of musicians.
Calling Vedavalli a matchless vidushi, Mr. Murali said she was holding aloft a tradition of unwavering adherence to sampradaya. Umayalpuram Sivaraman mentioned that “Pramanam” meant taking an oath of allegiance and Vedavalli was an authority on many aspects of music. He also appreciated her boldness and was all praise for the way Vedavalli had prepared her disciples to make them render these kritis in its pristine form.
Krishna wished that this disc had seen the light of the day some 30 years ago and cautioned against the loose manner in which the word Sampradaya was being used, in discussing issues. He called the album an authentic document, which should be listened to frequently to gain familiarity. He requested Vedavalli to continue to release such CDs for the benefit of both musicians and rasikas.
In response, Vedavalli said that the CD was an attempt to preserve a 150-year old tradition and that she was not compelling anyone to follow the bhani.
Mala Mohan of Swathy Soft Solutions and Sumathi Krishnan, a senior disciple of Vedavalli also narrated the pleasant learning experiences they underwent while getting this CD to its present form. Smt. Pankajavalli read out a “Vazhthuppaa” as a tribute to Vedavalli. The event was efficiently compered by Shivapriya, Vedavalli’s disciple.
There was a soulful rendering of some of the kritis by Sumithra Vasudev, Malini and Sumathi Krishnan to the accompaniment of Ram on the mridangam, prior to the commencement of this function.
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