Noted music and dance critic K.S. Mahadevan's centenary was celebrated on August 4 at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. The event was jointly hosted by the Sabha and the KSM trust.
Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, who presided, Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, P.S. Narayanaswamy and Prof. T. R. Subramaniam offered felicitations to Mahadevan. Dr. Nalli recalled his association with the late Mahadevan, his sterling qualities and gentle style of criticism. Other speakers also extolled the critic’s virtues, referring particularly to his highly developed musical acumen, his use of sophisticated English, his support for young talent, his positive comments in reviews, his close relationships with musicians of many eras from the 1920s, his involvement with many Sabhas in Mumbai and Chennai and his selfless service to the music and dance community till he passed away at the age of 93.
Felicitations by musicians
Several senior musicians and dancers, who offered their respects and felicitations via video included R. Vedavalli, M. Chandrasekaran, Karaikkudi Mani, Bombay sisters, T.N. Seshagopalan, C.V. Chandrasekar, Sudharani Raghupathy and Chitra Visveswaran. Tributes of Radha Viswanathan (daughter of M.S. Subbulakshmi) and Chitravina Ravikiran, were read out.
A suggestion for a training workshop in music criticism for budding critics, in memory of K.S. Mahadevan, was placed by the speakers.
A 500-page book, ‘Writings and Reminiscences' containing comments of people in the music and dance field, a short biography of Mahadevan, his writings over the years and articles by eminent persons including Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Dr. S. Ramanathan, T.R. Mahalingam, T.S. Parthasarathy and noted dancer Kamala, was released on the occasion by Nalli Kuppuswamy and the first copy was received by K. Balaji, director, Kasturi & Sons. The well-compiled and printed book is priced at Rs. 300 and will be available at leading book stores.
The event featured two concerts, one by budding vocalist, R. Ashwath Narayanan and the other by senior vidushi, Nityasree Mahadevan.
