It’s true that the original roots of the Carnatic music tradition can be traced back to several centuries; but the Carnatic music culture as it manifests itself today is a relatively modern phenomenon, having taken shape only in the early 20th century.
Therefore the senior-most living Carnatic musicians today, who have been consistently practising their art as performers, teachers and/or composers since around the time of the Second World War, can be said to be nearly as old as the prevailing tradition itself! And prominent among them is T.N. Krishnan, the legendary violin virtuoso -- who is still vigorously active as a performing artist (never mind his actual age!).
In the course of his remarkably long career as accompanist and exclusive solo violinist, Krishnan has perfected the art of exploring the infinite nuances of the basic melodies and has infused them with a spiritual element derived from the lyrics of well-known devotional songs -- a true exponent of what one might call Ragopasana!
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In recent years Krishnan has been regularly accompanied in his concerts by daughter Viji, whose violin reflects the sound and spirit of his own style with remarkable fidelity. Also highly accomplished is her brother Sriram, who has an intense and conservative commitment to Carnatic music; but living in the U.S. as a professional computer technologist, he’s able to perform in India only occasionally. So a large number of earnest rasikas were looking forward to a concert on the evening of New Year’s Day, featuring the violin trio -- Krishnan and his children.
The event, however, actually turned out to be an all-exclusive solo recital by the maestro, since both Viji and Sriram were not able to be present. And since the concert was preceded by a ceremonial function, and the music was also being recorded by All India Radio for an hour-long broadcast Krishnan offered a very concise programme, rendering a series of songs with accent on brevity, with short raga alapanas preceding some of them. Most of the compositions were Tyagaraja’s – ‘Maakelara’ (in raga Ravichandrika), ‘Evarani’ (Devamrita-varshini), ‘Gnaamu Osaga Raada’ (Poorvikalyani), ‘Toli Janmamuna’ (Bilahari) and ‘Saravanabhava Enum’ (Shanmukhapriya) by Papanasam Sivan, among others. Excellent percussion accompaniment was provided by H.S. Sudhindra on the mridangam and R. Chakravarti on the ghatam.
A somewhat different kind of performance from what one usually expects from the master of Ragopasana -- but refreshingly delightful all the same!
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