The wonder boy, one of the greatest child prodigies, a gift to the world of music, the pioneer in introducing and popularising the mandolin in Carnatic music, mandolin maestro U. Shrinivas passed away last Friday in Chennai. His untimely death at the age of 45 has saddened and shocked not only the entire music community but also people in other walks of life. Print, electronic and social media continue to be flooded with news, articles and condolences messages about the maestro. Last Sunday, All India Radio, in a special Ravivariya Akhil Bhartiya Sangeet Sabha, broadcast a concert recording Shrinivas, retrieved from their archives. The quick and thoughtful gesture of AIR in doing so is laudable.
In the delightful recordings of about an hour and half, Shrinivas, in just six items and through his amazing musical talents, gave a fine concert experience that would remain etched in listeners’ memory. The opening item was Muthuswami Dikshitar’s “Siddhi Vinayakam anisam” in raga Shanmukhapriya with elaborate kalpana swaras. He had taken up Tyagaraja’s two compositions, namely “Evarura ninuvina” in raga Mohanam and “Rama neeyada” in raga Kharaharapriya for detailed rendition.
His sheer hard work in mastering the art form and his dexterity in handling the instrument to suit the requirements of Carnatic music was his forte. It was certainly a musical treat when he played these songs interspersed with fine raga alapanas (very brief in the former and a detailed one of the latter), niraval (for the latter song) and kalpanaswaras for both the compositions flowing with rich creativity even during fast passages.
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Ramanad Srinivasa Iyengar’s fast paced composition “Raghunanda nannu” with both the inbuilt chittaswaras as well as the maestro’s fast paced kalpana swaras was a delightful piece that came in between the two detailed renditions. The short but equally enthralling ‘miscellaneous’ session contained Kamalesa Vittala’s composition “Karadhare barabaarade” in raga Swarasammodini and a tillana of Swati Tirunal in raga Dhanashri.
Kandadevi S. Alagiriswamy on the violin, Tanjore Upendran on the mridangam and T.V. Vasan on the ghatam had provided excellent support in this concert.
Shrinivas was in the Capital last October for a performance for All India Radio’s Sangeet Sammelan. He was in the best of form and his recital to a packed audience at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium, many music lovers felt, was one of the finest the Capital has seen in recent years.
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While the impact created by the mandolin maestro with this instrument would continue to make the mandolin synonymous with U. Shrinivas across the coming generations too, the frequent smile that he had sported during his recitals can never be erased from the memories of music lovers.