For Morsing player Vidwan Bangalore Rajashekar, the death of saxophone maestro Kadri Gopalnath was the loss of his godfather, while Tabla player Pandit Rajendra Nakod said that it was a loss of a senior artiste who introduced him to the world stage. Tavil Vidwan Tiruvalli K. Sekar said that he had lost a senior artiste with whom he had performed for over two decades.
These artistes, who had last performed with Kadri Gopalnath at the Town Hall here on June 22 and at a private function in Bengaluru on June 23, were among the many artistes who paid their condolences at the Mini Town Hall here where the body of the deceased maestro was kept for public viewing.
Mr. Rajashekar, who had played with the maestro for over three decades, said that Kadri Gopalnath transformed the Western instrument, which was used in weddings, to a classical instrument. “It was really a joy to play along with the maestro who had attained mastery in the use of this instrument for all Carnatic ragas,” he added.
“Whatever I am today (in the field of classical music) is because of Kadri sir,” said Pandit Rajendra Nakod, who recalled his 15-year-long association with the maestro during which he performed across the country and abroad with the maestro. “He helped me bring in changes in my presentation to match his Carnatic style of presentation,” Pt. Nakod said.
“It is a loss of my younger brother,” said Clarinet player Pandit Narasimhulu Vadavati from Raichur who had presented several Jugalbandis with Kadri Gopalnath. “Being users of Western instruments, we complimented each other (in our presentations) and our Jugalbandis were quite popular,” he said.
Violin player Vidwan Vittala Ramamurthy, who accompanied the maestro in over 300 concerts, said that playing with Kadri Gopalnath was a celebration for the accompanying artistes who were given freedom to express their talent during the concerts. By accompanying the maestro, he learnt the technique to play his string instrument along with the saxophone.
Recalling his earlier days in Mangaluru where the maestro rode to All India Radio studio on his scooter, Sitar player Ustad Rafique Khan spoke about the maestro’s taste for Kurtas, unique perfumes and love for cars.
Two students of Kadri Gopalnath, Venkatachalapathy and Sridhara Shastry, stayed near the body of the maestro at the Mini Town Hall, while the maestro’s other two students Chandrashekar and Subbalakshmi gave a performance during the three-hour-long public viewing at the hall.
