57th Annual ART Festival 2015

His Excellency, The Governor Sri E.S.L.Narasimhan has inaugurated the 57th Annual Art Festival by lighting the lamp on 2nd November 2015 at Ravindra Bharathi. Later in his inaugural address Sri Narasimhan praised the greatness of Bharat Ratna Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi. He later described the popularity of Kum. A. Kanyakumari, the violinist and the Artist of the day who has been conferred with Sangeetha Saraswathi title by SICA.

SICA dedicates its 57th Annual Art Festival-2015 to Carnatic Music Legend Bharat Ratna Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi during her Birth Centenary:

ICA President Dr S. Chakravarthy,IAS(Retd.), in his Welcome address on 2nd Nov. 2015 said:

“M.S. Subbulakshmi, the embodiment of music, is perhaps the most charismatic artiste of our times, who held centre stage for more than 60 years. She has given unmitigated joy to so many for so long. It is often said that there are some who start at the bottom and remain at the bottom, others start from the bottom and rise to credible levels, but it is given to only a chosen few to begin at the top and continue to stay there at the top. There can be no better illustration of the third category than M.S. Subbulakshmi. To her, music was not merely an art form that requires dedication, commitment and involvement. If she had stridden like a colossus in the scene of Indian music all these years, it is because she inhaled music with every breath that she took.

In her music, there were no compromises, no tactical manoeuvres, no conscious efforts to capture attention, no sacrifice of quality at the altar of showmanship and no stooping to thrill, but only striving to elevate. She merely sang from the depths of her soul and the world swayed to the magic of her music. To those who were of the opinion that bhakti and devotion need not necessarily form the nucleus of Carnatic music, M.S.’s art transported them from a mere auditorium to the sacred precincts of a place of worship, transcending all religious frontiers.

MS in the 100 years since her birth had an irreplaceable influence over classical musicians spanning across age, gender and borders. The eternal quality of her music has immortalized her in the world of Indian Classical Music.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is no wonder that MS was known as the NIGHTINGALE NONPAREIL. I hope you are with us in dedicating this Annual festival to the memory of MS in her centenary year.”

The inaugural concert of SICA 57th Annual Art Festival by SANGEETHA SARASWATHI  A. Kanyakumari is a delightful violin concert. She started the programme with Mooladhara Moorthy in Hamsadhwani (click here to listen) with brief ragalapana and swara kalpana. Later she played Mysore Vasudevachari’s composition Brochevarevarura in Behag (click here to listen). She chose Chakkani Rajamargamu  in Kharaharapriya ragam as the main piece of the concert. She enthralled the audience with compositions of Thyagaraja, Papanasam Siva, Mysore Vasudevachari, Purandaradasa etc. Kanyakumari played her own composition  in Venkatadri ragam- one of the Saptagiri Ragas created by her and concluded with Lakshmi Rave maintiki. It is a very delightful, scintillating concert as a curtain raiser for our 57th Annual Art Festival.

On the 2nd day of our 57th Annual Art Festival, Sri Rajhesh Vaidhya  commencing his veena concert with a varnam in Mohana ragam, presented Vatapi ganapathim bhaje in Hamsadhwani. Then his ensemble enthralled the audience with Sudhamayi  sudhanidhi in Amruthavarshini,  Brochevarevarura in Khamas etc., On request  he rendered his guru’s popular piece of Kukoo song. He is supported very well by Sri S. Mohan Rao on Mridangam, Sri Chandrajit on Tabla, Sri Paramasivam on Kanjari and Sri Saihari on Ghatam

On the 3rd day of our 57th Annual Art Festival, the veteran Carnatic vocalist Sri O. S. Thygarajan chose to present only Saint Thyagaraja’s kritis for this concert. Also he started the concert with Dinamani Vamsa tilaka  in Harikambhoji instead of conventional varnam and Ganapathi prayer , He then rendered Srikanta Neeyeda in Bhavapriya ragam, Nee Bhakti bhagya sudhanidhi in Jayamanohari, Kamalaptakula in Brindavana Saranga, Raga ratna malikache in Reethigowla and a rare krithi Paalintuvo palimpavo in Kantamani ragam. The accompanists Sri M. Chandramouli on violin, Sri Umayalapuram Mali on Mridngam and Sri Srinivasagopalan on Morsing supported well.

On the 4th day of our Annual Art Festival Dr Nithyasree Mahadevan started her concert with Endaro Mahanubhavulu in Sri ragam. She then presented Namo namo Raghukula nayaka in Nata ragam, Sambho Mahadeva saranam in Bauli, Sitarama daya choodave in Dhanyasi, Akhilandeswari in Dwijavanthi etc. She rendered Dikshitar kriti Srikanthimatim in Dharmavati as main piece of the concert. On violin Sri Raghavendra Rao gave good spport to the vocalist. Taniavatranam by Sri Ananthakrishnan on mridangam and Krishnamurthy on ghatam is very impressive.

On 5th day of 57th Annual Art Festival Sri Maharajapuram Srinivasan endowed with rich voice opened his concert with Neranammitinayya in Kanada ragam followed by Mahaganapathim in Nata ragam. He then rendered Dikshitar kriti Swaminadhene in Brindavanasaranga, Nee bhajana gana rasikula in Nayaki, Dudukugala nanne Dora in Gowli, Bhuvaneswariya nene in Mohanakalyani. He rendered Narayana in Sudha Danyasi  and  dedicated it to Bharat Ratna M. S. Subbulakshmi. Then he switched to the main item of the concert Sivakameswareem Chintayeham in Kalyani ragam. The violin support by Sri M.Sundaresan and  taniavartanam by Sri Ananthakrishnan on mridangam and Sri Nemani Somayajulu on ghatam was well appreciated by the rasikas. He concluded the concert with Purandara Dasa keertana Govinda Ninna namame Chanda. His son Ganesh Viswanathan provided the vocal support to Sri Srinivasan.

On 6th day of our Annual Art Festival, Abhinaya Natyalaya, Chennai presented a dance ballet  in Bharatnatyam style combined with a Multi Media projection of story telling about  Venkatadri Vaibhavam  choreographed by Natya Guru Smt. Krishna Kumari Narendran and about 30 of her young desciples  participated. Their dance performance is well interwoven with  Multi Media Projections narrating the divinity and greatness of the famous Seven Hills- Anjanadri, Garudadri, Neeladri, Vrushabadri, Seshadri, Simhadri and Narayanadri and the way Sri Venkatachalapathi has incoronated there. It also briefs the Annual celebrations like Dolotsavam and Brahmotsavams performed at Tirumala and their significance..

Famous violinist  Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan provided  the music  direction incorporating keertanas in Hamsadhwani, Sindhubhairavi, Revathi, Sankarabharanam , Brindavanasarangi ragas and the young dancers have impressed the audience with their abhinaya.  This programme happens to be the 93rd stage performance of Venkatadri Vaibhavam since its first performance in USA in 1990s.