A wave of nostalgia may have swept the Ragasudha hall as two legends of Carnatic music met Thursday evening. Music had brought them together ages ago and they share a bond now that goes back more than six decades or more in Chennai. They met at a function to release a CD containing the combined creative efforts of the best students of one of them. The senior in this duo was none other than the violin legend, T.N. Krishnan, the Yehudi Menuhin of India. With him was Guruvayur Dorai, the senior most exponent of the mridangam.
A coincidence in their lives was that both had made their debuts at the age of eight as child prodigies in different cities at different times. Remarkably, Krishnan, a soloist of the highest order, plays on at the age of 84, his violin still striking those mellifluous notes of a unique brand. One of the great classical violin trinity – MS Gopalakrishnan, Lalgudi Jayaraman and T.N. Krishnan – it is said that even a blindfolded listener can recognise Krishnan’s violin from the near vocal tonality of his playing which makes the violin ‘sing’.
The elegant touches of the maestro were very much in evidence as Krishnan played with his son Sriram for close to two hours. Once the veteran managed to sit down on the dais and tuned his violin, the spirit of music seemed to transform him into a younger man. The one complaint the audience could have had is that they did not get enough of Krishnan as he would begin the songs on a violin that hit a far higher pitch effortlessly and his son would then take over to lead the duo.
It is a pity Dorai, who once played for MS Subbulakshmi at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York, was not accompanying them on Thursday evening with percussion, being content to sit on the front row and simply savour the concert. What brought the legends together was the release of “Sojourn — a Soul’s search by The Gusty Harmony”, a musical journey of the soul, an album of collaborative music by the disciples of the legendary violinist Krishnan and Patri Satish Kumar, an accomplished mridangist and leading expert in bringing together music of different streams like Carnatic and Hindustani.
The first copies of the CD, brought out by Sree Phaadhukhaa Enterprises, were given by Mr Krishnan to Guruvayur Dorai and R. Mohan, Resident Editor, Deccan Chronicle. The violin may have had its origins in Italy in the 16th century and may still be considered a distinctly western instrument, but it has been adapted seamlessly into Indian classical music in the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions. A lot more of the attractive music of the violin can be heard as the Lalgudi Trust and Krutagnya Trust are conducting ‘Violin Vaibhavam’ — an exclusive Violin Festival for youth, on Sunday (January 4).
The festival will showcase the violin as a solo instrument and encourage young violinists to play solo.The day-long programme features several up and coming violinists from various styles of violin-playing. It also features Children of Violin maestros who are raring to go. The event will take place from 9 am at Srinivasa Sastry Hall, Mylapore.
