Articles by Chitra Srikrishna

In popular imagination the Vindhyas represent the boundary between north and south India. In the case of music, that boundary while far more diffuse inarguably runs through Karnataka. While Dharwad, Hubli and Belgaum in the northern parts of the state have spawned Hindustani musicians such as Bhimsen Joshi and Gangubai Hangal, Bangalore and Mysore in south Karnataka have been nurturing grounds for Carnatic musicians. The Mysore school of music has produced several renowned Carnatic musicians from veena vidwans such as Veena Seshanna, Mysore Doraiswamy Iyengar to violinist Chowdiah and the present-day violinists (brothers) Mysore Nagaraj and Mysore Manjunath to name…

Duets – the very word evokes images of love ballads from Hindi movies. The successful pairing of Lata Mangeshkar with Mohammed Rafi or P. Susheela and T.M. Soundararajan left an indelible mark on Indian movie music. Here is a song by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar from the classic Hindi movie Aandhi.  Duets are not uncommon in classical music. In Carnatic music, the last fifty years have seen numerous successful pairing of singers. Radha-Jayalakshmi were one of the pioneering duos from the 1950s. They were followed by others such as Soolamangalam Sisters and Bombay Sisters all the way to present-day…

Duets – the very word evokes images of love ballads from Hindi movies. The successful pairing of Lata Mangeshkar with Mohammed Rafi or P. Susheela and T.M. Soundararajan left an indelible mark on Indian movie music. Here is a song by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar from the classic Hindi movie Aandhi.  Duets are not uncommon in classical music. In Carnatic music, the last fifty years have seen numerous successful pairing of singers. Radha-Jayalakshmi were one of the pioneering duos from the 1950s. They were followed by others such as Soolamangalam Sisters and Bombay Sisters all the way to present-day…

Bangalore Gayana Samaja is one of the oldest institutions, promoting classical arts, in the city. The 45th annual conference of the Samaja concluded in the last week of October. For Carnatic music buffs, this was a week-long feast of lecture-demonstrations (lec-dems as they're refered to) in the morning and concerts every evening.  Each year, the conference also bestows the prestigious 'Sangeetha Kalaratna' award on a musician. This year's recipient was the violinist Mysore Mahadevappa. The second concert of this year's conference was by T V Shankaranarayanan (TVS) on Monday, October 21. Sankarnarayan's vocal recital was marked with rich classicism and…

Bangalore Gayana Samaja is one of the oldest institutions, promoting classical arts, in the city. The 45th annual conference of the Samaja concluded in the last week of October. For Carnatic music buffs, this was a week-long feast of lecture-demonstrations (lec-dems as they're refered to) in the morning and concerts every evening.  Each year, the conference also bestows the prestigious 'Sangeetha Kalaratna' award on a musician. This year's recipient was the violinist Mysore Mahadevappa. The second concert of this year's conference was by T V Shankaranarayanan (TVS) on Monday, October 21. Sankarnarayan's vocal recital was marked with rich classicism and…

Every one of us who’s been to a Bharatanatyam dance recital would have heard a tillana. Tillanas are recognisable due to their use of rhythmic syllables such as ta ka dhimi, takita jham jham. In fact, the word tillana itself is onomatopoeic. Tillanas in addition to their rhythmic syllables or jathis also have a few lines of lyrics or sahitya. The sahitya appears in the charanam or the last part of the composition. A lecture demonstration (lec-dem) on the tillanas of Veena Seshanna was held on Wednesday, October 23, during the annual conference of the Bangalore Gayana Samaja. Mysore Subramanya,…

Every one of us who’s been to a Bharatanatyam dance recital would have heard a tillana. Tillanas are recognisable due to their use of rhythmic syllables such as ta ka dhimi, takita jham jham. In fact, the word tillana itself is onomatopoeic. Tillanas in addition to their rhythmic syllables or jathis also have a few lines of lyrics or sahitya. The sahitya appears in the charanam or the last part of the composition. A lecture demonstration (lec-dem) on the tillanas of Veena Seshanna was held on Wednesday, October 23, during the annual conference of the Bangalore Gayana Samaja. Mysore Subramanya,…

“Do you want to catch this 'Purusha Sukta' at Ranga Shankara? After a long hiatus, the spouse was finally trying to get our social life in gear. “What is it? A play? A concert?” While I always briefly scanned the daily listing of classical concerts in Bangalore, having two teens meant we had little time to catch the performing arts. Now with both the kids in college, we've finally re-awakened to the arts scene in Bangalore. Bangalore's messy and seemingly chaotic growth has seen it evolve a more cosmopolitan cultural milieu. Avante-garde theatre and art, Mediterranean food and music of…

“Do you want to catch this 'Purusha Sukta' at Ranga Shankara? After a long hiatus, the spouse was finally trying to get our social life in gear. “What is it? A play? A concert?” While I always briefly scanned the daily listing of classical concerts in Bangalore, having two teens meant we had little time to catch the performing arts. Now with both the kids in college, we've finally re-awakened to the arts scene in Bangalore. Bangalore's messy and seemingly chaotic growth has seen it evolve a more cosmopolitan cultural milieu. Avante-garde theatre and art, Mediterranean food and music of…