An article featured in Mumbai Mirror dt 30.10.10 :
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=CITY%20-%20Briefs§id=35&contentid=2010103120101101161039572bcfcb501
Carnatic music exponent regales city
Vashi: Navi Mumbaikars listened with rapt attention to the rendition of Carnatic music by Padmashri awardee Sudha Raghunathan at Vishnudas Bhave auditorium in Vashi recently. Internationally known for propagating and promoting Carnatic classical form originating from South, Raghunathan got an appreciative audience who maintained pin-drop silence all through the concert, organised by Navi Mumbai Tamil Sangam (NMTS), in collaboration with Micro Technologies.
It was an annual feature of NMTS, a socio-cultural wing of Tamilians in the city that works for promotion of the centuries-old Indian tradition by arranging cultural activities with pure Indian style. Raghunathan started off the much-awaited concert with alaap and moved on to other raagas and collections from Sant Tyagaraj among others. Her unique rendition in Carnatic format, with well synchronised beats of accompanying instruments like violin, mridangam and morsing, was well appreciated.
The solo instrumental session was the highlight of the show where each instrumentalist had his own groove. A huge round of applause greeting awaited them after they were through with performing their segments. A standing ovation in the end for Raghunathan and her troupe including B V Raghavendrarao on violin, Skanda Subramanian on mridangam, and R Raman.
Talking to TNM after the show, Sudha reveals, "The response has been tremendous. Navi Mumbaikars showed that they love Carnatic music. TV channels are also promoting classical music with their 24x7 telecast and this is a good sign for Indian classical music."
Sudha, a disciple of the late M L Vasanthakumari, is a renowned Carnatic music practitioner and has enthralled aficionados across the world for years. She started off her training at the age of nine under the tutelage of her mother Choodamani and switched over to train under Padmabhushan Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Dr M L Vasanthakumari in 1977.
She was on India government's scholarship stint given to young artiste for training. "I chanced upon to render vocal support to my guru for over a decade, a memorable regime of my life. I got the Kalaimamani award from Tamil Nadu government in 1993 and went on to receive a Padmashri in 2004.
My hard work and dedication to Carnatic have been recognised on time. I had the rare honour of singing Vande Mataram in the Parliament in 2000 to mark the completion of 50 years of Indian Republic," said soft spoken and ever-smiling Sudha.
"This is one of our cultural activities in the series throughout the year to preserve and promote our rich culture and tradition through this classical musical form,” she says. “We conduct language classes for free in Marathi and Tamil at our centre," said N Mahadevan, president of Tamil Sangam.
Another article in Daily News Agency dated 26th October2010 :
Sudha Raghunathan mesmerises city audience
DNA : Daily News & Analysis; Mumbai, Oct 26, 2010
The Navi Mumbai Tamil Sangam (NMTS) conferred the title of Sangeetha Kokila on Padmashri Kalai Mamani Sangeetha Saraswati Sudha Raghunathan during a programme held at Vashi's Vishnudas Bhave auditorium on Sunday. The title was given at the hands of Dr P Sekhar, CMD, Micro Technologies.
NMTS, in association with Micro Technologies, hosted a Carnatic musical concert by Raghunathan on the occasion. The vocalist was accompanied by BV Ragavendrarao (violin), S Skanda Subramanian (Mridangam) and R Raman (morsing).
Raghunathan rendered more than 10 ragas. She started with Hamsa Dhwani Varnam and the song was Jalajakshi. The main song during the programme was Jagdishwari Krippai Puri (Raga Mohanam), Mahalakshmi Raghunath of NMTS said.
A Tamil poem written on Sudha Raghnathan, a disciple of late ML Vasantha Kumari, by Prasanna Venkatesh was read on the occasion. Raghunathan rendered Raga Karaharapriya, Kannada Bangala Ragam, Kamas Ragam, Bandu Varali Ragam, among others.
The most prominent part is that the entry to the public was completely free of cost. NMTS President N Mahadevan said, "It is very nice of Sudha Raghunathan who is one of the biggest stars in Carnatic music and internationally renowned to come to Navi Mumbai especially for this music concert. The programme was conducted only through corporate sponsorships, thanks to which music afficianados in the city could witness the performance."
Raghunathan has the exceptional honour of being the first Indian and the only Asian to have performed at the international festival - Echternach in Luxembourg. Sudha inherited an interest in music from her mother Choodamani, who gave her formal training right from the age of nine. She also had the unique honour of rendering Vande Mataram at the Parliament House in the year 2000. "It's a honour to have hosted Ms Raghunathan," said Dr. Sekhar of Micro Technologies.
The honours
* Raghunathan rendered Raga Karaharapriya, Kannada Bangala Ragam, Kamas Ragam, among others during the function in city
* The ace Carnatic vocalist is the first Indian and the only Asian to have performed at the international festival - Echternach in Luxemburg. Raghunathan inherited interest in music from her mother Choodamani. She was also trained by late ML Vasantha Kumari
* She has the honour of rendering Vande Mataram in the Parliament House in the year 2000
PHOTOS : SPECIAL THANKS TO SHRI MUMBAI HARIHARN JI
I'm a great fan of yours... your songs make my mind boggling.... your voice make my daily life pleasent!!!!!!!my most favourite songs of yours are.. " brammam okkatae"., " asainthaadum "., " alaipaayuthey"., "chendru vaa neeradhey"., " sriman naarayanaa"., etc., etc./, etc., the list goes on.......... All the best for your future projects.
ReplyDeleteI REALLY THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR SHOWING ME "THE ESSENCE OF CARNATIC MUSIC "THROUGH YOUR DELIGHTFUL VOICE... May you have a lush oncoming future..... take care...