Dear Rasika, The wonderful thing about Ragas in the Indian Classical music system is that they are unique, and each one of them have something that is typically only associated with them, that which is irreplaceable. It is easy to fool an average listener in a little game of "Identify the raga" in a post-dinner Carnatic music party, and chuckle as he identifies a Sri raga as a Madhyamavati or a Pharas as a Mayamalavagowla..but how many of us self-confessed aficionados of this great system really have a fool-proof method of unambiguously identifying, each time, every time, the raga correctly? I doubt very many of us do, and this includes the smug critic or the know-it-all mama-mami duo next door. Lets face it - there are many factors that go into identifying a raga - the musical intelligence of the person who is playing or singing in the specimen recording, the level of sophistication of the music system, the extent of deafness of the listener or the lack of it, peer pressur...
Dear Charulatha
ReplyDeleteWe wish you a Very Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns of 20th January. May God bestow you with Healthy, Prosperous and long life to enable you to continue with your Good Work "Isai Payanam" and many others. You launched yourself into this programme a few years ago and it has grown in popularity all over the world in leaps and bounds.
The programmes' popularity and success were inevitable because it was educating, entertaining and enthralling.
We have listened to your ten volumes of "Isai Payanam" we purchased at the Tamil Orphans Trust Concert in London for more than ten times round since we returned from the Music Festival in Chennai in December 2009. Never has it been dull or boring having listened to it so many times. It shows the quality of the contents.
The CDs and mp3 we purchased when you gave a performance in aid of the Kokuvil Hindu College were also excellent renderings. We particularly liked " Arabhimanam" in the 12 Ragas and the Kapali RTP and Tani in Mohanam which were "out of this world". Our only regret was that there were no credits listed for the four accompanying artists.
Have you advanced beyond "Isai Payanam" Volume 10? If so how many? And, where in London can they be purchased?
Since I was in the UK from 1960, I never heard of the 1985 film "Sindhubhairavi" and many such good films. Nevertheless, music and dance based films such as "Alaipayuththey", Salangai Oli" and "Sankarabharanam" I have heard of in due course and purchased the DVDs which my wife and I have viewed and enjoyed. The film "Sindhubhairavi" I heard of and purchased only in April 2010. I am fascinated by this film and have viewed it several times because it depicts a fragment of the "Isai Payanam" theme.
Kind regards
Yours sincerely
Mr Sothisrihari & Mrs Balasaraswathy (Saras) Sothisrihari, UK
The newest Isai Payanam releases are:
ReplyDelete- Abhangs & Bhajans
- Raga Sangamam - Ragas Bhairavi & Desh (DVD)
- Isai Payanam @ Abbas Cultural - January 2011 Music Season Concert
- Isai Payanam @ Kartik Fine Arts - December 2010 Music Season Concert
- Isai Payanam @ Bharathiya Vidhya Bhavan - December 2010 Music Season Concert
For more details, please see:
http://charulathamani.com/albums/carnatic_music_charulatha_albums.php