Sruti Magazine articles reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. www.sruti.com

Debate - of microphones and acoustics

Who amongst us has not been at a concert where the singer kept on asking the sound engineer to adjust the volume? Worse yet, I remember one or two concerts marred by repeated tweaking of the sound system throughout.
VECHOOR HARIHARASUBRAMANIA IYER (1925-1994)

Musicians of Kerala - Vechoor HariHaraSubramania Iyer (1925-1994)

The establishment of the Sri Swati Tirunal College of Music in Tiruvananthapuram in 1939 was a milestone in the history of Carnatic music in Kerala. It was the result of the vision of three outstanding individuals— Maharani Sethu Parvati Bayi (mother of Sree Chithira Tirunal Maharaja), Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer (Dewan of Travancore) and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.
RADHA VISWANATHAN (1934-2018)

Radha Viswanathan (1934-2018)

For most of her first 50 years, she was celebrated for her beauty and charm. For the next 35 years of untold suffering, she was an invalid, steadily declining in health, wheelchair bound, needing a caregiver all the time. She was totally bedridden towards the end of her life—which came on 1 January 2018. This was the tragedy of Radha Viswanathan, M.S. Subbulakshmi’s stepdaughter, steadfast companion and sterling vocal accompanist.
DKP 100 - The eclectic traditionalist

DKP 100 - The eclectic traditionalist

An exciting slew of events has been planned to celebrate the centenary of one of Carnatic music’s enduring icons starting on Saturday 17 March and culminating in her 100th birth anniversary on 19th March 2019. Sruti’s inaugural issue proved an instant success as it had Sangita Kalanidhi D.K. Pattammal on the cover.
A tour-de-force of Tyagaraja

LEC DEM MELA - A tour-de-force of Tyagaraja

The Sruti Foundation and Karnatic Music Forum jointly organised Lec Dem Mela 2017 at the Arkay Convention Centre on 9 and 10 December to mark the 250th birth anniversary year of Tyagaraja. The series was supported by The Ministry of Culture,…
Seetharama Sarma

Sarma Mama, the polymath

The year was 1989, the city Paris. The French were celebrating the bicentenary of the revolution. I had accompanied Sarma Mama (as I called him) to France and we lived in a serviced apartment in the suburb of Chatelet for two months. Sarma…
MUSIC SEASON 2017 - Supply exceeds demand

MUSIC SEASON 2017 - Supply exceeds demand

For the last few seasons I stayed anchored at the Music Academy for the annual music season. This year I decided to do the sabha hopping that many rasikas experience during the season. I attended about 50 plus concerts across seven venues including the Music Academy.
Sruti 400 an event to remember

Sruti 400 an event to remember

Eminent business leader R. Seshasayee, who is also a vice president of the Music Academy, and a connoisseur of music, formally released the 400th edition of Sruti on 4 January 2018 at Amethyst, Royapettah, Chennai.
SUKANYA RAMGOPAL

SUKANYA RAMGOPAL - BREAKING GENDER STEREOTYPES

Sukanya Ramgopal has carved a singular place for herself in the world of Carnatic music as the only top-ranked woman ghatam player. A prime disciple of ghatam maestro T.H. ‘Vikku’ Vinayakram, her passion for the percussion instrument has taken her around the world.

CARNATIC MUSIC TODAY - Loud and not so clear

The modern kutcheri takes place in a rather casual manner, seldom starting on time, with the audience and others drifting in and out all the time and few of them staying for the whole concert.
CHITRAVINA N. RAVIKIRAN

CHITRAVINA N. RAVIKIRAN - Maestro on a mission

Chitravina Ravikiran has been selected to preside over the 91st annual conference of the Music Academy and has been designated as the Sangita Kalanidhi for 2018. I spent some family time with him at my brother's house in Philadelphia…
T.S. Sathyavathi

T.S. SATHYAVATHI - "Rasa reigns supreme"

Dr. T.S. Sathyavathi is a discerning musician and a brilliant speaker. Her felicity with languages, sharpness of intellect, mastery over the subject matter and ability to assess the expectations and limits of her audience come across powerfully…