World Music Day: Music enthusiasts to pay tribute to music maestros

On World Music Day, TOI finds it’s time for listening sessions at sabhasChennai has a keenness for music that may be unrivalled with concerts happening the entire year round and in December reaching its fever pitch. But when you're thinking that Chennaiites only prefer being attentive to live concerts and performers reconsider. While webcasts of concerts was gaining traction over the past couple of years, the city’s music enthusiasts at the moment are organizing listening sessions through which recorded concerts of past masters are played to unanimous applause.

Take the case of Mottai Madi Kutcheri, a monthly event organized by S L Narasimhan, a tech and marketing communication consultant, who refers to himself as a “music archivist and professional listener”. He was organizing listening sessions featuring the recorded concerts of Carnatic maestros since 2008. “We organize it at the second Friday of each month. We play recorded music of the late masters from as early because the 1930s till the early 60s and we discuss both the music and the artist,” says Narasimhan.

While there have been only 25 to 30 people attending the events initially, for a session that was organized on the Krishna Gana Sabha last week, featuring a concert of Madurai Mani Iyer recorded during his performance on the Shanmukhanandha Hall in Mumbai in July 1957, the audience numbered over 400! “What was more surprising was that despite being over three hours long, a few of the audience stayed inside the session,” adds Narasimhan.

Sundar Ramachandran of Hamsadhwani, who recently organized an identical tribute concert for M D Ramanathan, feels that the allure lies in being attentive to the maestros who're not more with us but whose music has managed to stick on and entice all generations. “Imagine having a concert where there's only a photo of the artist to take a look at and their music flowing during the speakers! It isn't just old individuals who come to those sessions out of sheer nostalgia. There's a sizable collection of youngsters who make up the group that's heartening,” he says.

Advaith, a 22-year-old music lover, says, “The charm of a Carnatic music concert lies in experiencing the music at concert halls. So, even if there is not any artist present, you might be hearing their music within the same manner as a live concert with an appreciative audience at these sessions. It's an experience that may be both novel and conventional on the same time,” he says.

The most celebrated Carnatic musicians whom people like to listen to:G N BalasubramaniamM S SubbulakshmiMadurai Mani IyerM L VasanthakumariD K PattammalM D RamanathanFlute MaliKarukurichi ArunachalamT M ThyagarajanAlathur BrothersT K Rangachari