It is certainly one of the biggest Carnatic music festivals in the world now, and attracts people from across the globe. This year's festival was yet another huge success story. Starting from the competitions, which witnessed a phenomenal turnout of nearly 350 participants from all over North America, to the array of the performances by some of the best in the business, it was a thriller all the way!
Going back to the Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana again this year was almost like going home! My only regret was that unlike my previous trips here, I couldn't be present for the whole festival. I however managed to make it for the second half.
The usual festive atmosphere prevailed even as I walked into the University Centre auditorium of the Cleveland State University on Thursday, April 20, 2006, just in time to attend the concert of N Ravikiran (Chitravina) with Akkarai Subhalakshmi (Violin) and Umayalpuram Sivaraman (Mridangam). As expected, the artistes on stage that day took the pretty sizeable audience to lofty heights with their musical brilliance, spontaneity and camaraderie. Mridangam maestro Umayalpuram Sivaraman, who has just completed 60 years of a trail-blazing career in Carnatic music, not merely thrilled everyone with his masterly accompaniment, but also capped it off with a breath-taking tani avartanam. To nobody's surprise the entire audience rose as one to salute the man with a 5-minute standing ovation at the end of it! This concert inspired and exhilarated me so much that I carried the mood into my own concert the next day! It was once again great to be back on the Cleveland stage, especially as the audience comprised many musicians and knowledgeable rasikas. It was a very gratifying feeling when it was received well, undoubtedly due to God's grace.
Later that evening it was the turn of Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar (Flute) and S Sowmya (Vocal), who both pleased their audiences easily. Saturday morning witnessed the concert of the Carnatica brothers, Shashikiran and Ganesh, accompanied by Mysore Srikanth (Violin) and veterans Vellore Ramabhadran and Srimushnam Raja Rao (double-mridangam). I think the double-mridangam featuring these two top-ranking artistes was the first of its kind, and certainly proved to be a unique event. Once again the greatness of the Carnatic concert system came to the fore as all the artistes gelled extremely well and produced some memorable music without any prior rehearsals.
On Saturday evening, yet another veteran mridangam vidwan, Prof. Trichy Sankaran added lustre to the festival in his usual grand manner when he provided accompaniment to T M Krishna (Vocal). His bright and enthusiastic support through the concert as well as his sparkling tani avartanam was another standing-ovation-winning affair!
Before the concert of T M Krishna, the Cleveland audience was treated to some excellent vintage quality music from the 75-plus vocalist Kuzhikkarai Viswalingam. With a remarkably steady voice and a crystal clear vision of music, he simply moved the audience to tears with his devotion-filled renditions. He was excellently supported by V K Manimaran (Vocal), Mysore Srikanth (Violin), Srimushnam Raja Rao (Mridangam) and Karthik Venkataraman (Khanjira). The audience once again did not fail to show their respect and admiration for this veteran - they heartily cheered him with a standing ovation.
Sunday morning, the last day of the festival, began with a soulful and serene concert by Neyveli Santanagopalan. Vidwan Vellore Ramabhadran matched the mood created by the vocalist, and the audience thus experienced another great concert. Prof. S R Janakiraman's lecture-concert that afternoon was an interesting affair, and not only carried a lot of musical weight but also the stamp of his inimitable presentational style. His comparative analysis of a select few ragas as handled by Tyagaraja and Dikshitar showed his scholarly and holistic approach to the subject. The last concert of the festival was by M S Sheela, but I had to unfortunately take my leave at this point.
Although I knew that I missed many an excellent concert this year, the concerts that seemed to have left an impact long after they were over were those of the veterans Dr. Ramani (with R Tyagarajan and Atul Kumar), Jayalakshmi Santanam and Rama Ravi.
My earlier impressions of this festival were reinforced this time. Obviously, such a festival could have been planned and executed only by people who have a very good knowledge of and passion for Carnatic music, as there was perfect balance between concerts by the veterans, the stars, the respectable, the established, the upcoming, the new finds and the local talent. Other related arts such as Bharatanatyam (Sujatha Srinivasan) and Harikatha (Jaya Srinivasan) were also featured. But then, knowing the trio of V V Sundaram, Cleveland Balasubramaniam and Toronto Venkataraman as I do (and the immense contribution of Dr. N Ramani and Srimushnam Raja Rao in the background), I shouldn't really be surprised! Their love of the arts can only be matched by their genuine regard and affection for the artistes! The best reward for them surely must have been the fact that every single performer put their very best foot forward. Equally delightful must have been the fact that most of these artistes also stayed back to support and enjoy the performances of other artistes - a remarkable feat that even organisers in Chennai are not able to manage these days!
It was amazing how every single logistical detail (the Aradhana Committee had brought about 40 artistes from India!) was handled without fuss and an enviable level of patience till the last day. The indefatigable spirits and efforts of the volunteers is another awesome fact of this festival. For many years now, I have been seeing the ever-smiling faces of Gomati Balu, Gomati Sundaram, Radhika Balasubramaniam, Aravind and Meena Balakrishnan, Karthik and Lavanya Venkataraman, Roger and Jaya Natarajan (who come all the way from Minneapolis), Charubala (of Charsur fame) and a host of others whose names I am forced to omit due to space constraints. No musician or rasika ever wants for anything as there is always someone to help you out cheerfully. The food is another great feature of the festival - not only is it hot, tasty and has the special home-made feel, but when served happily by the volunteers, it acquires a special flavour!
Before I end, I must mention V V Sundaram's speeches. As in the past, this year too, he managed to match the quality of the concerts with a few well chosen words and delivered them in his usual suave and poised manner!
It was hard to take leave and say bye to yet another grand show. But my only consolation is that I can come back again next year to the same festive atmosphere, the familiar faces of the musicians, rasikas, organisers and the volunteers, not to mention the excellent music!
Click here to read the experiences shared by other participants and rasikas at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana
:: Sujatha Srinivasan's Bharatanatyam recital at Cleveland
:: "My experience at Cleveland Aradhana"
