General

Carnatic music vocalist Manakkal Rangarajan passes away

27 February 2019

One of Carnatic music's celebrated vocalists Manakkal Rangarajan has died. He was 97 years old.

Rangarajan was known for his steadfastness to the classical and for his pallavis and brigas and stalwarts like Mysore Chowdiah and Palghat Mani Iyer accompanied him at his major concerts.

He performed even in his 80s.  A documentary film on him and his music was produced by a London fan of his and made by film maker Amshan Kumar - in 2012.

Rasikas who followed Rangarajan's career and adored his music say that his brigas were stunning and they listened to him so not only during his peak days but much later.

A native of Tiruchi district in Tamil Nadu and one who followed the sampradaya in music, he was also known to have remained unaffected by fame, fortune and titles and remain unsullied in his music - reason why serious Carnatic music rasikas sat for his concert even when he was on stage when he was in his 60s and 70s; the voice ringing and rolling effortlessly with a signature of its own.

With his passing the Carnatic music world loses yet another stalwart of the old era.

Watch and listen to this video clip from a Doordarshan telecast of a Thyagaraja aradhana recital of Rangarajan. He used to perform here year after year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxCuFC7Umd8

Here is a KutcheriBuzz report on the Rangarajan docu-film release.

http://kutcheribuzz.com/news/general/107-documentary-film-on-manakkal-s-rangarajan-released