'Legends', a five-cassette album of picks from Lalgudi's various concerts, may not be make for a great listening experience from the first piece of cassette-1 to the last of the last cassette, as HMV's little booklet wants us to believe. But the album contains some outstanding bits that one might want to keep in his possession.
It is a mix really, of good and not-so-good renditions. Cassette 2, for example is lovely and every particle of iron on the tape contains music of the finest quality. On the other hand, the ragam, tanam, pallavi in Mohanam, falls flat on its face, rather atypically of Lalgudi. The other pieces are in-betweens.
Cassette 2, offers a nice variety-fare, with Anandamruthakarshini (Amritha Varshini) and Sri Sankara (Nagaswarali) coming out as the sparklers in the set.
Nagaswarali is not one of the hackneyed ragas and therefore makes for both a pleasurable and instructive listening. Nada Loludai (Kalyana Vasantham) is another great piece in the cassette.
The album itself offers a variety-fare. There is a jugalbandi (with another maestro, Ramani on the flute), a few thillanas including two of Lalgudi's own compositions, and some any-timers like Sarasa Samadana, Akhilandeswari, Eppo Varuvaro, Teerada Vilayattu Pillai and Sanathana.
It is apparent that the producers have taken pains to have something for every taste, but this could just be a negative aspect about the album for a die-hard Carnatic fan. For him, the die-hard, it is Cassette-2 and perhaps the jugalbandi.
