Archives: December, 2008

“Sivaraman, a Legend” – Mridanga Cintamanih

CHENNAI: As his fingers trace the intricate patterns on the mridangam, the audience watch and listen in disbelief at how despite the speed, each syllable is traced with crystal clarity.

Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman “is a legend serving the cause of the art for over six decades,” said N. Murali, Managing Director, The Hindu. He is not just the Maradona of Carnatic music, but a combination of Maradona and Pele, he said, explaining that though Mr. Sivaraman is a genius like the maverick footballer, he is also disciplined and structured like Pele.

The Hindu News

Audio albums of Carnatic music legends

“After an album of Ramnad Krishnan was released last year, Krishnan’s son Ramanthan has been insisting us that Brindamma’s music is also brought out to the audience,” says Mala Mohan, product manager at Swathi Soft Solutions.And now a set of six audio CDs of the legendary musician T. Brinda is released by Swathi Soft Solutions.

http://www.kutcheribuzz.com/decseason2008/news13.asp

Sung with poise – Prerana

Parassala Ponnammal, vidushi who is well into her eighties, has been recently creating waves in the Tamil Nadu concert circle. She is a disciple of stalwarts such as Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bagavathar and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Ponnammal’s twin compact disc album has the vocalist in the company of Lalgudi Vijayalaksmi (violin) and Nanjil Arul (mridangam).

The selection includes songs that were popular a few decades back as well as a couple of rare compositions. ‘Dayapayonidhe’ in Jaganmohini (Meesu Krishna Iyer) is the chosen number for a bright opening.

The Hindu News

The making of my new self-learning DVDs – Mridanga Cintamanih

It’s been my long cherished dream to share the nuances of mridangam playing and techniques that I had learnt from the great masters to the future generation.

I have always felt the audio medium( normal music CDs) is necessarily not the best suited for this, for the simple reason that unlike vocal music, the students of mridangam have to see and understand fingering techniques which is a very key aspect of perfecting the art of mridangam playing. I strongly felt they have to see and learn, rather than just hear or read from books. It is with this objective and intent, I have been waiting for the right opportunity to create learning DVDs. Very recently, the opportunity presented itself and I agreed to do a project with Swathi Soft Solutions.

http://umayalpuramsivaraman.blogspot.com/2008/12/making-of-my-new-self-learning-dvds.html