JOIN USMusic never stops playing in the house of S Kumar Sreenivasan and Asha. The best of the best symphonies come alive in their house, thanks to the old vinyl records spinning on the gramophone.
Kumar and Asha are admirers of Western classical music. Kumar, specially, can be called a die-hard fan and a proof of this would be his collection of over 1500 vinyl records, all signed by legendary performers and conductors of Western classical music.
It was in Germany, the country which revolutionised Western classical genre, where Kumar developed this passion. “I used to attend Western classical music concerts in Germany. This was between 1970 and 1977, and my wife and I used to attend at least 15 concerts a month,” he recalls. The love for music made him collect them all. From Beethoven to Bach, he has boxed sets of complete symphonies of Brahms, Dvorak, Bruckner, Schubert, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Sibelius, Hayden — all autographed by the legends.
A dedicated listener of Western classical music, he took the sleeve notes of LP records and made it a point to visit the green rooms to get them autographed by the performers. Not once, not twice, he has met the legends over and again, each time with a new record for the same autograph. This once led him to Zubin Mehta, the best known Indian conductor and a frequent performer in Berlin, who then said to him, ‘You come for all my concerts, don’t you? Next time I will book tickets for you at the box office.’ This still echoes in Kumar’s ears.
He has one of the best-selling records of Herbert von Karajan, signed by all the performers and Karajan himself.
“This is one of my most prized possessions. I did not meet the artistes together. I waited for each of their concerts and succeeded in getting the signatures. One of them has also addressed me by my name,” he says proudly. From London to Chicago, his passion for music made him travel everywhere.
“I had travelled from Berlin to Vienna just to listen to one of the greatest conductors of New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein,” he says. Coming back to India, he is still reliving the memories, all stored in the records, which are in perfect condition. “I had to bring my collection from Germany to India. At the customs, the officer was very curious about what I was carrying and ended up checking them. After learning about my interest, he stared at the records and asked me if they were all old. I replied, ‘I do not fiddle with the record while placing them on the spindle. I am very careful and hence you can’t find a single scratch’. He was then convinced about my passion,” he says.
While he recalls the friendly moments with the legends of Western classical, he also says that there were many unfriendly artistes. “Being an Indian was an advantage. The concerts were attended mostly by Europeans and when I went to ask for their autograph, I was noticed,” he says.
He narrates an interesting story about Mysuru Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar. “Soon after the World War, the subsidies provided to the orchestra by the government stopped. At this time, one of the managers of an orchestra, Walter Legge, approached the Maharaja for help, after learning about his interest in Western music. The Maharaja gave his share from Rolls Royce on the request that they support Nikolai Medtner, a Russian artiste who had then left his country. Legge obliged and Medtner dedicated his ‘Third Piano Concert’ to the Maharaja.” Kumar narrated this story to the Maharaja’s sister, who was unaware of her brother’s support for Western classical. He says, “She is also a huge fan of Western classical music and this got her to see my collection. She was surprised to listen to the story.”
With over 1,500 original records, he wants to give them away to a music institution as he says there is no one to take care of them after they are gone. “I cannot put a monetary value on my records. Also, I do not want them to be ruined. I wish to give my exquisite collection to the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai,” he says.
“My biggest regret in life is not getting a chance to listen to the greatest pianist, Vladimir Horowitz, live,” he adds as a parting shot.