JOIN USThe hall was silent as the musicians ascended the stage. As the strains of Carnatic music flowed through the space, the audience was respectfully silent, only shaking their heads in appreciation or bursting into applause at the end of a performance.
The setting was the ‘Pallavi Sangeethotsav 2016’, conducted by Pallavi Gana Sabha for three days.
The event was a centenary music festival in memory of Pallavi S Chandrappa, a legendary Carnatic musician who is credited to have introduced the ‘Taalavadhana Pallavi’ art form for the first time in the history of the Karnataka Shastriya Sangeetha in the 19th century.
The music festival organised concerts involving artistes of national and international fame as well as provided an opportunity for upcoming talent.
It gave a chance to music lovers to experience some high class music and helped in reviving forgotten art forms.
Renowned names like R K Padma Nabha, Mysore Nagaraj, Mysore Manjunath, Suma Sudhindra, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Abhishek Raghuram, Mysore Chandan Kumar, Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath, Priya Purushothaman and Mandolin Aravind Bhargav performed at the event.
Avadhana Pallavi demonstrations, a unique and thought-provoking art form of Carnatic music, were performed by Padma Gurudutt, Nanda Kumar, Varada Raja and Hemanth Kumar.
There were a host of other maestros too, who contributed to the magic of the event.
The popularity of the artistes was evident from the number of youngsters who could be seen seated in the audience.
The musicians themselves were from all age groups with the younger generation displaying an expertise which was remarkable.
The huge, well-lit stage provided a beautiful setting for the melodious evening and the glittering silk saris and crisp white ‘mundus’ blended perfectly with video cameras and
iPads recording the performances, showcasing a true blend of tradition and
modernity.
On the occasion of the centenary celebration, a biography of Pallavi S Chandrappa was also released.
The book, ‘Laya Yogi’, chronicles the life of the musical genius and makes for an exciting journey through his life and his invaluable contributions to the carnatic music field.
The book is written by C Varadaraja and was launched by K Radhakrishnan, advisor/former chairman of the ISRO.
The Pallavi Gana Sabha was formed in 1990 and has been contributing to carnatic music for over 25 years by organising musical events and felicitations of great musicians.