Interview for the Times of India

Nandini's journey with Jugalbandi 

Link to the Interview for the Times of India.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/music/news/nandiniamp39s-journey-with-jugalbandiampnbsp/articleshow/11130331.cms

Music and Meditation Concert in London - March 2019

Sri. V. lakshminarayana Iyer - Stamp

Stamp released by the Govt. of India to honour my dear grand father and Guru Shri. V. Lakshminarayana Iyer.

CONCERT IN BANGALORE

I presented a Trans - Global Fusion Concert in Bangalore for the Vamshi Arts Centre at the Bhoomika Theatre, Bangalore on 24.4. 2010. This concert featured compositions that showcased the various world music genres. My accompanists for this concert were

Mr. Cressy David – Keyboard
Mr. Anantaram – Flute
Mr. Bangalore Ramnath – Mridangam
Mr. Ramesh – Ghatam
Mr. Maynard Grant - Drums

VIOLIN CONCERT @ TIRUVĀRŪR

Śri Kāñci Kāmakōṭi Karnāṭaka Saṅgīta Sēvā Trust has been organising the Saṇgīta Mūmūrtigaḷ Jayanti Isai Vizha for the past 26 years. I felt honoured to perform in this festival on April 18th 2010 not only because it was organised by the KKKSS Trust but also because this festival was conducted in the very house in which Śri Syāmā Śāstri was born. Besides my concert, my visit to Tiruvārūr was a musical pilgrimage, since I had the good fortune of having a darśan of the houses of the Trinity – Saint Tyāgarāja, Śri Muṭṭusvāmi Dīkśitar and Śri Śyāmā Śāstri.



House of Saint Tyāgarāja



House of Śri Muṭṭusvāmi Dīkśitar



House of Śri Śyāmā Śāstri



Śri Śyāmā Śāstri's handwriting


My accompanists for the concert were
Śri. Krishnamachari - Mridaṅgam
Śri. Ravikrishnan – Ghaṭam
Śri. Vadapathimangalam M. Venkataramani - Ganjīra



Songlist

Mūlādhāramūrti – Hamsadhvani – Ādi – Pāpanāsam Śivan
Kañcadaḷāyadākśi – Kamalāmanōhari – Ādi – Muṭṭusvāmi Dīkśitar
Īntakannānandamēmi – Bilahari – Rūpakam – Tyāgarāja Svāmi
Māyamma – Āhiri – Ādi – Śyāmā Śāstri
Ninnuvina – Navarasakannada – Rūpakam – Tyāgarāja Svāmi
Śri Kāntimatim – Dēśi Simhāravam – Ādi – Muṭṭusvāmi Dīkśitar
Annapūrnē – Śāma – Ādi – Muṭṭusvāmi Dīkśitar
Kurai Ondrum Illai – Ragamālika – Ādi – C. Rājagōpālachari
Madhubanu – Madhuvanti – Eka – Sūrdās

INTERVIEW FOR CHENNAI LIVE NEWS.COM - PART 2

This is a video link to my interview (Part II) for Chennai Live News.com. I was interviewed by Mr. R. Rangaraj, Editor - Newsreel Media Services just before my Jugalbandi Concert with Ustad Shahid Pervez Khan (Sitar) for Chennaiyil Tiruvaiyaru.

http://tinyurl.com/y8pd9gf

INTERVIEW FOR CHENNAI LIVE NEWS.COM - PART 1

Here is a video link to my interview for Chennai Live News.com. I was interviewed by Mr. R. Rangaraj, Editor - Newsreel Media Services just before my Jugalbandi Concert with Ustad Shahid Pervez Khan (Sitar) for Chennaiyil Tiruvaiyaru.

http://www.chennailivenews.com/music-season/videos/25-chennayil-thiruvaiyaru05.asp

Our Interview for the Chennai Times

WEDDED TO MUSIC

Chennai Times talks to violin virtuosos M Lalitha and M Nandini

SINDHU VIJAYAKUMAR 

Described as the queens of Indian music, M Lalitha and M Nandini may probably be the only violin duo sisters to perform Indian classical, western classical, world music and fusion. 

MUSICAL LEGACY 

Lalitha: We belong to the fourth generation of a family of musicians. Our grandfather V Lakshminaryana, a great musician, was our first guru. Our mother Subbalakshmi Muthuswamy is also a great vocalist and violinist. Our uncles — L Vaidyanathan, L Subramaniam and L Shanker — are world famous violinists. However, we are the first female violin performers from our family. 

VOCAL VS VIOLIN 

Lalitha: As children, we used to attend a lot of concerts along with our mother. We also had the opportunity to learn a lot of kritis from Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. We started off with a very small (quarter size) violin when we were three. We learnt vocal simultaneously. Nandini: Learning vocals helps to bring out the appropriate expressions — bhava and laya — of every composition. 

VIOLIN, THE KING OF INSTRUMENTS 

Lalitha: In India, the violin is considered as a pakkavadyam (accompaniment) but our guru wanted to elevate it to solo status. In the western classical arena, the violin is known as the King of instruments and occupies a pride of place. Violin has a close tonal quality as that of human voice. We both perform only as solo or duo artists and we don’t accompany anyone. We want the violin to get a celebrated status all over the world. 

EXPANDING HORIZONS 

Nandini: We are the first Indian women conductors from south India to have conducted the Boschbela string orchestra in South Africa. Recently, I presented a jugalbandi with sitarist Shahid Parvez Khan. For fusion concerts, we compose our own compositions. Lalitha plays African drums and has done shows. We also play the Chinese instrument Erhu. 

TWO TO TANGO 

Lalitha: We play pure Carnatic compositions when we present concert in sabhas. Our padantharam is very wide and we are known for the soulful playing of Deekshithar’s krithis. We also play a lot of rare compositions. While performing together, we create space for each other and explore the different facets of music. Nandini: The presence of my sister on stage is truly inspiring. As we live in different continents, we miss each other quite a lot and concerts are a chance to catch up with each other. 

TRACK RECORD 

Nandini: We are the pioneers to introduce and perform Carnatic Music in the University of London. Lalitha has received the coveted International Fellowships of Fulbright from USA and I got the Charles Wallace Fellowships from United Kingdom in performing arts. 

CHILLING OUT 

Lalitha:Every form of art inspires us. I do a lot of Tanjore paintings and write poetry. I am proficient in French and German. Besides this, reiki, yoga, photography and blogging are our favourite pastimes. 

(This is our interview for the Chennai Times. For the original article click here.)

Concert Review - Dina Malar

தேனாய் இனித்த நந்தினி வயலினிசை

நந்தி பைன் ஆர்ட்சின் ஆதரவில் நடைபெற்ற வயலின் சகோதரிகளில் நந்தினியின் வயலினிசை கச்சேரி நடந்தது. பக்கபலமாக மிருதங்கத்தில் ஸ்ரீதரன், தவிலில் திருவல்லிக்கேணி சாந்தகுமார் அடங்கிய அருமையான கூட்டணியில் தேனாய் தித்தித்தது. "வாரணமுகவா' கோடீஸ்வரய்யரின் ஹம்ஸத்வனி ராக கீர்த்தனையில் சிறிய ஆலாபனையில் தொடங்கி, நல்ல நேர்த்தியாக கொடுத்தார். அடுத்து, பண்டு ரீதிகோலு தியாகய்யரின் கீர்த்தனை ஹம்ஸநாத ராகத்தில் அழகு கொஞ்சும் பழமை மாறாமல் கொடுத்தார். அடுத்து, வாசஸ்பதி ராக ஆலாபனை மிகவும் வாத்ஸல்யமாக இருந்தது.

சிவனின் பாடலான பராத் பராவை கொடுத்தது, கற்பனை ஸ்வரம் நல்ல வளம். பாடிக்கொண்டிருக்கும் போது இப்பாட்டை பிரபலப் படுத்திய டி.கே.பட்டம் மாள் நினைவில் வந்து போனார். அடுத்து, திவிஜாவந்தி ராக ஆலாபனை கொடுத்து, தீட்சிதரின் அகிலாண் டேஸ்வரி கிருதியை பக்தி ரசம் ததும்ப கொடுத்தார். கண்மூடி கேட்டால், அகிலாண்டேஸ்வரி திவ்ய தரிசனம் கிடைத்துவிடும். அடுத்து, மிக விறுவிறுப்பாக "நின்னுவினா' நவரச கன்னடா ராகத்தில் சிட்டை ஸ்வரத்தில் அமர்க்களமாக வாசித்தார். தவிலும் மிருதங்கமும் இணைந்து நல்ல விதமாய் கொடுத்தார்.

இம்மாதிரி, கீர்த்தனைகள் வாசிக்கும் பொழுது சிறியவர்களை விட பெரியவர்கள் தான் சின்னக் குழந்தை போல் ரசித்து கேட்கின்றனர். அடுத்து, பிரதான ராகமாக, மோகனம் எடுத்துக் கொண்டு, ராக ஆலாபனை நல்ல விஸ்தாரமாக அமைந் தது. தவிலில் சாந்தகுமாரும் மிருதங்க ஸ்ரீதரனும் மிக அழகாக தங்கள் சுற்றுக்களை கொடுத்தனர். குன்னக் குடிக்கு பிறகு வயலினிக்கு தவில் பக்கவாத்தியமாக அதிகம், இச்சகோதரிகள் வைத்துக் கொள்கின்றனர் என்பது சிறப்பான விஷயம்.

அடுத்து "குறை ஒன்றும் இல்லை' ராஜாஜியின் வைர வரிகள் பாடலை கொடுத்து, என்றுமே எதற்கும் குறைவில்லை என்று சொல்லும்படி இருந்தது லிங்காஷ்டகத்துடன் நிகழ்ச்சியை நிறைவு செய்தது. ரசிகர்களின் பலத்த கரகோஷத்தில் சந்நிதியில் சங்கீதம் சௌக்யமாக இருந்தது.

(This is a review of my concert at Nandi Fine Arts on 20.12.2009, Chennai that appeared in the Dinamalar - reviewed by Rasigapriya. Click here for the original review.

INTERVIEW: YOUTUBE

This is my exclusive interview for istream youtube which was shot just after my concert.

Concert Review - The Hindu, Nov. 6th 2009

Enthralling: Violinist Nandini Muthusamy and (right) sitarist Purbayan Chatterji.

Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

Impressive display of prowess

JYOTI NAIR BELLIAPPA

Of Nandini Muthusamy’s violin and and Purbayan Chatterji’s sitar. Kartik Fine Arts and Nandi Fine Arts recently organised a jugalbandi concert by violinist, Nandini Muthusamy, and Hindustani sitarist, Purbayan Chatterji. Their performance exemplified mastery within the two selected genres that in unison only elevated the music to a higher plane. The first segment of the event began with individual performances by Nandini, followed by Purbayan, before the jugalbandi, which concluded the programme. In keeping with tradition, Nandini began with Purandaradasa’s composition in Hamsadhwani invoking Lord Ganesa followed by the presentation of Tyagaraja’s ‘Banturiti’ and ‘Ramakatha,’ sung in Hamsanadam and in Madhyamavathi, respectively, and Rajaji’s ‘Kurai Ondrum Illai, in Ragamalika, which was played with aplomb. Nandini concluded with a complex korvai. Beauty and ecstacy Purbayan Chatterji’s performance on the sitar showcased the best of Maiher Gharana and Raga Maru Bihag, exhibited perfection, harmony, beauty, and ecstasy. His innovations on the sitar were elastic, fluid, and profound. He even accompanied singing a bandish and concluded with a sidha jhala. For the jugalbandi, Nandini and Purbayan chose Charukesi. Pathos emerged as the predominant emotion through the impressive display of prowess over their respective instruments. It was a voyage through the intricacies of the raga. With smooth and light strokes, swaying to the resonating notes, komal dha and ni, Nandini’s rendition was hypnotic; yet when Purbayan joined with his rendition, he had woven a splendid veil. After Purbayan’s Alap and bandish, the musical dialogue and repartee took many forms, each with its own melodic possibilitiesand progressions of phrasing, tone, and colour. The initial playing of the ghat was in vilambit, and then in madhya laya. The two artists alternated and then played together, progressively with more and more complexity. They systematically increased the laya and exhibited cross-rhythmic patterns, using tihais and todas, which then led into a dhrut at an electrifying speed. Bangalore Praveen, performing on the mridangam, and Yogesh Samsi on the tabla, continued a dramatic exchange until the climactic moment was reached.

(This is a review of my Jugalbandi Concert with Purbayan Chatterjee on 26th October 2009 @ Chennai. For the original review, please click here.)

Vināyakā & the Violin

With many of the Hindu Gods & Goddesses being associated with musical instruments, it is nice to see that Lord Vinayaka has adopted the violin :) Infact some years ago my mother Smt. Subbulakshmi Muthuswamy had designed a logo for my sister Lalitha and myself - where Lord Vinayaka was playing the Violin. This inspired my sister Dr. M. Lalitha who is also a Tanjore painter to create a Tanjore Painting of Lord Vinayaka playing the Violin. This picture adorns the cover of the book that she authored - Violin Techniques in Western and South Indian Classical Music : a comparative study. Thanks to Lord Vinayaka, we violinists have a "Vādya Dēvatā" :D