A sad day for Carnatic music lovers

pleco — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:27:08 +0000

It is a painful loss. Yet another great stalwart is gone.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/17/stories/2009071754630100.htm

Python vs Perl

pleco — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:15:19 +0000

I hope i wont start a Perl vs Python, but I have a much more refined opinion about both now. Up until now python was my favorite language to program. I have been using perl for the past few days and I miss python already. The sheer elegance of python can’t be beat.

Disclaimer — This is a personal opinion and All i meant is i like python better than perl.

Irreverance of self-proclaimed musicians

pleco — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:53:12 +0000

I was determined not to blog, for two reasons. Firstly, Nobody will ever be bothered to read it. Secondly, I wont be able to keep it updated. But then something changed my mind. Today me and my wife had been to a concert. we are die-hard rasikas of carnatic music, and today’s concert changed my mind. I need to vent about the declining quality of carnatic music to somebody other than my wife. ( Frankly, she really got fed up of hearing this, over and over again). So here goes.

The lead artist had started off with a Saveri varnam. If rendered right, it is a very beautiful composition. We learn from her that how badly one can sing it. She did not stop there, she went ahead and started rendering Kalpana swaram for a varnam!! Even the greatest stalwarts stopped doing that, to show respect to the composer of the varnams. Violin and Mrudhangam accompaniments really out performed her. The thing that really ticked me off, is the irreverence that she had, for the accompanying artists and the audience. It would probably be an unjust generalization to say that, a large number of artist performing in U.S do not show humility. However, it is true for almost all the concerts I have been to.

Before I continue with this rant, I should really appreciate the performance of the violinist and the Percusionist. They showed respect to music, and strictly followed the traditional rules of being an accompanying artist. The precision and melody of the violinist was expressive of his expertise. Supportive and flawless performance of the percussionist showed his talent and devotion to music.

However good the accompaniments may be, the way lead artist sung was intolerable. Another thing that really annoyed me was, the constant announcement that she made, about every song she is about to sing, its history and theory. I felt that the artist had taken up the huge responsibility of educating the mass about the basics of carnatic music.

These artists would not survive a single day as artist in south india, performing this way. Constant scrutiny of the professional critics and avid rasikas would put a stop to amateurs trying to perform before they perfect their art. Outside of south india, I presume that these amateurs have the notion that rasikas are not knowledgeable enough to identify their flaws.

I really pray that this situation changes, and only really talented artist are encouraged. Most importantly the artist listen to their own music, judge themselves and not live in self-approval.

The concert that we attended is this

http://www.padmathyagaraju.com/index.php?p=1_5_Concerts-Workshops

A rummaging search for answers

A sad day for Carnatic music lovers

Python vs Perl

Irreverance of self-proclaimed musicians