Posts tagged festember

There could not have been a better start for Festember ’09, The National Level Cultural Festival of NIT Trichy. The mind-blowing performance on the saxophone by Dr. Kadri Gopalnath left the audience speechless and craving for more. He was accompanied on the violin by A. Kanyakumari and on the Mridangam by Harikumar. We also had on stage Sriram on keyboard, Raj Ganesh on Ganjeera and Raja Sekhar on the Moursing.

Kadri Gopalnath on the Saxophone

The evening was greeted by heavy showers. Incidentally, the first song was Sarasiruho Janani, set to ragam Amruthavarshini – The ragam that brings rain. With a short but kalpanaswaram, it was a testimony to the fact that the artiste was no ordinary person, and that we all have loads to learn from such stalwarts. The next song was Raghuvamsa Sudha, a refreshing piece meant for instrumentalists. The song was presented brilliantly, with an unbelievable co-ordination between sax and violin.

The main song was “Enna Thavam”, set to ragam Kapi. A brief raga elaboration was followed by the song, which brought out the emotions of the perfectly. And then was the thaniaavarthanam, which was so brilliant, the likes of which most of the audience have never heard of. The audience were tapping their feet and clapping their hands till the thaniaavarthanam ended. Anyone who had heard the rendition would have forgotten all their worldly worries and plunged into the divine world of music.

Then there were a series of light-classical songs, the first among them was “Anjali Anjali”, a song which is very famous, especially among the students of NIT Trichy. Then he performed “Kurai Ondrum Illai”, composed by Rajaji. The audience had requested him to play the theme music of the movie ‘Duet’, which he rendered immediately after. And then came the famous Tamil cine song, “Kaatrinile Varum Geetham”, which was followed by “Alaipayudhey”, set to ragam Kaanada. Then came another audience request, “Brahmamokate” in Bowli ragam. Then he performed the ragam Punnagavaraali, on which the snake tune is based. The concert came to an end with “Muthai Thiru”, a Tiruppugazh.

To summarize, it was a roller-coaster ride for all of us. A musical journey which transported all of us to an entirely different world. A world where music was eternal.