HYDERABAD: A nightlong programme in Carnatic music is uncommon nowadays.
Most Carnatic music concerts are late evening occasions which wind up by 9 or 10 p.m., or on rare occasion, they may be morning sessions but these latter tend to be more like lec-dems or goshti-gaanam aka group-singing events.
However, this weekend will see an exception––a Shivaratri music festival titled Mahasivarathri Sangeethothsavam by Sujanaranjani cultural organisation.
For the devout, Shivaratri is all about a night--long jaagarana or staying awake and occupying oneself with devotional music and reading of holy books.
In fact, the English equivalent of jaagarana would be “keeping vigil” because the devotee believes he is keeping negative forces away with spiritual vibes and hence guarding against evil.
The well-known music sabha, Sujanaranjani will be organising a Carnatic music concert this Friday night to commemorate the Shivaratri festival.
The event will be a musical tribute to Shiva. This Mahasivarathri Sangeethothsavam features concerts by reputed musicians like Dr Vyzarasu Balasubrahmanyam, Jonnalagadda Sathya Sriram, and Sreevidya Janakiraman besides a host of young and upcoming artistes.
The founder of Sujanaranjani, Mahidhara Seeta Rama Sarma says: “This sabha has made it a point to provide a platform to the younger-generation musicians for exhibiting their talent ever since its inception.
"We celebrate famous artistes but also encourage upcoming ones as they need exposure to become the established and renowned musicians of tomorrow.”
This festival not only features music programmes but also awards to deserving artistes for their service to the field of classical music and the larger community of artistes.
The venue for this year’s event which will happen on this Friday or February 21 will be Hanuman Devasthanam, Sanathnagar, Hyderabad. The timings are from 6 p.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. on Saturday.
The event will begin with the celebration of Shiva-Parvathi Kalyanam or the celestial marriage of the divine couple.
This will be followed by a presentation of the annual award Somanadha Puraskaram to Dr Vyzarasu Balasubrahmanyam for his work as a performer, teacher and researcher.
As the awardee Dr Balasubrahmanyam says: “I am honoured to be receiving this award this year. I am grateful for the acknowledgement of my efforts in the field of music.”
Another award titled Eeranki Seetaramaiah Puraskaram will be given to Koniki Satyanarayana Rao for his contribution as a music patron and organiser for the past half-century.
This will be followed by a Carnatic music concert by Dr Vyzarasu Balasubrahmanyam. He will be accompanied on the violin by O Rajashekhar and mridangam by Ch Ramakrishna.
At 11 p.m.will commence a concert by J Sathya Sriram, a young and talented artiste of the city known for his bhava-filled renditions and crystal-clear enunciation of the sahityam or lyrics.
He will be accompanied by VSPG. Shivani on the violin and Ch. Ramakrishna on the mridangam. What will we get to hear from him?
Sriram replies: “My rendition will include keerthanas on Lord Shiva by various composers, shlokas from Shiva Thaandava Stotram, a ragam-thanam-pallavi aka RTP and a couple of bhajans on Lord Shiva.”
After midnight, Sreevidya Janakiraman, whose father belongs to the direct lineage of Thyagaraja, will take to the stage.
She remarks: “I will be singing musical creations by various vaggeyakaras, who have paid tribute to Shiva through their compositions.”
It is indeed a challenge for a musician to perform at late night or in the wee hours of the morning. How do the musicians plan to meet this challenge?
Sreevidya replies: “I am used to performing in akhandam programmes so I can wake up and sing at odd hours.
"Also, I believe that the sacred occasion will give me the strength to stay awake and perform through the night.”
J Sathya Sriram says: “As Shivaratri is a joyous occasion full of spiritual music it will impart energy to us performers. It would be wonderful to participate in this musical get-together and that is a motivation to stay awake.”
Entry is open and free to all.