Flute Recital By Dr. N Ramani: Events in Hyderabad

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As part of its 9-day 40th Annual Cultural Festival of Music, Dance & Drama at the Keyes High School campus from 23rd November to 1st December, Kalasagaram is organising concerts by eminent musicians such as saxophonist Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, vocalists Sudha Raghunathan, the Priya Sisters, Trichur V Ramachandran and T V Sankaranarayanan, and flautist Dr. N Ramani, and two Tamil dramas Vaasthu Vasu and Plastic Kadavul by United Visuals from Chennai.

Today, the 5th day, Dr. N Ramani will be presenting a Carnatic music recital on the flute. He will be supported by Trichy K Murali on the ghatam, Srimushnam V Raja Rao on the mridangam and S D Sridhar on the violin.

A distinguished disciple of the legendary T R Mahalingam, Dr. N Ramani is one of the greatest Carnatic flautists of the modern times. Born on 15th October, 1934, he belongs to a musical family of instrumentalists who have handed over their music culture to their successive generations.

His grandfather Narayana Iyer was a flautist himself, and taught his grandson all that he knew, before Ramani could train under the wayward but brilliant prodigy and genius, T R Mahalingam (Flute Mali). Ramani made his debut on the concert platform at the age of 11 at the Rasika Ranjani Sabha, Mylapore, Madras.

Ramani is a pioneer in modern day Jugalbandi, with the first such performance taking place back in 1971 when he appeared with Hariprasad Chaurasia. Later he was part of the Violin Veena Venu ensemble created by Lalgudi Jayaraman. He mastered the technique of blowing and cross-fingering that his guru Mali made famous, and developed a new technique of his own, of playing across two octaves on the flute like it is done without a break in vocal and violin music.

Dr. Ramani is known for his technical excellence and masterful improvisation. Although he indulges in fusion and jugalbandis, he prefers to play pure Carnatic music abroad. His fame in India and overseas is based on the classical purity and the vocal quality of his flute playing. He is believed to be the South-Indian counterpart of Western top-ranking exponents of the flute such as James Galway and Jean Pierre Ramphal.

Dr. Ramani has been honored with numerous titles and awards, like the Kalaimamani by the Tamil Nadu Government, the Saptagiri Vidwan Mani by the TTD, the Sangita Nataka Academy Award in 1985 and the Sangita Kalanidhi in 1996. He has also been a regular performer for the All-India Radio since 1947, and has toured extensively worldwide propagating his music. With his long tenure in the field of classical music, Dr. Ramani earned himself the reputation of one of world's most masterful bamboo flautists.

Kalasagaram is a South-Indian cultural association situated in the East Nehru Nagar of East Marredpally, and has been organising Carnatic music concerts for the last 40 years. The concerts are usually held in the Keyes High School campus at the open-air theater. The singers are generally from outside Hyderabad, usually amateurs and upcoming artistes, and quite competent. Kalasagaram also occasionally stages South-Indian classical dances and Tamil plays.

The entry is by invitations for members, and by season passes of Rs. 400, Rs. 300 & Rs. 200 per head and daily passes of Rs. 100, Rs. 50 and Rs. 25 per head for others. Please contact V Rajagopal, General Secretary of Kalasagaram, at 2773-1775 for further details.