In Praise Of Vitthala - Abhangs By Aruna Sairam: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR IN PRAISE OF VITTHALA...

Nothing like a lilting concert to soothe your senses at the end of the day, and some devotion to earn you some brownie points in the process.

The first edition of The Hindu Music Festival in Hyderabad will be held from 10th to 14th November, at the Ravindra Bharathi auditorium. The 4-day festival will be a treat for lovers of fusion and filmi music, ghazals and spiritual music.

Aruna Sairam will be presenting a concert of abhangs on the inaugural day, the 10th of November. She will be accompanied by Raghavendra Rao on the violin, J Vaidyanathan on the mridangam, S Karthick on the ghatam, Niranjan Lele on the harmonium, Sai Bankar on the tabla, Prakash Shejwal on the pakhavaj and Pratap Rath on the additional percussion.

Born in Mumbai into a musical family that played hosts to Ustad Amir Khan, T R Mahalingam and M S Subbalakshmi whenever they came visiting, Aruna was surrounded by music. Her mother Rajalakshmi Sethuraman was her first teacher, and she was subsequently taught by T Brinda (who was a student of Dhanamaal), K S Narayanaswamy, A S Mani (who was a disciple of Tiger Varadachari), T R Subbramaniam and Balamurali Krishna. Sairam makes it a point to sing an abhang or two at every concert.

Aruna has collaborated with acclaimed international artistes such as Dominique Vellard, the French master of Gregorian chant, and Christian Bollmann of Germany. In India, she has collaborated with Shankar Mahadevan, U Srinivas and several north Indian musicians, among others. She has performed throughout the world, including at Carnegie Hall in New York, Le Theatre de la Ville in Paris, and the Festival of World Sacred Music in Morocco.

Among the many national and international honours that have come her way are the Padma Sri, the Kalaimamani and the prestigious U S Congress Proclamation Of Excellence.

Tickets are priced at Rs. 1,000, Rs. 750, Rs. 500 & Rs. 250 per head. Season passes are available for Rs. 3,500, Rs. 2,500 and Rs. 1,500 per head.

Passes can be purchased online at www.hindu.com/novemberfest and www.indianstage.in. They are also available at Landmark in Banjara Hills and Begumpet; Walden at Begumpet, Music World in Banjara Hills, Begumpet, Kothapet and Kukatpally; Sangeeth Sagar in Secunderabad and at Ravindra Bharathi.