Madurai Somu- Home Page

To analyze the "golden sixties", I am going back to my personal memories of a
couple of concerts:

Madurai Somu's concert at Raja Rajeswari Temple in Madurai - the concert
starts at about 10:00 PM with Lalgudi Jayaraman playing the violin and
Murugabhoopathi on the mrudangam. There is a very small stage on the walkway
along Vadakku Chithirai Veedi with a Pandal on top. The audience fill up the
street which has been blocked at both ends. The summer heat is still
radiating from the tar. Somu walks to the stage from his home with a large
group of fans and starts the concert. His voice is hoarse, but warms up
quickly. The audience is comprised of mostly old men. The momentum picks up
quickly and deeply involves the audience. I can see a few people sitting in
the front row literally crying during his Karaharapriya alapanai. Nobody
moves until he finishes his concert around 3:00 AM. The things that stand out
in my memory are the depth of involvement in the ragas, the teamwork between th
the singer, violin, and mrudangam players, and the focus of the audience.
Source: Subject: Re: assessment of music today (by Sridhar)
Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.classical

Date: 1999/04/07

The late Madurai Somu used to sing many of Mrs.Indhira Natesan's 
     songs ( mudra "jyothi"). My personal favourite memory is the raga 
     essays of KuvalayaabaraNam -janya of VakulaabaraNam - by Somu and 
     Chandrasekharan(Violin) before the song " NeelakaNta mahaadhEva
Source: Newsgroups. rec.music.indian.classical

From: Subbarayan Pasupathy (pasupat@ecf.toronto.edu)
Subject: Re: Thiruppugazh 
Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.classical
Date: 1995/03/30 
Here are some comments regarding the articles on Thiruppugazh that  appeared
in thiis group recently.  Apart from Alathoor Bros, Chithoor Subramania 
Pillai,and Madurai  Somasundaram were others who popularized Thiruppugazh.
I remember  (with sadness and nostalgia) Madurai Somu singing an all 
Thiruppugazh  concert in Vadapazhani Temple in Madras the year before he
passed  away. The `Bhavaani' raga alapana he did before singing a
Thiruppugazh  still rings in my ear.  

Search Result 13
From: R YAMUNACHARI (RANGA.Y@worldnet.att.net)
Subject: Re: what constitutes a 'good' carnatic concert? 
Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.classical
View: Complete Thread (7 articles) | Original Format
Date: 1998/12/24 
Hello,   I have been reading the views expressed by many of you. There are 
supporting and opposing opinions on the Ariyakudi's style of a concert. In 
good old days I have heard music stalwarts like Madurai Somu, Mani Iyer, She
-ik Chinna Moulana and a host of others. They are known to take their every
concert (and the audience) seriousely. What a reporterie. The Maduarai Somu
concert on a Vinayak Chathurthi day in 1975 in Mayavaram still lingers in my
mind. Boy !, he went on singing for 4 and half hours; and still was roaring
to go on. It was 12.30 a.m the next day. 

From: Subbarayan Pasupathy (pasupat@ecf.toronto.edu)
Subject: Re: Ragas "Bhavani" & "Lalitha" 
Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.classical
View: Complete Thread (8 articles) | Original Format
Date: 1997/01/13 
Another nice song in Bhavani that I remember is "kani karambuthO" often  
sung by Tanjavur Kalyanaraman. ( I read in a recent Hindu review that  the
composer is one Kalyani Varadarajan; does anyone know any details of  this 
composer ? Can anyone else confirm the composer's identity? )  Another
"great" Bhavani raga alapana I will always remember is when 
Madurai Somasundaram , in one of his last concerts, sang the raga as a 
prelude to a Thiruppugazh he had tuned in Bhavani. The occasion was 
AruNagirinathar Day , at Vadapazhani Temple in Madras. The time was past 
midnight and Somu charmed the audience with his inimitable rendering of 
the raga, first in the Carnatic mode , then in the Nadhaswara style  and 
then in a North Indian, Hindusthani-style interpretation .