Keeping alive the illustrious Lalgudi legacy

Chennai

Chennai, NOV 1

Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi are fifth generation musicians of the Lalgudi baani, famous for its melodic interpretation and lyrical quality.

They owe it to their famous father, Lalgudi Jayaraman, who trained them and numerous others to achieve fame and excellence in Carnatic music, but the two siblings also learnt to bring their own creativity to music.

Kalaimamani GJR Krishnan went beyond the classical structure and conducted a Carnatic symphony with over 20 modern instruments at the Singapore Arts Festival in 2005, a performance he would love to replicate in India. “Globally, Indian music is only associated with the sitar and tabla. My peers and I are trying to give the world an opportunity to listen to our style of music,” he says.

GJR, who has collaborated with many artistes, like pianist Anil Srinivasan and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia, thinks instrumental music is the easiest route to classical music. But what he and his sister were fortunate to receive tutoring from a maestro on an individual basis and in a group. “I learnt the niceties of performing on stage from my father; he was a complete and composite guru. Both he and my grandfather, Gopala Iyer, were equally strict,” he recalls.

Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, at the age of two, could identify the Solfa syllables in any musical phrase. She performed on stage for the first time when she was 13. She is now an acclaimed artist and accompanist, innovating while adhering to the traditions of classical music. Her proficiency on the strings and voice capture completely the melody, rhythm, style and technicalities of a song. Vijayalakshmi also has the credit of leading a music ensemble of the violin, venu (flute) and veena.

Vijayalakshmi recalls, “My father was an excellent critic and never played favourites. He insisted on students singing the raga and lyrics first and getting to know the nuances of the language before playing the violin. The technique was used to enhance and enrich the kriti. But the best lesson he taught us was to never compromise on quality.”

Compiled by Padmini Natarajan