Ramnad Krishnan: Vidwan

Music of South India / Songs of the Carnatic Tradition
w/ V. Thyagarajan (violin), T. Ranganathan (mridangam), V. Nagarajan (kanjira)
Nonesuch Explorer 72023
Warner Classics (Japan) WPCS 10721

Contents:

1. Ninnadanela - Kannada/Adi - Thyagaraja (4'08)
2. Palincu Kamaksi - Madhyamavati/Adi - Syama Sastri (15'31)
3. Abhimanamennadu - Begada/Adi - Patnam Subramania Iyer (13'08)
4. Alapana - Bhairavi (11'30)
5. Tanam - Bhairavi (7'17)
6. Pallavi "Tamarasadala Netri, Tyagarajuni Mitri" - Bhairavi/Adi (1'31)
7. Niraval - Bhairavi/Adi (5'57)
8. Svara kalpana - Bhairavi/Adi (2'37)
9. Tani avartam - Adi (9'41)

Sound quality: good (US release; Japanese release is presumably superlative based upon other items remastered at the same time)

Recording date: December 1967 (New York); original issue: 1968; CD re-issue: 1988

This was one of the first significant American recordings of Carnatic vocal music, and so a classic from that point of view. The original LP sound was very good, so the remastering is disappointing, at least for an American pressing. The RTP remains a model for recording, and is divided into tracks at the different structural sections.

For a long time, this was the only CD devoted to Ramnad Krishnan, but an issue of merely fair quality has now appeared to provide some perspective. In addition, the original companion to this recording, Kaccheri, has appeared on obscure Japanese reissue.

To purchasing information for this disc.

To Carnatic CD list.