Ganakalanidhi Dr. Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar

The Seconderabad Karnataka Sangha arranged an exquisite Music concert on August 24, by Sri. Vinjamuri Varadaraja Ayyangar, Principal, Central School of Music and Dance. A leading deciple of the Late Tiger Vardachariar, he has completely assimilated the three cardinal features of his master, namely, rare Kalpana Swaras, Apoorva Sancharas and an inimitable technique of Tana singing. Vinjamuri has the gift of a powerful voice and in addition to imbibing Tiger’s matchless imagination and technique, he irrigates his Music with the emotion and devotion of Musiri and Semmangudi, regulates it with the steadiness and method of Ariyakudi and punctuates with the Tala sense of Chittoor with all its rigour and vigour. His Sahithya is flawless and he is equally at home with Telugu, Tamil and Kannada and Sanskrit. He rose to rare height and held the audience captivated for nearly three hours. He took them completely by surprise and one could hear them saying that it was the best performance of this place after Ariyakudi’s concert two years ago. Those who have watched with dismay the passing away one by one of the pillars of Karnatic Music heaved a sigh of relief when they found a repository of Sampradaya singing. For some years now, novices are masquerading as "exponents" of classical music in the twin cities and it is hoped that Sri. Vinjamuri will undo the mischief and set the proper standard. The Government of Hyderabad deserves to be congratulated on their bold choice and they will be promoting an art by making use of Vinjamuri's service to the maximum extent. Sri Nori Nagabhushanam and Lakshminarayan did well on the Violin and Mridangam respectively. Music by Srimati Bhagyalaxmi, Sitar playing by Sri Nagesh and dance by children were the other highlights of the Festival. Dr. Melkote, Jagannatha Rao, Shankar Dev, Anna Rao and Devi Singh Chauhan were graced. Mr. N.S. Raghavan, President of the Karnataka Sangha welcomed the quests.