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Soon, the Westerners got fascinated and I got invitations to play with some of the greatest violinists and orchestras. I, too, started developing his dream and tried taking forward whatever he was doing. This pushed my father to change the scenario and bring in new techniques. Our violin music was interpreted as typical ethnic-folk. That is why the Indian violin didn’t get quit appeal to Western audiences, who have had a violin tradition for a much longer time. So my father realised that the problem was that the same techniques were being applied by both accompanists and soloists. An average bachelor’s student played with a better technique than established musicians as the violent wasn’t important in India back then. So violin techniques were not developed too much because they were not needed.
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They wanted the violin to be a background thing-an instrument that does not get attention. If you performed well and got good a response from the audience, you wouldn’t be called for the next concert. Violinists had to accompany other musicians to survive. The violin was a permanent accompanying instrument at concerts in the old days. You are known for having taken forward the legacy of your father and contributed to establishing the violin as a solo instrument in Carnatic music. It was a blessing that my mother made me finish the undergraduate course, otherwise I wouldn’t have received my certificates later on. Then, after my studies, I applied for scholarships for a master›s course. At the time I was depressed and nothing worked. I was very happy, but I had to finish my degree in medicine. He wanted to coach me to help me become an international artist. But education, too, was important and I was interested in science, so I went to medical college.ĭuring my second year at Madras Medical College, my father asked me to play for a German violinist who had heard me play with my father and thought I had the potential of becoming a great artist. Then slowly, I started playing with my elder brother and with my father. My career started in a temple with a solo piece.
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But the organisers praised me after the performance and people were happy. It was my first concert, so I was worried. I vaguely remember that situation because I knew the organisers didn’t want me to play and my father did, and in between there was a huge gathering. But my father had to go through with his plan as he wanted me to start playing on that auspicious day. They said, “He is very young, so maybe he can play in the future, but not at this festival.” They didn’t want me to play. Since I was very small, the organisers were sceptical, especially because there were thousands of people in the audience. He was also playing there and suddenly announced that I would make my debut. When I was six years old, my father wanted me to perform at a temple during a big festival. Tell us about your journey as a violinist.Ī. You became popular as a child prodigy when you made your live performance debut at the age of six. In 1958, we came back to India from Colombo because of the riots in Jaffna. I had to then learn some instrument and finally I got to learn my favourite, the violin. My father started to teach me vocals initially, but then, when I was two years old, I was diagnosed with diphtheria and doctors said I might lose my voice later on. But my elder brother was already doing it, so I was advised to sing. Looking at him play, I was fascinated and wanted to become a violinist. So my father’s dream was to make the Indian violin acceptable and heard in the greatest concert halls. That was the kind of impression they had. Westerners thought our music was only ethnic or folk, in which we sit on the floor and play. He created a lot of new techniques for the violin to make it globally acceptable. My father wanted to establish the violin as a solo instrument in the international scene, because during his time, violin was an accompaniment. Tell us about your classical music training under his tutelage.Ī. Y ou organise the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival annually to celebrate the musical legacy of your father, V.