M. L. Vasanthakumari

MLV imbibed much of GNB's style, but did not make a fetish of speed and struck out on her own, evolving an inimitable style of her own.[6] Endowed with a fluid voice and rich imagination, the initials MLV could be an acronym for Melody, Laya and Vidwat, the watchwords of her rare musical artistry that were an aural feast to both the lay person and to the cognoscenti.[6] Her leisurely, exploratory and adventurous manner of handling the ragas deserves special mention.

While MLV was known more for her cerebral style, rather than her emotional one, this was compensated for by her rich and original manodharma. Similar to GNB, she was a genius in her tricky, instantaneous brilliant manodharma. Indira Menon comments MLV did adopt her Guru's idea of a quick impressionistic sketch of the raga covering the two octaves at the start, but settled down to a reposeful elaboration, unfolding it gradually with her virtuosity in the form of BRIGA - CASCADES appearing only where necessary. She was careful not to carry to an excess what her versatile voice was capable of.

MLV's mastery over vocal techniques was comprehensive and complete. She could effortlessly render several difficult ragas, with her alapana and kalpana swaras, suitably embellished with shruthi-bheda. Her listeners had the same ecstatic experience when she sang and more particularly when in a lightning manner she shifted gracefully from the melodic world of one raga in one pitch to another raga in another pitch. In this context, one has to refer to raga combinations like Shanmukhapriya-Sankarabharanam, Bhairavi-Kamas, Abhogi-Valaji to illustrate this point.

In GNB's own words,"Vasanthi typifies real discipleship – she absorbs all, but presents her own glorious creations."[7]

Lalithangi, MLV's mother, had a vast repertoire of Purandaradasa kritis. She passed on this tradition to her daughter, MLV. As a result, like T. Brinda who brought Kshetrayya Padams to the public platform and M. S. Subbalakshmi who brought Annamacharya kritis to the public arena, MLV popularized the Devaranamas of Purandaradasa.

She popularized the composition 'Kalyana Gopalam', composed by Narayana Teertha, in raga Sindhubhairavi. She also popularized the composition, 'Venkatachala Nilayam' by Purandaradasa in the same raga. Hindustani maestro Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was generous in his praise for her music. Sudha Ragunathan mentions, "MLV Amma has told me that it was Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saab who taught her the nuances of Sindhu Bhairavi in the Hindustani style."[3]

MLV's forte was Ragam Tanam Pallavi, where she not only maintained the great tradition brought to the stage by D. K. Pattammal, but enriched it in her own unique way. A. Kanyakumari who had accompanied MLV on violin for almost two decades says, "MLV akka had a sharp mind and good memory and I have never seen her practice a song or a ragam or for that matter a ragam-tanam-pallavi also before a concert." Sudha Ragunathan, a prime disciple of MLV, remarked that "In all my twelve years of learning under her, I had never seen Amma practicing at home. But, to my great surprise, she would compose a Pallavi in the car on the way to the concert!"[3]

By 1946, MLV was also a playback singer.[3] Her first big hit was in the 1951 film Manamagal, where she sang the song Ellam Inbamayam in Ragamalika, and Subramania Bharathiyar's evergreen composition, Chinnanchiru Kiliyae. In the 1960 film Raja Desingu, MLV also sang another Ragamalika, Parkadal Alaimele, which was well received, and later became popular in Bharatha Natyam recitals. In later years, MLV would also sing these songs towards the end of her Carnatic music concerts, and today, many musicians often include them in their repertoire.[8]

MLV also sang Ayya Saami in the 1951 film, Or Iravu. This song was based on the song Gore Gore from the film Samaadhi, which was in turn based on the Latin American song Chico Chico from Puerto Rico, from the film Cuban Pete. In the 1952 film Thayullam, MLV sang Konjum Purave which was based on the famous Hindi song, Thandi Havayen.[8]

Other songs MLV sang include Adisayam Vanathu Arivumayam, Senthamarai Kannanae, Vanna Tamizh and Adum Arul Jothi in the films Vikramadithian, Vairamalai and Sornakili. Incidentally, each of these songs contained the raga Kalyani and were also well received.[8]

MLV sang melodiously the Dashaavataara song for Bhookailas like Munneeta Pavalinchu Naagashayana, while Kamala Kumari danced in a classical way.[9] She sang for films till 1970.

As one of the top ranking stage artistes, MLV was noted for her charm, grace, warmth, self-restraint and humility. Her self-restraint as an artiste can be understood from her own words: Brigas in fast tempo should adhere to the shruthi and above all, true music must touch the listener's heart. MLV however maintained a philosophy: A concert is a daily test of the caliber of a musician. A slight lapse may let the musician down and a constant vigil is essential.

Mridangam maestro Palghat Mani Iyer, in a rare gesture, accompanied her in concerts. MLV helped others including Mannargudi Easwaran, Srimushnam V. Raja Rao, Seerkazhi J. Skandaprasad, Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam, R. Ramesh, Karaikudi Krishnamurthy, G. Harishankar (kanjira) and more, establishing them by encouraging them and giving them opportunities to accompany her in concerts.

She worked under C. R. Subburaman, S. M. Subbaiah Naidu, G. Ramanathan, S. Dakshinamurthi, K. V. Mahadevan, Vedha, Chittor V. Nagaiah, Pendyala Nageshwara Rao, T. Chalapathi Rao, Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy, S. Rajeswara Rao, R. Sudharsanam, R. Govardhanam, T. R. Pappa, S. V. Venkatraman, Kunnakudi Venkatrama Iyer, G. Aswathama, T. A. Kalyanam, M. S. Gnanamani, C. N. Pandurangan, C. S. Jayaraman, G. Govindarajulu Naidu, T. G. Lingappa, K. G. Moorthy, Ghantasala, Master Venu, G. Aswathama, V. Dakshinamoorthy, G. Devarajan, K. Raghavan and Shankar-Jaikishan.

She sang immemorable duets mostly with Thiruchi Loganathan, Seerkazhi Govindarajan and A. M. Rajah. Others are M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, V. N. Sundharam, T. R. Mahalingam, T. A. Mothi, C. R. Subburaman, C. S. Jayaraman, Ghantasala, G. K. Venkatesh, T. M. Soundararajan, P. B. Sreenivas, K. S. George, V. Dakshinamoorthy and K. J. Yesudas.

She also sang duets with female singers with most notably with P. Leela & N. L. Ganasaraswathi. Others are A. P. Komala, T. S. Bagavathi, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, Jikki, T. V. Rathnam, Radha Jayalakshmi, P. A. Periyanayaki, P. Bhanumathi, K. Jamuna Rani and A. G. Rathnamala.