Added a page for Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu, a great violinist of the last century. The page is still work in progress and will get updated over time.

His playing style is distinct and has a lot of influence from the western classical styles. He and MSG are the only ones who tune their violins to ‘F’ and that clearly brings out the tonal quality of the violin (which is built for even a higher pitch) – and that is clearly obvious in his recordings. One may find that he tends to sound harsh in numerous places, but my belief is that it is intentional – he believed in the model that while gayaki style is important, it cannot be overarching and that the versatility of the instrument and the player must be brought out too which may include playing in a manner that may sound harsh.

In one of the concerts he plays an RTP in ragam vardhani – his treatment of the ragam in the alapana and tanam (ragamailka) are fabulous.

Happy listening 🙂

Added a page for Madurai Somasundaram or Somu as he was called.

You can find quite a lot of recordings on youtube, but I have not heard many of the recordings that I have added on this page. This set is a much smaller set than what is posted for others, but each of them is a great listen.

He is one of the few who invariably sings swarams for the varnams.

Happy Listening.