Jayanthi Kumaresh’s enthralling rendition of Raag Basanta is a carrier of joy, hope and positivity. This is the third presentation, a piece filled with youthful spirit from her concert at the Darbar festival 2013. She performs a Saint Thyagaraja composition set to Rupak talam. In the Carnatic dis...

The Malladi brothers perform ‘Kailasa Nathena’, a Sanskrit kriti (composition) in Raag Kambhoji in this excerpt from the Darbar Festival 2018. This devotional piece was composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar (1775 – 1835). 

The Malladi brothers have a sharp coordination when they perform. While one s...

A structurally outstanding piece, this thillana composed by Calcutta Krishnamurthy (1921-1999) is set to Raag Hamsanandi in Adi talam. Krishnamurthy was one of Unnikrishnan’s gurus who had shaped his formative years as a musician.

Embellishing each line of the thillana diligently with an exqui...

The Malladi brothers perform a Ganapathi Sachchidananda (born May 1942) composition - ‘Nama Vadami’ set to Raag Salaga Bhairavi. This spirited composition was rendered with elegance and captivating improvisations.

The ensemble has a stellar cast with the great Trichy Sankaran at the helm, lendin...

Raag Behag is the concluding piece of Jayanthi's performance from Darbar 2013.It is a contemporarily conceived folk song, also known as Kavadi Chindu in Tamil, composed by Ganesh and Kumaresh Rajagopalan. A lilting, instrumental piece, the rhythmic structure of which is set to Teeshra Gati (3-3),...

In this piece, legendary saxophonist Dr. Kadri Gopalnath plays ‘Raghuvamsasudhambudhi’, a Patnam Subramania Iyer (1845-1902) composition in Raag Kathanakuthuhalam set to adi talam. He is supported beautifully on the violin by Jyotsna Srikanth and by Bangalore Praveen (mridangam) and RN Prakash (g...

In 2018, the Malladi brothers performed for the first time at the Darbar Festival and enthralled a hugely multicultural audience with a delectable selection of ragas. The duo chose Raag Anandabhairavi as their central piece and gave a compelling performance with an ensemble comprising the best mu...

This piece, ‘Nagumomu Ganaleni’ in Raag Abheri, is a popular kirtan composed by Saint Tyagaraja (1767-1847). Dr. Kadri Gopalnath chooses this piece as his fourth presentation during his concert at the Darbar Festival in 2011.

Devotion to Lord Rama being the mainstay of Saint Thyagaraja songs, th...

Raag Dhanyasi is a rarely performed melody and yet, the Malladi brothers give to it a spectacular spin in this excerpt from the Darbar Festival 2018. This is the opening piece of their first performance which was awaited eagerly by the audiences.

They perform a wonderfully coordinated, brief ala...

Shashank Subramanyam started learning early in life - some say he could recognise all 72 Melakarta scales by the age of two-and-a-half. His first musical immersions came with singing and violin, but he fell in love with the venu bamboo flute as soon as he picked it up, focusing on it from that po...

The piece de resistance of the concert – ragam tanam pallavi - is sung in Raag Todi and comes as a refreshing twist with the beautiful composition ‘Hare Rama Govinda Murare’ set to Adi talam.

An excellent choice in the sequence of his presentations, Unnikrishnan revs up this section with a stu...

This is the opening piece of Dr. Kadri Gopalnath’s concert from the Darbar Festival 2011. Following old traditions, he begins his performance with a salutation to the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha. This Hindu deity is regarded as the harbinger of good fortune and a remover of obstacles. He gi...

Young Carnatic vocalist Bharat Sundar sings Behag, a raga imported from Hindustani Music. It is popular for tukda (‘little pieces’) and other lighter songs.

Bharat Sundar is a young Carnatic vocalist. He first studied under Gayathri Mahesh, and became the first winner of Jaya TV’s Carnatic Music...

‘Srichakraraja Simhasaneshwari’ is a famous composition by Agastyar (sage from Vedic period dating back to 1500 B.C. – 500 B.C.). The lyrics are in Sanskrit and Tamil and the song comprises of ragas Senchurutti, Punnagavarali, Nadanamakriya and Sindhubhairavi. There are four paragraphs in this so...

Aparadhamula,’ was composed in Raag Latangi by Patnam Subramania Iyer (1845-1902). A devotional kriti, this song blends beautifully with the compassionate and courageous emotions of Latangi. Iyer was a prolific and versatile composer who took ahead the musical tradition of Thyagaraja (1767-1847)....

‘Sarasijanabha’ was composed by Palghat Sri Parameshwara Bhagavatar (1815-1892), a court musician of Swathi Tirunal (1813-1846), the king of Travancore. From his teenage years, Bhagavathar had shown great promise with his sound knowledge of the theoretical and practical aspects of Carnatic music....

Jayanthi Kumaresh takes her audiences on a voyage of Raag Kamavardhini in this clip extracted from her performance at the Darbar 2013 festival. Also known as Pantuvarali, Kamavardhini is a 51stmelakarta raga that deploys all notes with a flat 3rdand 7th and a raised 4th. Hindustani classical enth...

Shashank Subramanyam substitutes a tanpura for the sounds of the ocean for an outdoor take of Raga Charukeshi.

Born to a biochemist father in the extraordinarily musical village of Rudrapatna, Shashank Subramanyam started learning early in life. He mastered all 72 Melakarta scales by the age of...

‘Deva Deva Kalayamithe’ is a kriti set to Raag Mayamalavagoula. It is set to Rupak talam and was written and composed by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal (1813-1846) who was the king of Travancore in southern India and also an acclaimed musician and composer of his time with more than 400 songs to his cr...

Absolutely thrilling second part of the stirring Abhishek Raghuram's concert at the 2014 Darbar Festival

Watch the sublime Sudha Ragunathan leave audiences in awe at the 2013 Darbar Festival

Watch the inimitable Aruna Sairam's electrifying performance from the 2016 Darbar Festival

Jayanthi Kumaresh’s recital of Shanmukhapriya is deeply emotional and speaks of her ability to constantly innovate and surprise her audiences. In this Darbar offering, we bring to you a 51-minute, full concert of this raga performed by the veena exponent at the 2013 Darbar Festival.

She elaborat...