A falling note: Has Chennai's celebrated music season caught a chill?
TM Krishna singing Swathi Thirunal’s “Pankaja Lochana” in Raga Kalyani and Perumal Murugan’s freedom song on Christmas morning. It sat rapt listening to Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s “Sri Subramanyaya Namaste” in breathtaking Kambhoji, and Vishakha Hari’s “Andavane” in Shanmukhapriya.
The Margazhi festival has been around for almost a century. It began with the founding of the Music Academy in 1928, celebrating, in particular, Carnatic music and Bharatnatyam.
But is there a chill in the sabhas — the cultural organisations that are the force behind and the venue of concerts or kutcheris — this season? From insiders to hoteliers, many complain of a drop in the footfall of rasikas or connoisseurs. And yet a few others resist that narrative and say fans are flocking in and the festival is, indeed, on song.
MISSING RASIKAS
“There has been an almost 20% drop in footfall in kutcheris this year,” says a sabha insider and industry watcher, who does not want to be named. “Ticket sales have plummeted across the board this year. There are multiple reasons for this. For one, sabhas are livestreaming performances, which leaves very little incentive for people to attend a kutcheri in person as they are content listening to it on YouTube for free.” Tickets often cost between Rs 100 and Rs 750, with some artists charging as much as Rs 3,500 for VIP seating. Meanwhile, numerous singers perform for free.
Star performers like Krishna — who returned triumphantly to the Music Academy, after a decade of cold war, to receive the Sangita
