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Madurai Mani Iyer - can you please share your views about this great musician ?

He had an unbroken stint with the Tamil isai Sangam since 1941 when it was founded. A photo dated 23/12/1943 has Shri Mani Iyer with Mayavaram Govindaraja Pillai and Palani Subramanya Pillai performing at the sangam at the George Town (Victoria Hall) also show cases the huge crowd that he draws in the concert including the elites Shri Rajaji and others attending it. The review by Shri Kalki in the Ananda Vikatan highlights the great rendering of Paratparaa Parameshwara in Vachaspathi with neraval and swaras in Hari Ayanum kaana ariyajyothi followed by Thookiya Thiruvadi in Shankarabharanam which drew rounds of applause for his raga renderings, neravals and swaras. Kalki says MMI has proved that he has the ability to draw both Pandithaas and Paamaraas for his concerts and could provide them a tranquil and soulful music with remarkable shruthi shudham and absolute clarity in raga bhavam and original creativity.

Public Comments

1. *Sorry dear ! Have heard about him earlier .... But thanks for sharing the above info about him !!~☺
2. Madurai Mani Iyer (Tamil: மதுரை மணி ஐயர்) (October 25, 1912–1968) was a Carnatic music singer, who was famous for his unique style. He was one of the most highly celebrated carnatic vocalists during the first half of the 20th century. He was renowned for his adept skills at singing kalpana swarams, neraval, and raga alapana. His music continues to be highly regarded today. Madurai Mani Iyer was indeed passionate about music but he had other interests too and one of them was the English language. Though a school drop out, Mani Iyer mastered this language and an anecdote goes that he would trudge from his house in Mylapore all the way to the Connemara Library to pick up books in the Queen's language. He loved Bernard Shaw and was a fan of Charlie Chaplin. A compulsive listener of both the English and the Tamil news, Mani Iyer was a keen observer of politics too [1]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurai_Mani_Iyer