whose the third musician?

Its really a tough question man! I will give you a clue. IR is in the middle!

You mean the guy between Rahman and Vidyasagar? I think that is S.A. Rajkumar. And isn't that Sujatha right behind IR and to the left?

Some more info from the mastero himself

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/06/24/stor ... 480400.htm


June 30 will mark the culmination of five years of focussed effort — the audio release of Ilaiyaraja's `Thiruvachagam.' Can it be termed his life's mission? "I prefer to describe it as my life's purpose," laughs the maestro. Completing the mammoth project will relieve him from the cycle of birth and death, he believes. "No one can escape the cycle if he leaves the world without finishing the work he is ordained to. For me it is `Thiruvachagam,'" Raja's powerful eyes shine. "It's wrong to call it a Symphony. It is Oratorio. Only that I've used a Symphony orchestra," he says.

The project may be exalted yet it has to be viable ... "Yes ... it does boil down to business. I felt shy to approach corporates. But they can still help. They can join hands in the distribution — order cassettes in bulk," he says.

How will Thiruvachagam' be different from his earlier devotionals? "You must tell me that after you listen to it," he laughs. "But I can assure you that it will be in a genre of its own. It will transport you to a sublime plane where you would lose yourself." He comes forward in his chair and adds: "Do you agree that as a musician I can make you laugh or cry with my music? Then `Thiruvachagam' will sway you."

You understand his conviction, yet how will it stir young minds so tuned to his cine compositions? "You can't compartmentalise the listener's interest," he responds. "Thiruvachagam will reach any one who has an ear for music."

Why Budapest

Raja chose Budapest for the composing and recording of `Thiruvachagam' because as he says, "Vienna, the place of Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss and Schubert, is just 200 km away. So the vibrations are positive. Vienna is a holy place to me." Also he could work undisturbed there.

But did the musicians understand the significance of the work? "That wasn't necessary I thought. So I explained it to the conductor alone. But five minutes after the orchestra began playing I noticed this lady, rolling her tongue with her mouth closed and giving a cheeky smile. (Raja acts it out for you!) Can't blame her. They were repeated notes and the leitmotif puzzled her. (He sings the notes) They wanted something more ... " Raja smiles as he recalls the incident. "`This is not an orchestral work. You will all just support the singer who is chanting the great, bone-melting work of the 10th century poet Manickavachagar. See, you can play the same thing this way,' I told them, and gave a lilting, melodic form." (The maestro hums again.)

`Thiruvachagam' has been sung entirely by Ilaiyaraja, except for one choral piece.

In proven hands

Richard King, the sound engineer who won Grammys for his soundtrack for `Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,' has worked for `Thiruvachagam.' And Academy award winning composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz has written the English verses. "I've interwoven English parts ... Have you watched Walt Disney's `Pocahontas'? Stephen's compositions in it are excellent ... but he thinks the world of my music," he says. In a letter to Raja's fans on the net Schwartz describes Raja's `Thiruvachagam' as a `stunning blend of the Indian and Western.'

Avoid piracy

Raja soon strikes a poignant note. "My only request is listeners should not download `Thiruvachagam' from the net or go in for MP3 and the like. If they feel that my music has given them at least a little pleasure, they should buy authentic audios. I say this because `Thiruvachagam' has to find a market, if such ventures are to continue."

Thanks DU for the clue - Its MS Visvanathan

Don't forget Ramamoorthy

Shouldn't Bharadwaj and SA Rajkumar get their own special table with Deva

Sorry guys. I have to put my site name on the cover so that people can not reproduce the artwork (atleast easily)

Let me be the first to say - this looks amazing

Perhaps others outside this thread should know about it for this is a very important piece of work. Asks the mods what they think about a sticky thread for this

Moderator any help!!!

BTW, this is the best art work I have seen so far as far as Tamil CD/DVD is concerned. Whats more interesting is that IR himself designed this. Truly genius!

Is Ramana Records IR's own label?

Thank you Mods for making it a sticky ( atleast for the next few weeks) - hopefully others will be intersted in this "work-of-art" and will check it out.



I know IR owned a record label which he later sold - not sure if it is Oriental Records or Echo ??

Echo - Used to be IRs
Oriental - Is owned by TheMahal.com (heard ppl saying that its IR's proxy)

Rangasami Parthasarathy started Oriental, correct? So did he start themahal or did he sell to them?

BTW I thought this article was, um, interesting :

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tami ... 15413.html

Ilayaraja inspires others
IndiaGlitz
Tuesday, June 28, 2005


Ilayaraja's Thiruvasagam is inspirational to many in many different ways.

In Kollywood itself, it has impelled the creativity of one talented music director in Kollywood.

"Inspired by Ilayaraja's symphony on Thiruvasagam, I have decided to come out with a musical album", says music composer Bharadwaj.

Bharadwaj says "I heard Ilayaraja's symphony on Thiruvasagam and it instantly impressed me. More so, it has created a desire in me to come out with a music album."

Dwelling more on that Bharadwaj says "it would be a musical album which will reflect the true spirit of the Tamil culture. I would be rendering all the six numbers in the album".

According to Bharadwaj "I have got my movies Priyasakhi, February 14 and Andha Naal Nyabagam ready for release. I am currently busy with Parthiban's Paisa and Idhaya Thirudan (Bharadwaj's eighth film with director Charan)".

'The last few months have been phenomenal for me for my works in Autograph, Vasool Raja MBBS, Attagasam and JJ have gone down well with the public."

Keep the good work going, Bharadwaj.