It has been more than 16 or 17 years, but I still clearly remember the first concert I heard of my idol Sri M.S. Gopalakrishnan. It wasn't live -- it was, in fact, a recording of an AIR National Programme of Music. It took only one song - the very first one, the nATakuriJji varnam -- and I was a fan. And remain one to this day. The songs that he played in that concert (they are etched in my memory: rAma bhakti in zuddha baGgALa, zObhillu saptaswara in jaganmOhini, E tAvunarA in kalyANi, a sindhubhairavi bhajana) all remain my personal favourites.I can go on and on about him, but I am in the middle of a busy work week. So here are some links instead:
- The thread on rasikas.org discussing the Master.
- MSG concert recordings from sangeethamshare.org.
- MSG concert recordings from sangeethapriya.org.