Kavita Krishnamurthy, L. Subramaniam celebrate Indian classical music in New York

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NEW YORK – There was a little bit of emotion, chemistry and lots of music when globally renowned violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam and popular vocalist and his wife Kavita Krishnamurthy got onto the stage to celebrate the power of classical music at the Carnegie Hall here.

As part of HCL concerts — an initiative to preserve and promote India’s art and cultural heritage — Subramaniam and Kavita got together to put a musical evening here on Thursday. This is the first time HCL has taken the concert to foreign shores.

Kavita, who has rendered hits like “Hawa hawai”, “Dil diya hai jaan bhi denge”, “Tu hee re”, “Albla sajan” and “Maar daala”, started the evening on a spiritual note with “Om Namah Shivaya”, before adding a Bollywood touch to the evening.

Looking elegant in an off-white sari in the chilly winter of New York, Kavita turned back the clock and returned to her hits like “Pyar hua chupke se” from “1942: A Love Story” and “Hawa hawai” picturised on late Sridevi.

Sharing an anecdote, she said: “Javed Akhtar told that song shouldn’t make any sense. It should be gibberish.”

She then sang an A.R. Rahman work titled “Dheeme dheeme”.

The evening promised to celebrate classical music, and it became a reality when Subramaniam got on to the stage with his violin. He brought forward a world of fusion in music with his notes and rhythm.

He set a sombre mood with his music. The thing that stood out was his ‘ jugalbandi’ with his wife and team. It was not only mesmerising but captivating as well.

He ended the night with “Ganga”.

Talking about taking the concerts out of India, Arthur Filip, Chief Managing Officer said: “Every venue is like an ultimate hack for us. Try and test. There are couple of things we are thinking about like putting a price on the ticket so that people appreciate the art. We are going to take small ticket price and find charities which are very meaningful in the local country or city that we are hosting the event. We will most likely do something in education, children, wellness and art.”