MS would arrive backstage at her concerts at least an hour before, perfecting her act and tuning the instruments. Even today, at 80, she doesn’t need notes while teaching my daughter Aishwarya,” he says. That’s because of the enormous efforts that went into her practice – a quality she passed on to my mother as well. The songs would be sung in the puja room and dedicated to god.

Recalling his grandmother’s dedication and effort, he recounts how she and her accompanists, many of them legends in their own right – like VV Subramanain and Vinayak Ram – would rehearse a song “100 times before it ascended the stage”. “Special” is also a word much used by MS’s grandson, V Srinivasan, the managing trustee of the Suswaralakshmi Foundation for Classical Music and Performing Arts, who will be present at the release on Saturday. This is one of three such preserved recordings by MS, done in a studio, which he believes, lends it a special quality. We have been releasing them since 2011, after obtaining permissions from their and their accompanists’ families, estates and trusts,” he explains. “From the ’70s, the NCPA has been recording and preserving these records. Shridhar Subramaniam, president – Sony India and Middle East, says the label has been in the process of making these unreleased classical music gems since 2011, after it was felt that these recordings, which were not originally done with the intent of publication, could form part of a rich living history and culture. Released under the ‘ Masterworks from the NCPA Archives’ imprint by Sony Music and the National Centre for Performing Arts, this album, recorded in 1978, will make its way to the market in about 7,000 CDs as well as on digital platforms.

Subbulakshmi vishnu sahasranamam