JOIN USSpring Music Festival
Sri Rama Lalithakala Mandira conducted the “Spring Music Festival” last week. Mysore Nagaraj and Mysore Manjunath received the “Sangeetha Vedanta Dhureena” award, on the occasion.
Padmashri Sudha Raghunathan, recipient of this year’s “Sangeetha Kalanidhi” title, presented a vocal recital in the festival on Wednesday. “Yeranapai”, the familiar varna, gave Sudha Raghunathan a steady start. After singing the first half of the varna in two speeds, Ethugade in “Druta Kaala” made an impressive beginning.
“Renuka Devi Samrakshito Ham” with a brief swara was a pleasant one, followed by “Bhajare Manasa.” Then she presented a rare composition “Athishayavara Prasadi” of L Muthaiah Bhagawathar, which was in that lesser known raga Mandari. She chose “Na Munthe Ranga”, which was a welcome change from the routine devaranamas.
Mohana, the ever-popular raga, showed her in her elements and the kriti “Nannu Palimpa” standing out for her skill in improvisation. Shanmukhapriya, the popular raga, was elaborated refreshingly and the Pallavi “Devi Sri Uma Maheswari” satisfied the connoisseurs with an enduring quality. With her melodious voice she also sang a few devotionals like – Hey Govinda Hey Gopala, Varalakshmi Raave and Venkatachala Nilayam – with a good feeling. Embar Kannan on violin, Neyveli Skanda Subramanian on mridanga and R Raman on morching – shared the honours with the main artiste.
Niranthara programmes
“Sambhrama” organised their annual festival “Niranthara” with music and dance recitals. Premitha who gave a Bharatanatya recital, is a disciple of Dr Vasundhara Doraswamy, veteran danseuse, and has taken part in few dance dramas of their institute.
She opened her programme with “Melaprapthi” briskly and followed it with a Rukmini Kautvam (Charukeshi raga and Dwaraki Krishnaswamy). With graceful movements she covered the whole stage and performed the Daru (Mathe Malaya Dwaja) with ease and assurance.
“Madhura Nagarilo” is a favourite of old-timers. Premitha has a good future with higher training and some more stage experience. Vasundhara Doraswamy’s Natuvanga and Pustakam Rama’s vocal were inspiring, while Hanumantha Raju, Narayan, Krishna Prasad and D V Prasanna Kumar accompanied on mridanga, violin, flute and rhythm pad, respectively.
Sparkling vocal
Young Sikkil Gurucharan is climbing the ladder of success at a rapid speed. In his concert at the Niranthara festival, he proved once again that he is reliable and satisfies the music connoisseurs always. He laid a good foundation with the varna “Sarasuda” and straight-marched to the “Birana”, and rendered with a brief nerval (Neepada Pankajamu).
An infrequent devotional “Kaadiruvenu Naanu” of Ambujam Krishna is a good addition to the concert repertoire. After a quick “Sadamathim” he chose “Gajavadana Sammaditha” (Ettiyapuram Maharaja), for a detailed elaboration with meaningful nerval (Vijayollasa Valli Kataksha) and interestingly woven swaraprasthara.
With his melodious voice and delightful presentation, he concluded with a Meera bhajan (Hari Gunagavat) and tillana. C N Chandrasekhar on violin, Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma on mridanga and Guru Prasanna on khanjari – supported the vocalist, with a good understanding.
Tributes to Ramadas
Bhadrachala Ramadas is one of the great saints of India. He has composed hundreds of compositions on Lord Sri Rama and is popular all over.
A vocal ensemble (Goshti Gayana) of his compositions was held under the joint auspices of Nadopasana Sankeerthana Sangha and Nadajyothi Sri Thyagarajaswamy Bhajana Sabha. More than a hundred vocalists sang under the direction of Malladi Jayashree on the occasion of 381st Jayanthi of Bhadrachala Ramadas.
Starting with “Adigo Bhadradi” in the raga Varali, they continued with “Sri Rama Namame” (Athana), Paluke Bangaramayena (Ananda Bhairavi) and concluded with “Kantinedu Maramula” (raga Nadanamakriya). They sang in unison and it was a good experience to hear a hundred voices together.