Music and dance reviews-Successful Yuva utsava and more...

Successful Yuva utsava

The Bangalore Gayana Samaja conducted the annual “Yuva Sangeetotsava” last week, with five concerts, in which 15 young and upcoming artistes exhibited their talent.
It was sheer pleasure to watch the platform on Tuesday, as three young musicians from Bengaluru established their credentials individually and collectively. Sanjay Nag, disciple of Dr K Varadarangan, Anirudh Bharadwaj, student of S Sheshagiri Rao and Akshay Anand, student of Kalidas - were the performers. Incidentally, all the three are engineers - two are engineering graduates and the other one is studying engineering.
Though both raga and nerval were brief in “Ninnu Nera Nammi,” it was pleasing and “Janaki Ramana” was also delightful. The vocalist capped his efforts with a neat exposition of Kharaharapriya. He even tried for “Grahabheda” in the alapana, though it was too brief to register. But with his good voice and lively presentation “Pakkalanilabadi” was well presented to prove his talent and training. Anirudh Bharadwaj on violin responded to all with alacrity, Akshay Anand enhanced the total effect by his judicious support on mridanga.

In memory of Purandara Dasa
The Purandara Dasa Memorial Trust conducts several cultural activities like music (Carnatic and Hindustani), dance, gamaka, harikatha and bhajan programmes pertaining to
Purandara Dasa, from last 10 years under the leadership of S Varadarajan. On the occasion of 10th anniversary on Sunday, a book  “Purandara Keerthana Mala,” which contains devaranamas tuned by S Lakshminarasamma, was also released.

Dr Vidyabhushana, who gave the concert after the book release, proved once again that he is a crowd puller always. J K Sridhar, A Renuka Prasad and S N Narayana Murthy accompanied the vocalist on violin, mridanga and ghata, respectively. With more than three decades of concert experience behind him, Vidyabhushana brought to his rendering some infrequently-heard Haridasa compositions - of course in familiar ragas, with good presentation, that commanded respect from the audience gathered.

“Varava Kodu Enage,” a devaranama of Kanakadasaru in the raga Kalyani, gave bright start to Vidyabhushana’s concert. Another pada of Vijayadasaru on Purandara Dasaru suited the occasion. While presenting the “Daari Yavudaiah,” the nerval (Bhumiya Mele Innu Na Janisalare), raga and swara brought out the ragabhava effectively.

He also presented a number of Ugabhogas (OnduKaaladali, HangeBaradeethu Pracheenadali, PaapaKupadali Na Maadidudake etc.), laying accent on the meaning of the lyrics, impactfully. Raga Vagadheeswari was also pleasing and “Palisamma MudduSharade, Narayana Ninna Naamada, Tamburi Meetidava” were the other padas he chose. What was noteworthy was the musical involvement and serenity invested into the rendering of each devaranamas in respect of ‘Sahitya’ and ‘Sangeetha’.

Impressive vocal
SmtAmmanni Iyengar was a great social worker and philanthropist. In her memory MES Kalavedi organises a music programme every year.

Kunnakudi M Balamuralikrishna, who performed under this endowment last week, was initiated to music by his father (Meenakshi Sundaram) and continued with Neyveli Santhanagopalan. He received advanced training from P S Narayanaswamy. He is a post graduate in both Commerce and Music. Now he is working for his PhD and is a recipient of Bismillah Khan Award from the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Naturally enough, Balamuralikrishna raised high hopes regarding his talent and an enjoyable evening of music when he began the programme with the familiar “Neranammi”. He invested the krithi “Deva Deva” with some dignity in form and content through meaningful nerval. He revelled in the alap of Kharaharapriya and more so in the expansive presentation of “Pakkala Nilabadi,” a dignified composition of Tyagaraja.

All he needs is some more experience to reach great heights. He concluded with “Krishna Nee Begane,” an all- time favourite devaranama. V V Ravi on violin, S V Ramani on mridanga and K Murali on ghata - shared the spotlight by their admirable support.