He had chosen the pieces in keeping with the City’s taste for Carnatic music. He was accompanied by B K Raghu on the violin, A Radhesh on mridangam and B J Kiran Kumar on khanjira. Silence prevailed throughout the concert and the audience was seen thoroughly enjoying the concert.
The concert began with the varnam, Omkar Swaroopa in raag, Shanmukhapriya. The chemistry that existed between the violinist and flautist was a delight to watch. The varnam was followed by an ode to Ganesha with Mahaganapathim in raag Nata.
Giving the audience every reason to cheer was Brochevarevarura in raag Kamas. The next piece Govardhana Gireesham in raag Hindolam was a delight to listen to and the audience appreciated it.
Upacharamulanu Chekonavayya in raag Bhairavi was equally enjoyed by the audience who gave constant encouragement by a thunderous applause at the end of every piece. He ended the concert with Adi eva paramathma in raag Sindhu Bhairavi.
Narasimhan, a musician present at the concert, said, “The recital was great. I really liked Needu Charnamule in raag Simhadri madhyamam.” Prabhakaran, a Carnatic music lover said, “At such a young age, all the artistes showed immense maturity. I liked the violinist and think he has a bright future. I have been listening to Carnatic music for over 50 years now. The recital today had so much of Samadhana that it goes straight to the heart.”
Manda Ananthakrishna Sharma, who began his career in music at the age of 15, holds a masters in music from Chennai University. Giving a word of advice to youngsters, he said, “It is always good to learn classical music as it helps control different emotions and structures one’s thoughts. It is our culture and heritage and the young should take up initiative to preserve it. Learning an instrument like flute is also very good for health as the flute involves a lot of breath control. It is like pranayama and is very
beneficial.”
