Senior mridanga artiste N V Murthy Rao (Prof Neranki Vishnumurthy Rao) passed away in Mangaluru on Saturday. He was 97.
Hailing from Puttur, he learnt mridanga from Palghat Krishna Ayyar and tabla from Ustad Sheikh Dawood and Ustad Ahmmed Jan Tirakhwi.
He had accompanied Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pt Ravishankar, Pt Pannalal Ghosh, Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Pt Basavaraj Rajguru, Begum Parveen Sultan, Mohammed Khan and other well-known artistes on tabla.
He had played the mridanga for M S Subbulakshmi, Ravishankar, V G Jog and several danseuse. He had played the tabla for a dance performance at the beginning of the Sanadi Appanna film.
Published 15 July 2018, 17:44 IST