MALLADI BROTHERS EARN A STANDING OVATION AT NAADA INBAM
The brothers opened their concert with the bright Saranga Varnam, 'Intamodi' in Adi tala. 'Gajanana' in Todi was the next item, which the brothers suffixed with a few rounds of kalpanaswaras at the Charanam. Their smiling faces added to the listening pleasure. Tyagaraja's masterpiece in Durbar, 'Munduvenuga' with its lovely gait set a different pace for the concert.
Vasanta is a raga that
brings an atmosphere of calm and serenity. The brothers' rendition of
Annamacharya's sankeertana 'Vadevenkatadri' took the audience to
great heights of tranquility.
The alapana of Reetigowla that followed, was excellently rendered by
Ravikumar with all possible nuances and alluring sancharas. Mysore
Vasudevachar's 'Mamahridaye' was the song that followed. It was
then Sriram Prasad's turn and he took the audience to great heights of
ecstasy with his elaborate alapana of Varali. The mood continued when they
rendered Tyagaraja's 'Etijenma' with delicately ornamented neraval
and kalpanaswaras at the line 'Sagarashayanuni'.
'Sanatana' a rare kriti of Tyagaraja the raga Phalamanjari was the
next piece. The brothers then proceeded to the main raga of the evening,
Sankarabharanam, which they took turns to render. It was significant that both of them possess equal swara and raga gnana.
Their voices blend well too. Dikshitar's 'Dakshinamoorte' in Misra jati Jhampa tala was rendered
in all its grandeur with neraval and swaras at the interesting eduppu 'Sri
Dakshinamoorte'.
Srikanth, a disciple of H K Narasimhamurthy also played well on the violin and made a good impression on the audience. Mannargudi Easwaran and E M Subramaniam on the mridangam and Ghatam respectively, with all their experience lent their full support and added value to the concert.
The audience were
overwhelmed by the wonderful performance and gave their applause
wholeheartedly. One among the audience requested the rest to give a
special applause and the hall thundered with applause again. The Sabha secretary then showered words of
praise and encouragement on the young musicians. He said, "Mango's
sweetness can be enjoyed only if a person tastes it by himself. Once its
taste is known, he might be willing to taste it again by paying for it. In
such a way, I have brought these young musicians to light, free of cost
for once. Now it is the responsibility of the other Sabhas and rasikas to
enjoy and make others enjoy it."
As soon as the concert was over, the rasikas surrounded the young
musicians, congratulated, praised and thanked them for such an excellent performance. One of them said that
it was the best concert had he ever listened to, while another praised
them for bringing reputation to their gurus. I did not feel the necessity
to collect the opinions of the rasikas individually since their reaction
was proof enough. I congratulated the musicians and left the hall fully
satisfied.
Pushkala Ramakrishnan
