Veteran’s tribute to guru
P. SURYA RAO
|
Balamurali paid ‘guru vandanam’ to Parupalli Ramakrishniah by rendering some of his favourite keertanas.
|
Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar
guru vandanam Balamuralikrishna on stage.
In one of his rare visits to his hometown Vijayawada, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna enriched the Guru Aradhanotsavams celebrated for five days by the sishya prasishyas of Parupalli Ramakrishniah Pantulu and his guru Susarla Dakshinamurthy Sastri at
Sri Sivaramakrishna Kshetram. Balamuralikrishna had his tutelage under Parupalli.
The festival started with Parupalli’s sishya prasishyas and other musicians performing a puja at Alankar center. Later in the evening, M.Y. Seshurani, M. Srivani, G.V. Ramakumari and Tulasi Viswanath rendered melodious concerts with instrumental support coming from Sitaramalakshmi, Jaganmohini, P. Nandakumar, Satish Babu and N.S. Kalyanaraman. Tulasi Viswanath’s Sunada vinodini, B.V. Durgabhavani’s Srikanta neeyeda (bhavapriya) and Modumudi Sudhakar’s Pavana Tanaya (rasikapriya) were very impressive. Satish Babu, P.Nageswara Rao, S.Prasad and H. Raghu provided good instrumental support. A large number of Balamurali’s compositions were rendered. Veteran violinist Annavarapu Ramaswamy handled his violin solo with scholarly touch. On the last day of the festival, a novel attraction was the ‘Gala Murali’ (whistle) concert by K. Siva prasad of Hyderabad.
This was followed by the final concert by Balamuralikrishna himself whose voice tied the packed audience to their seats. At 77, the master’s voice could easily reach ‘Anumandra Shadjam’ and ‘Ati Tara Shadjam’ in perfect unison with the sruthi. Balamurali declared that his concert would be a ‘guru vandanam’ paying homage to his great guru. However, he also sang a couple of keertanas very dear to his guru. There was spontaneous applause for every piece he sang. He was finely supported by Annavarapu Ramaswamy on the violin, M. Lakshminarayana Raju on the mridangam and H. Raghu on the morsing.
The next day’s function was organised by ‘Swarajhari’ Sabha marking the birth day of Balamuralikrishna. In the morning session some upcoming artistes and some senior musicians rendered Balamurali’s compositions. In the evening Balamurali was felicitated by Swarajhari. T.S. Ramachandra Rao, president of Swarajhari and secretary Modumudi Sudhakar organised the mega event in a disciplined manner and Annavarapu Ramaswamy honoured the veteran.
Hundreds of Balamurali’s fans, admirers and musicianspresented him garlands, shawls and mementos. Another notable moment was the presentation of a golden bracelet to Balamurali by Mushti Srinivas in memory of his late father Mushti Subramanya Sastri, a great lover and patron of music. On behalf of Sri Durga Malleswara Swami Devasthanam, Executive officer Chandrasekhar Azad also honoured him. In reply to his felicitation Balamurali stated that though he receive innumerable national and international awards, titles, honours and doctorates, he would always cherish this felicitation as it took place in his home town. Ramachandra Rao, C. Raghavachari, C.V.K. Prasad, D.L. Narayana, Jonnavithula Prabhakar and Annavarapu Ramaswamy glowing tributes to the legendary musician.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
