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Stalwarts of yore The legendary mridangam maestros

The sisters displayed excellent form right from the start. The first item Sri Mahaganapathe in Abhogi was crisply rendered with elaborate swarakalpana. This was followed by a rare composition of Uttukadu Subbayyer Madhura Madhura in Athana. Krishnaveni delineated the major part of Hamsanadam alapana before the sisters sang the popular keertana Bantureethi koluva with good kalpana swaras. Another rare item they rendered was Devi brova samayamide in Chintamani ragam. The main item was a gripping pallavi in Keeravani Karuna joodave Sailasuthe – Sundari Sankari Gowri set to Chapu talam. It was executed with admirable efficiency and appealing sahitya prastharam. The kalpana swaras came in the ‘ragamalika’ format comprising ragas Gowla, Hindola and Athana. The duo had able support from the orchestra comprising of Ampolu Muralikrishna on the violin, B.V.S. Prasad on the mridangam and M. Haribabu on the ghatam. The percussion duo provided a thrilling rhythmic treat at the end of the main item. Saraswathi and Krishnaveni closed the concert with a devaranama.

The ‘vardanthis’ combinedly observed at Gokaraju Laila Gangaraju Kalavedika, Vijayawada, by the sishya, prasishya and praprasishyas of the two legendary maestros. The sishya prasishyas offered pooja to the portraits of the legendry gurus.

Radhakrishna Raju was a mridangam guru of great repute and also a veteran performer. He had trained more than 70 disciples in his illustrious career. He served as mridangam lecturer for a long period in the G.V.R.Government College of Music and Dance, Vijayawada.

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