Malladi Bros-Sharada Cultural Trust, Hyd- 2nd Feb 2013

[sivakami]

Sharada Cultural Trust, Secunderabad
23rd Annual Cultural Festival & 166th Aradhana of Satguru Sri Thyagaraja Swamy

2nd feb 2013
This was the last day of this concert series, after which we had the pancharatna seva the following day (Sunday) and some renditions of thyagaraja krithis by individuals of all age groups.

Before the main concert, there was a short duration ( ~ 1 hr) by Smt. Vasantha Subbalakshmi, which needs a special mention. This young, visually-challenged lady is so passionate about carnatic music, that she along with her husband tries to attend every concert possible (which I have observed is a rarity among this Hyd-rasika crowd). We have observed her listening keenly, trying to absorb every small detail. So, I made it compulsory for me to attend her concert without fail. She is under the tutelage Dr. Vysarzu Balasubramaniam now. I arrived at around 5.15 PM, when the concert was supposed to start. I found that she, with her gorgeous sky-blue silk saree, sitting on the stage along with her accompanists, enthusiastic to sing for us. But, alas, I was the only one in the audience (from outside), in addition to her few family members and some Mamis from the hosting organization. When she was asked to start the kutcheri around 5.30 or so, I felt very bad, when she started off saying “Andharikki Namasakaram” with both hands folded. I felt glad that she could not see how many were sitting in the audience..

She began with the papanasam Sivan’s, ‘Sri vathapi ganapathiye’ after a brief raga sketch, and rendered it beautifully in chaste tamil (she is a native of AP) with a nice round of swarams.. Then she took up varali for a detailed essay, which again was dealt with care and melody. The krithi chosen was “Eti janmam idhiraa” – wow! What a rendition full of bhavam! I felt moved, listening to that soul-stirring piece. By this time the crowd had increased in strength, with some early birds coming to catch good seats convenient to listen to the Malladis( kept discussing among themselves loudly ‘appuram late ayiduthunna edame irukkadhu…’). I was thinking atleast after seeing the artistes on stage, why don’t we have some courtesy, not to make noise. Oblivious of the commotion in the audience, she continued with her recital blissfully. Next she moved on to Syama Sastri’s “parvati ninne” in kalgada, one of my favorites (for its up-and down jerks) and sang with appropriate variations and lots of brigas . Then the main item in Suratti, ‘SriVenkata Girisam’ was rendered after elaborate raga alapana, with neraval and swarams at ‘Alamelu manga sametham’ beautifully. She was even appreciating the accompanying artistes on and off with a ‘bale’. Her concert concluded with Purandara Dasar’s ‘tamburi meetidava’ in SindhuBhairavi. This kutcheri was an excellent starter that evening!!

Coming to the main concert,
the team:
Malladi Brothers Sreeram Prasad(srp) & Ravikumar(rk)
Embar Kannan -violin
MLN Raju - mridanagam
Srinivasa Gopalan – morsing

here is the song list:
1. slokam "BrahmE bramha ’ in praise of all the vaggeyakaras, composed by “Srinivasa Sarma ” of vijayanagaram, followed by 'chalamela' - Nattaikurinji varnam
2. Parameswara, jagadeeswara - Deekshitar – nattai ( S@ pancha nadheeswara)
3. Nithyaroopa - Durbar -T ( R(rk)- 7min; S@ nithyaroopa)
4. Manasaa sreeramachandruni maravakke -Eesa manohari -T
5. Telisithe mokshamu - hamsanadham - annamayya- (R(srp)- 8min, rk -2min; N&S @ Sri venkateswarudu)
6. Kalavathi, kamalasana yuvathi – Kalavathi, aka yagapriya -D
7. Mahitha Pravrddha - khamboji – T ( R(rk) 14min; N&S @ Mahitha Pravrddha Srimati);
8. tani
9. Varuvaaro varam tharuvaaro - sama- Gopalakrishna bharathi
10. Ravayya Bhadrachala rama, sreerama - Ananda Bhairavi - Bh. Ramadasu
11. Abhaya Dayakuda – Annamayya – tuned in ‘Lalith’ by their father Sri. Malladi Suribabu
12. Smariso sarvadha Hariya –HamirKalyani – Purandara dasa
13. Slokam ‘ Aakashascha….??.’ in praise of Lord Siva followed by Chandrasekara Eesa - Sindhu Bhairavi
14. Mangalam

It is needless to describe the prowess of the Malladi Bros in this forum, who sang to a full-hall of more than 500-600 rasikas (my mind was calculating the ratio of 1:500 of the crowd at 5.30PM: 7PM). We also observed that the organisers had to add extra chairs on both the sides to accommodate the late-comers. It was interesting to watch the Hyd Sisters Lalitha & Haripriya sitting in the front row, enjoying thoroughly the whole concert. There were several other performers, upcoming vocalists and other instrumentalists in the audience, trying to grasp the special features of the Bros. I also found a rise in the number of children of the school-going age-group sitting almost till the end, which is rarely the case normally.

Right from the varnam once the pace was set, the flow was smooth, melodious, with bhavam-filled renditions in their Paramaguruji’s Bani. Before singing the main item in Khamboji, they mentioned that they were going to render his most favorite of the lalgudi-pancharatnams, and also that after learning and practising this krithi, they have taken His blessings before singing on stage. Knowing their guru bhakthi, one can imagine the manner in which this would have been rendered. It would feel monotonous to describe about the raga-delineations and the other details. The two tamil-krithis in Sama and SindhuBhairavi and the purandara dasar kriti were very enjoyable and well received. Only this time, they had chosen a list comprising of less-sung pieces or the newly tuned-ones of Annamacharya (as one of the sub-mains) or Bhadrachala Ramadasu that are not listed in those ready-reckoner-little- books that rasikas normally carry. So we found many of them searching frantically (I was thinking it was like out-of-syllabus questions in the exam-question-paper!!). Yet, with this fresh set of songs, it appeared the rasikas were immensely enjoying, as the crowd remained till the end, when the artistes half-heartedly had to conclude the concert. It was an Outstanding kucheri!!

The twin-cities rasikas must thank this All-ladies organisation, the " Sharada Cultural Trust" for conducting such a WONDERFUL series for a whole week, with excellent arrangements of a nice canteen, and other stalls selling ready-made mixes by Mambalam Iyers, or handloom-textiles and all.....
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On 28th Jan, the South Indian Cultural Assn(SICA) jointly with the ‘Ella Foundation’ had organized a devotional music programme by the Malladi Bros. Unlike a normal kucheri, this one was solely rendition of songs of various composers, without detailed raga-alapana and kalpanaswarams etc.,

Accompaniments:
violin - HN Bhaskar,
Veena - Bhavani Prasad,
Mridangam- DSR Murthy,
Tabla- Gunaranjan and
Tambourine of different varieties, Jalraa etc., - ?(forgot this elderly gentleman’s name)

This devotional event was electrifying!! Wonderful to listen with this kind of a variety of instruments, in one of the best auditoriums of the city ( Ravindra Bharathi), the vibrant atmosphere among the artistes, each of them trying to perform their level best. Veena accompaniment was outstanding, providing a tanam-effect constantly. Some of us felt, why not have veena as a regular accompaniment (this must have been discussed in this forum at length, I am sure). HNBhaskar on violin was superb, and was also enjoying the Bros’ singing as well as his co-string-artiste Bhavani Prasad (I always have observed HNB doing this, saying, aha…oho.. with that charming smile enjoying the main artistes singing, while he is also absorbing every bit ). After the concert, we were asking him how he managed to come all the way from thiruvaiyaru to Hyd 6.30 PM kucheri ( he had played for Ranjani-Gayathri the previous day till 11PM) to perform like this with not even a trace of the travel-fatigue, for which he again flashed that charming smile in reply..

Song list:
Slokam ‘Gajananam..’ followed by Jaya Jaya swamin of Narayana theertha
2. Rama Bhakthi samrajyam – suddha bangala –T
3. Thakkuvemi manakku – Bh. Ramadasu
4. Sri Guruguha tharayaasumaam – Devakriya -D
5. Ananda bhairavi ragam short sketch, Dasaradhi satakam followed by ‘ Raavayya bhadrachala rama’
6. Nannu brovamani cheppave- Kalyani – Bh. Ramadasu
7. Avadhara raghupathi – -Khamas -Annamacharya (tuned by Nedunuri garu)
8. Siva siva ena radha – Pantuvarali –T
9. Shringara lahari – Neelambari – Lingaraj Urs
10. Pahi pahimaam – Jonpuri –Narayana theertha
11. Dwijavanti raga sketch followed by Sai Nama smaranam
12. Enna thavam seidhanai – kapi
13. Maanasa sancharare – Sama
14. Hari darshan ki pyaasi – surdas bhajan
15. Venkatachala nilayam – Sindhu Bhairavi – purandara dasa
16. Pathikki harathire.. and mangala slokam

With a Carnatic-Hindustani dual effect, enhanced by the several instruments, timely switching to the variety of tambourine s& jalraa by that gentleman which was fabulous, this was an amazing experience... Wah! Wah! Wah!

Many rasikas are eager to listen to the M. Bros again here at Hyd, where they are going to exclusively sing Narayana Theerthar tharangams on 22nd Feb.

[rshankar]

Sivakami - awesome reports - thank you!!