Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna@Pallavi Darbar(Sastri hall) On June 14th,2026

[rajeshnat]

Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna@Pallavi Darbar(Sastri hall) On June 14th,2026
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Vocal: Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna
Violin : Akkarai Sornalatha
Mrudangam: BS Sundarkumar
Ghatam : Guruprasanna
Kanjira : KV Gopalakrishnan
Tambura : ??

Concert Type : Nirvana - Non Ticketed concert
Day : Saturday
Duration - 2 hours concert with nearly 85 mins Pallavi without tani
Sabha/Hall : Carnatica and Parthasarathy sabha jointly conducting /Sastri Hall
Occasion : Pallai Darbar - Exclusive RTP concerts

01. Vallabha nayakasya - BEgada - MD
02A. Ragam in shuruTTi and sindhubhairavi for 28 mins with both vocal and violin return

After a much delayed start taken by Amrutha Venkatesh , KBMK started atleast 45 mins late, but he was given still far more than 1 hour 30 mins ,infact he taking nearly 2 hours was definitely welcome . Kudos to Carnatica team in giving team the time and not being fussy to close at sharp 9PM

The first number was a warm up song and certainly Begada ensures a heavy warmup to the voice . Felt he indeed started well with begada . Pallavis are generally have two personas Type 1. some times more focus on raaga baavam with its ingrained layam less kanakku and with right arranged minimal to mediocre count of words of pallavi . Type 2 is some times one that adds a lot of words to give every turn a laya sommersault and this Pallavi was of type 2 category. ONe has to appreciate KBMK in taking a bold choice of Tirruppugazh lines and tossing with 4 ragas in neraval . I have to add a caveat this Pallavi may have suited the audience that was more having mrudangam /percussion profile. They would have enjoyed more.

Alapana in shurutti is difficult to start with and KBMK started very well after a very detailed follow up akkarai sornalatha who was consistent and great , he going towards sindhubhairavi was an unexpected turn for me . HE did well for sindhu bhairavi too, he showed his class in his ideas for raga alapana

02B. taanam in neelambari and ranjani for 16 mins with violin return only for neelambari

Taanam was not metered with mrudangam . I usually prefer significant second half to be metered. The two ragas were well done , though as a rasika I had to be liberal in accepting a little more athattal and aggression for the melodious rasa of neelambari.

[rajeshnat]

02C. Pallavi neraval in all 4 ragas in reverse order ranjani , neelambari , sindhubhairavi and shuruTTi and swaras for 28 mins
Pallavi line was thirruppugazh lines with 2 lines taken for each neraval
Pallavi first 2 lines are yeru mayil yeri vilayaadum mugham onRE
eeasanudan gnanamozhi pesumugam onru
then another 6 lines of tirruppugazh followed

KBMK showed his class for many who are laya based rasikas . Certainly any one learning percussion would have enjoyed far more than me . So many words in these 8 liners felt like he indeed a put a lot of effort to sing tirruppazh . But many a times in neraval i felt it was too much of a wrestling match between him and the 3 percussionists with a lot of overdose of SOUND.

In the neraval and swaras i liked ranjani and shurutti the most , felt neelambari was having a shade of aggression , he indeed showed so many pockets of sangathis to demonstrate that he has learnt music also from Karaikkudi Mani , but the PSN-SSI primary school magic was not that much there.

02D.Tani for 18 mins
03. Thillana - kola mayil ...neelamayil meedhu - darbAriKAnadA - LGJ
04. nee nama roopamulaku

Tani was a loud tani . FOr sastri hall 2 upapakkavadhyams with also a ghatam having a contact microphone along with Sundarkumar who has such a power was bit too much for my ears .

The last tillana was excellent and KBMK really showed his raga rasa class act in darbari kAnadA

KBMK indeed has a great control with ideas to show so much laya patterns in neraval of the pallavi , but an approach to also go towards sarvalaghu with a little reduced laya sommersault would have been better for me. Certainly in terms of SOUND sound this pallavi needed a hall like NGS Main or even Kapali temple for this small sastri hall Pallavi has lot of SOUND sound .

Overall a very good to excellent concert for near 90 mins pallavi and a near a 2 hour concert

[rajeshnat]

Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna@Pallavi Darbar(Sastri hall) On June 14th,2026
-----------------------------------------------------------
Vocal: Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna
Violin : Akkarai Sornalatha
Mrudangam: BS Sundarkumar
Ghatam : Guruprasanna
Kanjira : KV Gopalakrishnan
Tambura : ??

Concert Type : Nirvana - Non Ticketed concert
Duration - 2 hours concert with nearly 85 mins Pallavi without tani
Occasion : Pallai Darbar - Exclusive RTP concerts


GLICSPAWES 2026 "Goto LIve Concert Show PAtronage Without Excuses Series" concert #L of Z(hopefully Z(26) is goal) . L stands for Lalitha Ragam

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