It was a rare opportunity for music lovers of Vijayawada. On the first day of the three-day celebrations marking the 27th anniversary of Swarajhari Sabha at Gokaraju Laila Gangaraju Kala Vedika, the inaugural function was presided over by Swarajhari president T.S.Ramachandra Rao. Other dignitaries were Mallajosyula Jagannadha Rao, founder of Vijayanagar Fine Arts, Hyderabad and B.S.Ramachandra Rao. On the occasion, Jagannadha Rao was bestowed with the title `Sangeeta Seva Nirata’ in memory of late Munuganti Srirama Murthy of Kakinada, the founder editor of Ganakala , the only music magazine in Telugu.
This was followed by three mini concerts by extremely talented Vishnubhotla Sivani (violin), Kamaraju Poornachandra Sayi (mridangam) and Kothapalli Sridevi Pravallika (vocal) – all under 10 years of age. Sivani, a violin prodigy is receiving her training from vidwan Ganduri Srinivasa Murthy. Her violin solo started with Saveri varnam which she played in four speeds with fine laya precision. Next she played Adamodi galada in Charukesi and went on to play Thyagaraja’s Nanu Palimpa in Mohana adorning it with imaginative alapana, neraval and crisp kalpana swaras. The concert came to a close with a thillana in Pharaj. Seventeen year old K. Aravind accompanied Sivani on the mridangam with good musical sense.
This concert was followed by a mridangam solo performance by 10 year old K.P.S.Kartikeya narayana Sarma, a disciple of vidwan K.Vishnumurthy. Sarma surprised the audience with his vinyasam of all the five gatis playing the adi tala tani.
The final program on the first day was a sweet vocal concert by 10 year old Kothapalli Sridevi Pravallika, a disciple of vidwan Popuri Syamasunder. With a fine sense of aesthetics Pravallika rendered Vatapi in Hamsadhvani, Prakkala Nilabadi in Kharaharapriya and a Tamil Ragamallika doing ample justice to the manodharmam aspects. She was supported well on the violin and mridangam by Sivani and Aravind respectively.
The last day’s violin duet concert by brothers Tejas Manjunadh and Pranav Manjunadh came as a veritable feast for the rasikas. The highly talented brothers aged 19 and 17 respectively were born and educated in Boston, U.S.A where they were trained by vidushi Tara Anand. To pursue their musical training, the family shifter to India and Tejas and Pranav are now receiving their advanced training in violin from Lalgudi Jayalakshmi and Yasaswi, in Bangalore. The tonal quality of their violins was very melodious and they showed high standard while playing the ragas, neravals and kalpana swaras. The concert started with Lalgudi’s varnam in Charukesi. This was followed by Pranamamyaham in Gowla which carried superb and commanding kalpana swaras. Akhilandeswari , Dikshitar’s composition in Dwijavanthi was played by the brothers in a leisurely tempo and brimmed with rich raga bhava. Tejas the elder of the two played a fine version of Poorvikalyani before the brothers played Gnanamosagarada studding it with fine neraval and swaras. Another attractive item in the concert was Syamasastri’s Marivere gati in Anandabhairavi. After playing Entamuddo in Bindumalini and Bagayenayya in Chandrajyothi, Tejas and Pranav took up Thyagaraja’s Kaligiyunte in Keeravani as the main item of the concert. Both excelled while playing the raga, neraval and mathematically intricate kalpana swaras.
P.S.Phalgun a seasoned artiste provided excellent support to the brothers on the mridangam. The robust tani presented by Phalgun and M.Haribabu (ghatam) was another attractive feature in the pleasing violin duet concert. Towards the close of the concert the brothers played a scintillating thillana in Sindbhairavi.
On the final day of the three day feast, `Rama Katha Vaibhavam’, a musical feature was presented by group of nearly 15 children trained by Tadepalli Srikrishna and Rukmini Srikrishna of Tiruchirapally. The group rendered a large number of songs in praise of Lord Rama. The presentation included some kritis, kirtanas, abhangs and bhajans – some rendered individually, some in pairs and some as a group. Palaparthi Nageswara Rao, B.Suresh Babu and I.Anjaneya Sastri supported the group on violin, mridangam and ghatam respectively.
