Kartikeya Gana Sabha’s music fest concluded with a vocal duet by Malladi Brothers — Sreeram Kumar and Ravikumar. Their learning under great names like their grandfather Sriramamurthy, father Suribabu, their guru voleti Venkateswarlu and greatest of the gurus Dr. Sripada Pinakapani and his disciple Voleti Venkateswarlu and Nedunuri too, made them what they are now with large repertoire. Blessed with fine vocal culture their concert enriched this fest, held at Kowtha Kalyana Mantapam, Marredpalli.
They were accompanied by Dwaram Satyanarayana Rao on violin, DSR Murthy on mridangam and Nemani Somayajlu on ghatam.
The duo’s concert was opened with rare Vara Sikhi Vaahana in Supradeepam, Adi talam of Thyagaraja, presented with sketch of raga. The kriti rendition was expressive with high tempo swarakalpana, shared by both, setting the mood of the concert.
The next number was Entha rani in Harikambhoji, Adi talam of Thyagaraja with brief raga delineation and emotive rendition of the composition. Swarakalpana at Seshudu Sivuniki was soaked in bhava, presented in two speeds. Syama sundaranga in Dhanyasi of Thyagaraja that figured later was a relaxed presentation sans any decoration. This was followed by Orajoopu Joochedi Nyayama of Thyagaraja in Kannadagowla, with brief ragaalapana. Krithi rendition was with clear diction followed by brief but interesting swarakalpana. Bhajare re chitta in Kalyani, Misrachapu talam of Dikshithar was treated as their submain piece, with expansive raga delineation and impressive rendition of kriti with neraval presentation taking the line Devi Sakthi Bheejodhbhava maintaining perfect shruti that managed the melody. Swarakalpana that followed was presented in two speeds.
The brothers then chose to present Thyagaraja number Anyayamu Seyakura in Kapi with brief raga that served as curtain raiser to the main composition of the concert, ‘ri Vishwana tham Bhaje in Bhairavi, Adi talam of Papanasam Sivan. Bhairavi rendition was melodious and in great detail. The kirtna rendition too was spirited, with neraval at ‘Annapurneswari’ was good. Swarakalpana too in both tempos was captivating. The percussionists Murthy and Somayajulu lent good support uniformly and the tani avartanam was stimulating. Violinist Dwaram, a very experienced hand lent god support through out.
In the later part figured Narayana Teertha’s Tarangam Pooraya Mamakaamam in Bilahari that they sang extremely well. The rare kirtana of Ramadasu Ithaderaa Eelokamulogala in Salaga Bhairavi that figured later was tuned by the duo’s father Malladi Suribabu. The concert ended with Adi Deva Paramathma in Sindhubhairavi of Annamacharya
Before the start of the event ‘Sri Duddu Seetharama Sastry Memorial Vaggeyakara or Musicologist Award’ was presented to Kollegal R Subrahmanyam and ‘Sangeetha Pragna Puraskarams’ were given to mridangam artiste D.S.R. Murthy, vocal-violinist Mallela Tejaswy, vocalist Sowmya Sridhar and Rakshitha of Bangalore.
