Balamuralikrishna gave his voice to Kannada hits, classics

BENGALURU: Veteran Carnatic musician Dr M Balamuralikrishna, who died on Tuesday, had a long association with Karnataka and its film industry.
The classical singer was a regular at Rama Seva Mandali concerts in Bengaluru, Dasara concerts in Mysuru and special concerts at Dharmasthala.
Aparna Sridhar, editor of music magazine Saamagaana, described him as a non-conformist whose musical virtues transcended language. “He would say I don’t know Kannada, Tamil or Telugu.I know music,” she said.
Balamuralikrishna has translated many of Tyagaraja’s Telugu kirthanas into Kannada. Music critic C Somasundaram said his renditions of Kannada poet Purandara Dasa’s krithis such as Satyavantarigidu Kaalavalla and Kallu Sakkare Kolliro made them seem like they were composed for him.
In Sandalwood too, he was a sought-after singer and was part of films such as Rajkumar-starrer Sandhyaraga (1966) in which he sang the famous Ee Pariya Sobagu.
A decade later, when director G V Iyer set out to make another musical, Hamsageethe (1975), Balamuralikrishna volunteered to compose the music. That film won him the national award for best male playback singer and the state award for best music score. His association with Kannada continued in many other films too.
Director S V Rajendra Singh (Babu) said Balamuralikrishna could appreciate any kind of music and loved the fact that the 1990 Kannada hit song Devaru Hoseda Premada Dara (from the film Muttina Haara) brought a symphony orchestra together with Indian music. “The song was a musical depiction of four seasons and no one but Balamuralikrishna could do it justice. He had stopped singing for movies but the song was so special and he obliged to sing it. The song and the singer were made for each other,” he recalled.
Mridangam artist AV Anand, who accompanied Balamuralikrishna during his concerts in Karnataka, described him as a creative genius. “His Dharmasthala concerts were marked with divinity,” he said.
One of his disciples M G Venkataraghavan said: “Even people who didn’t know a thing about Carnatic music could enjoy his renditions. His voice made the music accessible to everyone.”