Devotion, when expressed through music acquires a collective dimension letting the audience soak in the devotional fervour. So did a three-day Annamayya Sankeerthana Harivaram at Kalabharati Visakhapatnam. It was a marathon session with renowned exponent of Annamayya compositions Parupalli Ranganath and Sunitha Balaji ladling out about 30 compositions each day. Kamisetty Srinivasulu’s erudite commentary further enhanced its emotional appeal. The fact that Ranganath mastered the art of singing the compositions of Annamayya needs no reiteration. His in depth grasp of both musical and lyrical nuances was evident all through. He sang giving each phrase its due accent and brought out in the process its devotional spirit. A wide assortment of compositions that he sang dwelled on myriad aspects of life and its emotions. Devotional, philosophical, romantic and spiritual import of varied compositions found alluring expression in his resonant voice revealing his passion for Annamayya’s padams.
It was like flowing with notes. It was no mean endeavour to present filament of compositions each day and sustain the interest of the audience. Ranganath has done it with fluid ease. Each shade of emotion embedded in the composition softly glowed in his melodic rendition much to the delight of the audience. He commenced it with Brahmmakadigina paadamu in raga Mukhari. He sang the compositions in a candid way of expression sans frills touching a responsive chord in the hearts of audience. Laden with soft gamakas his exploration of varied hues of the chosen compositions added a measure of refinement to the presentation. A broad range of ragas like Hamsadwani, Mohana, Kalyanai, Behag, Kapi, Desh, Sindhubhairavi, Todi and Valaji glittered in consonance with lyrical charms. G Chakrapani on violin, BK Bharadwaja on keyboard, P Balasubrahmanyam on mridangam, G Vijayakumar on pads and P Pandurangarao and B Manjunath on table lent admirable support. Hyderabad-based RJ Media Works in association with Visakha Music and Dance Academy and Sri Sarada Annamayya Sangeetha Vidyalayam also featured in the concert.
