Sridevi, the younger sister of musicologist and vocalist N.C. Murthy, gave a concert of Annamacharya kirtanas. The event was organised by ‘Annamayya Parivaramu’, an organisation which promotes compositions of Annamacharya. In connection with Annamayya Vardhanti celebrated at Moulali, last week, the Parivaaramu invited Sridevi to present a concert of Annamacharya kirtanas. She was accompanied by Pawan Kumar on violin and Manjunath on tabla.N.C.Vani of the same family who specialised in commenting on Annamayya compositions also explained the gist and context of each of these kirtanas. There were also young vocalists K. Soumya, Y. Hiranya and Snehankitha who took part in the event.
There were around a score of numbers they chose to present on the occasion, starting with Deva Namodeva in Hamsadhwani tuned by Balakrishna Prasad a well known name for the rendition of Annamacharya kirtanas. He also tuned more than two hundred compositions and quite a few of them figured in this session. The next number was Vinaro Bhagyamu Vishnukatha in Suddhadhanyasi followed by Emani Pogadavachu neethani Prabhavamu .
Kondalalo Nelakonna was rendered by Sowmya and Hiranya, students of Sridevi. Podagantimayya Mimmu in Mohana was tuned by noted Carnatic musician and Principal of Tirupathi Music College, D. Pasupathy.
Ramanavami celebrations
A Carnatic music concert by Sindhuja and a Kuchipudi dance recital by ‘Kuchipudi Cousins’ Pasumarthy Mrutyunjaya Sarma and Sitalakshmi Prasad, was held at the Jubilee Hills Ramalayam on Ramanavami day.
Sindhuja, also a Kuchipudi dancer, started her concert with
Vandeham Jagadvallabham of Annamacharya tuned by greatest of the masters Dr. Pinakapani. Sindhuja then went for Swathi Tirunal’s popular number Bhavayami Raghuramam in ragamalika. She took care of presenting the swarakalpana that denotes each of these ragas, with fine finish.
Sindhuja for a change chose to present Shanmukhapriya for Marivere of Patnam with brief delineation of the raga before she went for the kriti. The neraval at the line Sannutanga she presented in this number was followed by impressive swarakalpana. The final number of the concert was Annamacharya kirtana Annimantramulu in Amruthavarshini.
The second part of this event was Kuchipudi dance presented by Kuchipudi Cousins- Sarma and Sitalakshmi. They opened the show with prayer on Ganapathi, slokas and verses converted into song and its rhythmic patterns. The second number was Ramayana Sabdam in Mohana, presented by Sarma. It narrated the story of Ramayana in bits from Rama’s birth to Ravana’s death then back to Ayodhya to rule the country. The final number was rare Tarangam Jaya Jaya Durge of Narayana Teertha in Shanmukhapriya. This was choreographed by Sita Prasad and she played crucial role of Goddess Durga who kills Mahishasura in the last act. This was presented by both the artistes changing into characters. There were dances, standing on brass plates topping the order of presentation. Then appeared the ‘Mahishasura Mardani’ sequence that needed absolute timing especially when the Goddess was about to stab the demon with her trident. This was a great show that received great applause. The duo concluded their show with Swathi Tirunal’s tillana in Bhoopalam.
