The Uppalapati Ankaiah Centenary Music Festival organised by Sangeetha Ksheerasagaram recently at Thyagaraya Ganasabha had young talent in plenty.
On the first day, it was V. Sri Sowmya’s rendition in the company of N.S. Sindhuja on violin and Mehar Sagar on mridangam. Sri Soumya chose to present compositions in Vasantha, Hamsadhwani, Ranjani, Surati, Panthuvarali and a tillana in Maand. Though she presented raga essays to some compositions, her main number was Panthuvarali for Sambho Mahadeva of Thyagaraja with good alapana, neravu and commanding swarakalpana, followed by tani avartanam by Mehar Sagar.
M. Kartika Triveni accompanied by Pawan Singh on violin and Omprakash on mridangam rendered compositions in Nata, Amruthavarshini, Nagagandhari, Bhoopalam, Bindu Malini, Madhuvanthi and a tillana in Khamas. Her raga essays of Nata and Amruthavarshini were impressive. There was kalpanaswara presentation too in these numbers. Her main melody was Bhoopalam for Sadachaleswaram of Dikshithar, a fine presentation, with neraval and swarakalpana.
V.V.S. Bhargava, accompanied by K. Sourirajan on violin and Vidyasagar on mridangam gave a concert on third day of the fest. Among the compositions he presented, Saveri, Kanakaangi, Kannada Goula, Kalyani and Sama were the best. Yet the Kalyani number Vasudevayani of Thyagaraja was the highlight for his raga portrayal with neravu and swarakalpana presentation in the kriti.
Sowmya Sridhar, disciple of Hyderabad Sisters, is one of the best talents we have in the city. The accompanying artistes for her concert were O. Rajasekhar on violin and young C. Ramakrishna on mridangam.
The main attraction of her concert was Raghuvara Nannu Maruvadaguna of Thyagaraja. Raga presentation was unique and kirtana rendition was neat and expressive. There was neraval too, followed by swarakalpana, both brilliant presentations. Paramathmudu Velige
Major concerts
Flautists V. Nagaraju and his disciple Sri Poornima, on second flute opened with Sri Gananadham . Nagaraju went for alapana of Kedaram for Rama Naapai and followed it with Nada Tanumanisam , a simple kirtana presentation. After playing Ragasudharasa in Andolika with brief sketch of raga, he chose Poorvikalyani for Gjnanamosagarada and presented it with swarakalpana.
The main melody was Kapi for Inta Sowkhyamani . Both raga and kirtana were tasteful presentations. Dinakar on violin, P.V. Ramanamurthy on mridangam and Krishnaprakash on kanjira lent support.
Mellifluous recital
Kothapalli Vandana’s mellifluous vocal was supported by K.V. Krishna on violin, Ramesh on mridangam and Chandrakanth on ghatam. Devadeva Kalayamithe of Swathi Tirunal, Mrudubhashana in Maruva Dhanyasi, Entarani in Harikambhoji with raga and swarakalpana led her to sub-main melody Poorvikalyani for Meenakshi Mudam Dehi that was presented with all its technical elements.
The main number was Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi in Udayaravichandrika and the pallavi part with the line Kamalambika Mokshaphaladayika in Udayaravichandra Prakasika was well presented.
The swaras were presented in ragamalika format.
Rare duet
Violin and Ati Chitra Veena made a rare combination in the recital presented by V.L. Kumar and Durga Prasad accompanied by Jayabhasker on mridangam and Phanibhushan on ghatam. The numbers they presented were Viriboni varnam, Vatapi Ganapathim in Hamsadhwani, Endaro Mahanubhavulu in Sri and then went for main number Mariveregati Evaramma in Anandabhairavi of Shyama Sastry. They then played Adamodi Galade in Charukesi with Ragalapana.
Traditional concert
The music festival’s top concert was that of Tadepalli Lokanadha Sarma, disciple of Chittor Subrahmanyam. He made his recital informative explaining the niceties of concert presentation.
The concert was out and out traditional. His very first number- Sri Ganapathini in Sourashtra set the tone in his remarkable ragalapana and swarakalpana. Guruleka Etuvanti in Gourimanohari was symbolic explaining the importance of ‘guru’.
Ranjani was the first major raga essay for Durmarga Charadhamula giving out its sahitya part in detail, with neravu and swarakalpana. Main melody was Charukesi for an Annamacharya kirtana. The concert was a lesson in itself teaching raga’s depth, modulation and tonal use.
Noted film playback singer S. Janaki present on the occasion, appreciated Lokanadha Sarma’s concert and felicitated him.
