Music aficionados are in for a weekend filled with some outstanding veena recitals, thanks to the initiative of the Visakha Music and Dance Academy (VMDA).
The academy has lined up veena recitals by exponents on Saturday and Sunday, VMDA founder-director G. S.N. Raju told the media here on Friday.
The two-day celebration of the “divine instrument, played by goddess Saraswati and sage Narada,” would take off with ‘Dwadasa Veena Manjari’ by disciples of Ramavarapu Vijayalakshmi. This would be followed by a recital by six veena players led by Pappu Padmavathi Paramahamsa.
‘Pancharatna Seva’
On Sunday morning, the VMDA is planning to conduct a ‘Pancharatna Seva’ by as many veena performers as the Kalabharati stage can hold. “While it may be able to accommodate some 60 veenas, already 88 have registered their names for participation,” its director said. In the evening, there will be a recital by seven veena performers led by Mallapragada Jogulamba.
The celebration would conclude with a ‘Veena Dwayam’ by the first veena exponent to have got the Sangeet Natak Akademi award, Ayyagari Shyamasundaram, and Ayyagari Jayalakshmi Shyamasundaram, trustee and secretary of VMDA G.R.K. Prasad (Rambabu) said.
“The two-day programme has been planned to revive the interest in individual performances by veena exponents”, Mr. Raju explained. “There are a number of top class veena teachers in the city and they are training a number students. However, there have been no individual veena recitals and there appears to be dwindling interest in the divine instrument,” he said.
The VMDA, after a discussion with leading veena gurus and others, decided on conducting the two-day festival, he added.
