Memories of Mangalampalli

Musicians reminisced on their association with M. Balamuralikrishna prior to a concert.

Dwaram Durga Prasad Rao Photo: C.V.Subrahmanyam

Visakha Music and Dance Academy held ‘Murali Samirika Madhuri,’ an evening of paying musical tributes maestro Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna at Kalabharati, Visakhapatnam, where a huge number of local musicians and music lovers participated.

Recalling the fond and long association of the maestro with this city, the event turned poignantly nostalgic.

The artistes presented not just compositions of Balamuralikrishna but those of others that the maestro set to tune as well.

Thus it thoroughly reflected ingenious acumen of the maestro both as multi-faceted artiste and composer of eminence.

At the outset, the founder president Kalabharati CSN Raju evocatively summoned up his memories of the maestro from way back in 1944, when the 16-year-old newly married Balamuralikrishna gave a concert during his visit to his in-laws’ village.

Violin maestro Dwaram Durga Prasada Rao too paid rich musical tributes. He recalled his seven-decade long association with the maestro.

He revealed that Balamuralikrishna was an ace dramatist in AIR programmes and his portrayal of a key role in a play ‘Botana Velu’ (Thumb) was a hit in those days. His tribute was replete with nuggets of valuable info about the maestro.

Before taking up the maestro’s compositions for performance, he elucidated the embedded nuances of musical and lyrical substance in the compositions, giving an analytical sketch of imaginative variations in the piece taken up.

He opened the session with Ganasudharasame in raga Ganavadhini on violin and after that presented Jayadeva’s Asthapadi on viola and Nijagadasa in Sindhubhairavi both tuned by Balamuralikrishna. It was truly a treat to listen to the violin maestro.

In distinct style of Dwaram school, it was a soothing melody in its cadenced grace. Chaganti Ramya Kironmayi on violin and Dhanwada Dhrmarao on mridangam were at their best.

Later, Manda Sudharani, Pantula Rama, Mandapaka Sarada, Saraswathi Vidyarthi and others sang composition of Balamuralikrishna and MSN Murthy presented a couple of pieces on viola.