Visakha Music Academy’s 47th edition of six-day annual music festival treated music aficionados to a rich and memorable fare at Kalabharati Visakhapatnam. Besides scintillating concerts of seasoned artistes, the event saw presentation of the academy’s coveted award ‘Sangeetha Kala Sagara’ to renowned Bombay Jayasri and a few awards to up and coming artistes in a bid to promote young talents in pursuit of classical music. With each of the session sparkling in myriad hues of artistic excellence as the artistes made spirited presentations, the event lent the audience an engaging experience in musical ecstasy.
Bomay Jayasri has an uncanny facility to connect with the audience and for the connoisseurs’ her performance has always been an enlivening experience and this one is no exception. Featured on the fifth day, the session was a highpoint of the series. She opened the concert with Sambho Mahadeva of Dikshitar in raga Pantuvarali and what followed was a treat in classicism. Her choice for the mainstay of the session was raga Kharaharapriya and the kriti for this was Chakkani Rajamargamu of Thygaraja. The way she portrayed the raga in its multiple shades of brilliance building its edifice aglow with succinct gamakas was remarkable for its aesthetic presentation. That she has an ability to carry the audience along the mood of the composition being rendered was evident all through.
Embar S. Kannan was on violin while Vankayala Venkataramana on mridangam and K. V. Gopalakrishnan was on kanjira. Earlier, the academy warmly felicitated her and conferred its title ‘Sangeetha Kala Sagara’ on her. On this occasion she presented academy’s young talent awards to up and coming artistes. Also she presented academy’s outstanding service award to VSN Murthy and Sangeetha Aacharya award in memory of Kanakadandi Venkatratnam and Satyanarayana Murthy to violinist KVS Prasad.
Gayatri Venkataraghavan
The fest opened with vocal concert of Gayatri Venkataraghavan. Ably accompanied by Srikanth on violin, Ananthakrishnan on mridangam and Haribabu on ghatam, she rendered the chosen kritis with fairly good grip over the idiom of classical music. She picked up raga Sankarabharanam for exposition for the kriti Sarojadala . It was a pleasant session that gave a good start to the event.
Percussion ensemble
On the second day it was a percussion ensemble that wowed the audience. .
With noted mridangam player V.V. Ramana Murthy in lead, renowned Tanmoy Bose on tabla, Giridhar Udupa on ghatam, G. Guruprasanna on kanjira, Nishant Singh on pakhawaj, Debangshu Mridha on sreekhol, HN Bhaskar on violin and Allarakha Kalawants on saarangi, the performance was a tour de force.
Gayatri Girish
Gayatri Girish’s captivating concert was another notable high in the series, the expressive manner that she emoted the musical and lyrical nuances in soulful rendition of chosen piece was remarkable.
She took up raga Bhairavi for delineation and unveiled its majestic countenance in all its brilliance. She began with Natakuranji varnam. Her raga essay for Karnaranjani for Vanchatonu was classy, leaving a lingering effect on the audience.
Komanduri Venkatakrishna on violin, Kotipalli Ramesh on mridangam and
Nemani Somayajulu on ghatam lent commendable support.
Mutnuri Jalajakshi
Senior vocalist Mutnuri Jalajakshi’s concert was full of classicism in its impeccable adherence to tradition. The concert was remarkable for its bhava-laden rendition. She chose raga Aarabhi for RTP that testified her rich experience in handling the piece at hand with ease. M.S.N. Murthy on violin, Mandapaka Ravi on mridangam and G. Venkatesh on morsing lent good support.
Vocal concert of Krishnakumar and Binny Krishna Kumar formed the grand finale. Raga Lathangi for Tamralochani of MBK was the star piece for elaboration that found enduring expression. Mavuduri Satyanarayanasarma on violin, BVS Prasad on mridangam and Rayaprolu Baladinakar on ghatam were at their best.
