All India Radio's 'Sangeet Sammelan' was held at the Vylloppilli Samskriti Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram, this year. The evening featured recitals of violin maestro Swaram Durga Prasad Rao, Savita Narasimhan and a Tala Vadya Kutcheri. The significance of this musical fiesta is that these concerts are held all across India on the same day. The first of its kind was organised in 1955.
Violin solo
Dwaram Durga Prasad Rao's violin solo began the festival on a mellifluous note with two Tyagaraja compositions 'Hechcharikaga' in Yadukula Kamboji and 'Nadopasanache' in Begada. Next came a soulful Swati kriti 'Sarasaksha' in Panthuvarali. He concluded his recital with 'Sharadha Vidayadhani,' a bhajan in Sindhubhairavi.
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He was accompanied by Poosarla Manorama (violin), K. Sadgurucharan (mridagam) and Nemani Somayajulu (ghatam).
Savita, a stickler for tradition, also began her vocal concert with a Tygaraja kriti — 'Nadatanumanisam' in Chitaranjini, Adi tala. It was followed by 'Venkita shaila viharam,' a devout kriti in praise of Venkitachalapthi, composed by Subbaraya Sastri in Hamir Kalyani.
The accompanists were R. Shivakumar (violin), R. Sankaranarayan (mridangam) and N.G. Ramakanth (morsing). Some of the other compositions she sang were a Tygaraja composition 'Maravairi' in Nasikabhushani, Dikshitar piece 'Mayur nadham' in Dhyansi, and a Swati kriti 'Saaramaina' in Behag.
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The last programme of the evening was a rhythmic extravaganza led by Alugolu Satyanaryana (thavil). The musicians who participated in the concert were G.S. Ramanujam (ghatam), Nagaraja (morsing) and S.R. Mahadeva Sharma (violin).