A week-long Nada Neerajanam, musical tribute to the memory of Puranam Purushothama Sastry, who passed away recently, was held at Ananda Nagar Community Hall last week. Vigjnana Samithi, Sangeetha Ksheerasagaram, Sujanaranjani and Vijayanagar Fine Arts came together to perform this with dedication. A dozen and half young and old vocalists and instrumentalists took part in the event.
The young brigade featured in the first part of the evening was led by Kartika Anagha, D.L. Prachothan, Kalyana Vasanth, Chender Rao and others on different days. Prachothan made Patnam's Marivere in Latangi as his main offering and presented raga essay, nereval and swarakalpana with mental maturity. Another young vocalist Kalyana Vasanth performed well Charukesi raga as his main essay for Adamodigalade . He presented a rare Tarangam of Sivanarayana Teertha Paramapurusha in Behag.
The festival also gave opportunity to violin accompanist Mangalampalli Suryadeepti to present a solo concert.
He proved a good composer too giving a taste of his new talent in his own composition in Chalanata raga. The kriti Bhramarambike was also well set, sahitya wise. Veena virtuoso D. Srinivas is one of the best vainika in the state. The very technique he adapts in presenting some select numbers is noteworthy. His concert was one of the highlights of the festival. Raghunayaka in Hamsadhwani opened with extensive delineation of the raga almost exhausting its possibilities. The major melody of his repertoire was Malayamarutham .
Nagaraju's Flute recital was yet another cognizable event for the high standards it set. He was in the company of O.Rajasekhar on violin, K.Srinivasa Rao on mridangam and R.Srinikanth on Kanjeera. The consummate flautist gave ample evidence in support of popular recognition.
Among vocalists the concert of Lokanadha Sarma stood by the expected standards of the festival. He took up Etijanmamidi in varali as his main offering with raga and swarakalpana. The raga's imagery was at once graphic. N.C. Ramanujam on violin and P.V. Ramanamurthy on mridangam accompanied him.
Vocal recital by Kommanduri Seshadri reflected his scholarship. He was seen enjoying every bit of his presentation himself.
Launching with Atatala Varnam in Bhairavi, he presented some popular numbers. Apparamabhakti in Pantuvarali was his major show piece, besides Dikshitar's Sri Venkata Girisamalokaye in Surati.
Anantha Sourirajan on violin and veteran Prof. V. Gopalakrishnan on mridangam lent support. P.V. Seshayya Sastry's vocal with P. Poornachander on violin and Srinivasa Gopalan on mridangam was an interesting concert. Lalitha and Haripriya with Dwaram Satyanarayana Rao on violin and P. Jayabhaskar on mridangam started with Mohana number Rama Ninnu Nammina withan imaginative swarakalpana.
