A Visual Treat of Heavenly Music in God's Own Country - M Balamuralikrishna's 90th Birthday Offering

Here is an offering entitled “A Visual Treat of Heavenly Music in God’s Own Country” to commemorate the 90th birthday of Dr Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (BMK) .

This concert was held at Ananda Bhavan, Pothamkandam, Payyanur, Kerala on 1st September 2008. Here, BMK is accompanied on the violin by Sri. S R Mahadeva Sarma, on the mridangam Sri. B Harikumar and on the ghatam Dr. S Karthick.

My distinguished friend Sri. Ramkumar on watching the concert as we were preparing for its upload said the following.

QUOTE

I had the privilege of previewing the video of this concert and was blown away by it.

Dr Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (BMK) was 78 years at the time of this concert. The comfort and ease with which he could span the three octaves, seem like just the other day he had performed in his debut concert...a mere 68 years ago from then.

The fare he has offered in this concert is delectable. His stage presence is electric. The manner of his engaging the accompanists is as lively and vibrant as he did in his concerts of the golden years. And they have responded likewise to make the concert a true visual treat of heavenly music.

The undiminished zeal of BMK to push himself to give the listeners of his music a most fulfilling listening experience is vividly evident. There is a flurry of novelty now and then, flashes of spontaneous improvisations periodically, and appropriate one-line quips here and there.
The most spontaneous one-liner of the concert, in the finest humour that only he could sport and hold, was when he quipped, “This is a love song. All the lights are not required.”

To summarise, this concert is a visual testimony to BMK's zest for life in general and for performing in particular after nearly seven decades of performing on the stage.

We miss him in person today, but not in his music performances such as this one.

UNQUOTE

00:00 🌹Welcome to the album.
00:00:24 💠01. Reception
00:03:35 💠02. Welcome speech & introduction
00:09:19 💠03. BMK speaks...
00:12:00 💠04. Vātāpi Ganapathim - Hamsadhwani - MSD
00:27:34 💠05. Kripālavāla - Nādavarāngini - Tyāgarāja
00:37:30 💠06. Chintayāmi santatam - Sucharitra - BMK
00:42:00 💠07. Ādamódigaladā - Chārukéshi - Tyāgarāja
01:28:13 💠08. Rāda nāmīda daya - Hamīrkalyāñi - Kuppuswamy Iyer
01:30:57 💠09. Mā mānini nī dāmagani - Tódi - BMK
01:35:24 💠10. Hanumā anumā - Sarasāngi - BMK
01:41:28 💠11. Rādhika Krishna - Janasammódini - Jayadeva
01:52:50 💠12. Pibaré Rāmarasam - Ahirbhairavi - SSB
01:58:22 💠13. Āaj Āye Shyām Móhan - Mishra Pahadi - Swati Tirunal
02:03:41 💠14. Tillāna - Kuntalavarāli - BMK
02:12:50 💠15. Mangalam
02:15:00 💠16. Sign off

Acknowledgements: My sincere thanks and appreciation to:
1. Smt. Mahathi Srinivas (BMK’s daughter) for her generosity in sharing this concert recording for the purposes of posterity.
2. Sri. T K Ramkumar for previewing the concert and sharing his reflections.
3. Respected Swamiji Krishnananda Bharathi for organising the concert and for the video recording.