1984 Sri Rama Navami Concert 🔸 M Balamuralikrishna 🔹 M Nagaraj, S G Bhave, T Upendran & H P Ramachar

🔸Exactly 40 years ago (28.04.1984), Dr. M Balamuralikrishna (BMK) signed-off from performing in concert series, such as Sri Ramanavami Concert series and this concert was the last one from such a series.

🔹BMK in this concert becomes a perfect conduit for the flow of pure music of several masters including his own on-the-spot creative RTP that he pulled off, taking his accompanying artistes and rasikās together with him.

🔸Looking back and reflecting now about that summer evening in Bangalore, brings back many interesting memories of the surroundings -- the make shift auditorium filled with rasikās sitting on wooden folding chairs, the hush-hush of the people around guessing what he wound sing next, and the larger part of the mind of many on the tape recorder worrying if the recording would be good or otherwise.

🔹While the mind is anchored to anxiety, expectation, judgment or anticipation, I realise now, how much I have missed to notice while not being mindful of what was really happening and how the creativity was actually unfolding before us!

🔸On that evening, BMK touched several peaks of the Himalayan range in the realm of music.

🔹Listening to it now gives me an idea how the accompanying artistes and several hundreds of attentive rasikās could also scale those peaks with BMK to experience, behold the beauty of itself and the beauty around the peaks. So much of preoccupation on the recording aspect actually robbed the joy off listening to the live concert while it was really happening. I consider this restoration project came to me more as a boon to actually relive those great moments of creativity.

🔸For want of space, I would briefly indicate to you some highlights of the concert in the hope of enhancing the joy of your listening.

1️⃣ BMK champions in setting goals and leading the accompanying artistes to perform in unison and to bring out their best in cocreating the creative music that unfolds. Sri.M Nagaraj (violin), Smt. Shyamala G Bhave (Harmonium), Sri. T Upendran (mridangam) and Sri. H P Ramachar (Khanjira), to shine both individually and collectively in providing a wholesome musical experience.
2️⃣ The 3 renditions as a set of rāgālāpana followed by kriti rendition. The rāgas Mayamalavagowla, Khamas and Tanarupi help the listener to settle down and to prepare oneself to savour the music that would follow. The rāgālāpana peeks into unexplored territories of the rāga while retaining the familiar landscape.
3️⃣ Purandaradasa ’s “Alli Nodalu Rama” (behold ! Rama is over there !) in Natikuranji aptly brings out the “wonder” intended in the composition, which is followed by a laya-vinyāsam. The spontaneity of humour to highlight the “amazement” awaits the listener at the end of laya-vinyāsam. When BMK picks up the muktāyam (01:46:45) and sings “Alli Nodalu Rama” – turning his head and indicating the Rama idols near the stage, and then sings “Illi Nodalu Rama” (behold ! Rama is over here!) – turning his head to his right side and indicating to the Khanjira player (Sri. Ramachar), making the entire team with all the audience to enjoy the humorous moment.
4️⃣ The Ranjani RTP was an on-the-spot creation. You can listen to his comments about it in the album (02:12:14). The RTP rendered here is set to Khanda-jāti Mathya tālam. It’s sung in vilambakālam [2- kaḷa chowka]. The off-set (Ettugada / Edupu) for the take-off of the pallavi is after 3 counts. And the pada-garbam / arudhi (end of the pūrvāngam, the first half of the pallavi ending at the strike of the beginning of the second half of the tālam cycle) is 5 counts.
5️⃣ BMK's comments about the raga development based on mūrchana and his rendition of Vakulabharnam standout as a testimony for his mastery of scholarship.

🌸 Come, partake in the delight of listening to the maestro.

00:00 💐 Here are the details of the concert with time stamp.
00:00:06🔸01 Tribute to Sri. M D Ramanathan’s Transition
00:02:45🔸02 Endaro mahanubhavulu - Shree - Adi - Tyagaraja
00:18:59🔸03 Meru samana dhira - Mayamalavagowla - Adi - Tyagaraja
00:32:19🔸04 Sujanajeevana -Khamas - Rupakam - Tyagaraja
00:47:25🔸05 Shree Ramam sada bhajeham - Tanarupi - Adi - BMK
00:54:43🔸06 Devadideva - Sunadavinodini - Adi - Mysore Vasudevacharya
01:28:45🔸07 Alli nodalu Rama - Natikurinji - Adi - Purandaradasa
01:47:02🔸08 Ramaninuvina - Shankarabharanam - Rupakam - Tyagaraja
01:52:08🔸09 RTP in raga: Ranjani, Khandajati Mathya Talam
02:21:59🔸10 Mamavapattabhirama - Manirangu - Mishrachapu - M Dikshitar
02:24:53🔸11 Dr Balamuralikrishna speaks about his future plans
02:31:20🔸12 Bhajare Shree Ramam - Vakulabharanam - Chapu – Bh. Ramadas
02:40:02🔸13 Tillana - Brindavanasaranga - Adi - BMK
02:42:45🔸14 Mangalam - Saurashtra - Adi - Tyagaraja