Dr. M Balamuralikrishna-MS Govindaswamy-Umayalpuram K Sivaraman @ BGS (1978)

Live at Bangalore Gayana Samaja (November 1978)

Dr. M Balamuralikrishna- vocal
MS Govindaswamy- violin
Dr. Umayalpuram K Sivaraman- mridangam

0:00 - 1) OmkAra praNava (varNam) - shaNmukhapriya, Adi, Dr. M Balamuralikrishna
10:01 - 2) sogasu jUDa taramA - kannaDagauLa, rUpakaM, Thyagaraja
13:42 - 3) nA moralanu vini- Arabhi, Adi (2 kalai), Thyagaraja
27:16 - 4) para lOka bhayamu lEka- mandAri, dESAdi, Thyagaraja
36:10 - 5a) SrI abhayAmbA ninnu (manipravALam)- SrI, Adi, Muthuswami Dikshitar
43:32 - 5b) BMK short speech on SrI abhayAmbA ninnu
44:02 - 6a) mariyAda kAdurA- SankarAbharaNaM, Adi, Thyagaraja
1:40:00 - 6b) thani Avarthanam
1:50:48 - 7) tODi RTP (mAyE tvaM yAhi mAM bAdhituM kAhi) w/ rAgamAlikA swarams (rEvati, kosalam and sahAna) - Adi (2 kalai- starting on the little finger)
2:22:17 - 8) mAyE tvaM yAhi- tarangiNi, Adi, Muthuswami Dikshitar
2:28:13 - 9) palukE bangAra mAyenA- Anandabhairavi, Adi, Bhadrachala Ramadasu
2:32:08 - 10) hari rasamA vihAri- hindOlaM, Adi, Annamacharya
2:35:57 - 11) rAma rAma EnarAda- sindubhairavi, Adi, Prayaga Rangadasu
2:40:48 - 12) brhadIshvara mahAdEva- kAnaDA, rUpakaM, Dr. M Balamuralikrishna
2:45:13 - 13) kAnaDA thillAnA (dhImnanA ta dhiranA)- Adi, Dr. M Balamuralikrishna

Thanks to Raju Asokan sir for providing the recording. The sruti varies, but I have left it as it is.

It has been 7 years since the incarnation of the Sama Veda shed his mortal coil and returned to the Almighty. And I felt this concert was to be appropriate to celebrate muraLi gANam.

It's a debatable topic unto itself, but a majority of muraLi gANam fans and rasikAs authoritatively declare that Dr. BMK was at his peak during this period (mid to late 70s to early 80s). His voice was perfect with all octaves at his command. And the legion of muraLi gANam lovers/fans from all over India always thronged those concerts. Especially in Karnataka.

Whenever Dr. BMK came to Karnataka, his concerts were always over capacity. According to his myriad of fans, every concert he gave was a masterpiece unto itself. If you asked some of them about a particular concert, they would go into raptures about it as if it was yesterday. They may not be able to tell you how he sang a particular rAgam and how he rendered a swaraprastara like if it was in tiSra or khanda nadai for example, not because of their lack of comprehension of the technicalities of muraLi gANam, but because they were totally bewitched by his voice that they couldn't think of anything else. And yet they could provide you the venue, concert list, accompaniments, audience size and other information. Such is their love for the man they call "God".

But for the rest of us who did not get to see him at his prime /peak, we need not worry. The main thing is that muraLi gANam is timeless. And this concert is a perfect example. We are not transported back to the past; we can visualize this concert as if it's being performed today! We can see the genius front and center capturing our entire souls with his magnificent multi octave voice and presence. We always find something new each time, like that flat NDNS sangati in mariyAda kAdurA (1:12:46 and 1:12:53), his voice modulation in nA moralanu vini, his transition from the mandAri alApana to the pa swaraksha at para lOka (31:19) and similarly a R2 P R2 at the end of SrI rAga alApana where the tAra sthAyi R2 matches the SrI of SrI abhayAmbA (39:08) the way he glides from the RTP to Dikshitar's mAyE tvaM yAhi and from brhadIshvara to the thillAnA and many more you listeners can point out in the comments.

Despite some mistakes, MS Govindaswamy does a good job on violin support and appropriately plays the lower sruti whenever necessary. But it is clearly Drs. BMK and UKS's show as they dominate with their clear mastery of the medium and powerful, exuberant teamwork. UKS is always a delight to listen and he uplifts the concert to greater heights. The strokes and chapu of his mridangam are crystal clear and magnetic and his kAlapramANa is topnotch. When he plays the opening line of mariyAda kAdurA, you know the thani will be special. His transitions from chatusra to tiSra and back to chatusra are terrific. The farans is a goosebumpy tremendous thriller. And he finishes it off with a outstanding tisra gathi mohara in both slow and fast kAlams based off thom and his sonorous chapu and the famous korvai I have heard for so long where the purvangam is in tiSram and the uttarAngam is in chatusram (laya and mridangam experts/students, please correct me if I am wrong).

Those who attended this concert, please share your reminiscences as well as the correct date of this concert along with other information. Those who know the violinist MS Govindswamy, please share more details about him, his guru, when he commenced his violin career, etc. Those who are listening for the first time, please share your thoughts.

Long live muraLi gANam and UKS nAdam!