A sprightly performance by Malladi Brothers
The Hindu
The Malladi Brothers planned the concert in a way that would project their individual voices
If the medium tempo brings out the essence of Carnatic music best, then the Malladi brothers carried its spirit through their concert at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s festival. The vocalist duo intelligently sequenced compositions in ragas of contrasting profiles, individually delineating the registers which suit each one. Sreeramprasad would let his younger brother Ravikumar explore the upper notes, where he always sounded stronger.
This was evident right from the opening alapana in Ritigowla. An invocatory viruttam gave way to Tyagaraja’s ‘Bale balendu bhushani’. The swaraprastara revelled in undulations typical of the rakti raga steeped in bhakti, contrasting refreshingly with the sprightly ‘Manasa etulortune’ that followed.
After this Malayamarutam piece, the brothers came up with a niraval, uniquely choosing the anupallavi for lyrics. ‘Dinakara kulabhushani’, they reasoned subsequently, highlighted the literary crux of the Telugu kriti (vis-à-vis the customary ‘Kalilo rajasa’ in the charanam).