A native of East Godavari district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, his father Pattabiramaiah was a musician and his mother Sooryakanthamma was a veena player. He gave his first concert when he was nine and the quality of his music is explained by the
Carnatic vocalist, playback singer and composer Mangalamapalli Balamuralikrishna died on Tuesday, reports The Hindu. He was 86 and is survived by his wife, four sons and two daughters.
His music appealed to both the connoisseurs and the laymen alike. In classical music, he was able to give “play acting” to the essence of the lyrics in his song. In the film world, Oru Naal Pothuma, set to ragamalika in Thiruvilayadal, Chinna Kannan Azhaikiran, a reetigowla based song in the film Kavikuil, Mounathil Vilayadum Manasatichye in the film Noolveli and abohi raga song Thanga Ratham Vanthathu in the film Kalai Koil continue to enchant a generation of music lovers.
“He had a magic voice. He is to Telugu keerthanas what M.M. Dhandapani Desikar was to Tamil music. Since Telugu was his mother tongue, he knew the meaning of Thiyagaraja’s keerthanas and would not maul them,” the Hindu quoted clarinet maestro A.K.C. Natarajan, who also learnt many keerthana’s from him, as saying.
A native of East Godavari district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, his father Pattabiramaiah was a musician and his mother Sooryakanthamma was a veena player. He gave his first concert when he was nine and the quality of his music is explained by the fact that All India Radio (AIR), Chennai, included in the list of A-grade artists even when he was a child artist.
