Dr Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna is no more. Though a clichéd usage, one can’t help but say that his death marks the end of an era in Indian classical music. His renditions stood out due to his drive for borderless creativity, his desire to entertain the audience and his inimitable, exemplary singing method. He did not stick to the rule books and always wanted to experiment with the skills he was bestowed with. And, thanks to him, we had the privilege to listen to a great number of musical gems in his voice.
Here, Onmanorama picks a couple of our favorites of Balamuralikrishna as our tribute to the legend.
Tejas Shankar, the lead singer of Bengaluru-based folk/fusion rock band Lagori, wrote on his Facebook page about Balamuralikrishna: "Let's all celebrate his life and his genius by sharing our favorite renditions of his. His body may transcend to another dimension, but his voice will remain etched here forever, in this universe."
Here's his favorite Balamuralikrishna song:
From the comments posted there, we were led to Balamuralikrishna's live rendering of 'Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiraan', a song composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The song, composed for 1977 Tamil film Kavikkuyil, was performed by Raja and Balamuralikrishna again in 2011 at a concert titled Endrendrum Raja, after a gap of 34 years! They were older by 34 years but the charm remained the same. The camaraderie and respect these two icons shared on stage was something else too.
Balamuralikrishna and Raja for you:
Next is a jugalbandi, the beauty of which we found difficult to explain. This divine piece of music is a wonderful fusion of Carnatic and Hindustani music, and is performed by Balamuralikrishna in company of Bhimsen Joshi, another towering figure in Indian classical music. For classical musical lovers, listening to this one is sheer delight. We quote a comment written by Manab Mitra on the YouTube link of this video: "Confluence of two giant stars creating a mystic musical Supernova."
Experience it here:
The fourth song we are sharing here is Balamuralikrishna’s own composition – Amma Anantha, which may not be as familiar to many of us as his other works are. But lend your ears for this one, watch the genius at work.
Now, how can we forget Raajamathangi (Dhwani Prasadham), a stupendous composition by Raveendran Master that we heard in the voices of Balamuralikrishna, K.S. Chithra (the child’s voice) and K.J. Yesudas in the classic Malayalam film Bharatham? The music director has made use of Balamuralikrishna's singing prowess to a great extent here. The singers go through complicated musical layers with ease in this song, the transitions of which are highly enjoyable.
We know we said 5 songs, but we could not stop ourselves from sharing the evergreen ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ song in which Balamuralikrishna makes a graceful entry rendering Tamil lyrics (at 2:19 in the video).
Balamuralikrishna, all we want to say is thank you sir, dhan'yavādagaḷu, dhan'yavādālu, naṉṟi, nandi.