Malladi Suribabu receives Hamsadhwani Award, shares stage with three generations

Hyderabad: The Hamsadhwani auditorium witnessed a special celebration of musical lineage last Saturday, when veteran Carnatic vocalist Malladi Suribabu received the Sathguru Thyagaraja Hamsadhwani Award.

The felicitation was followed by a ‘Parampara Concert’ featuring three generations of the Malladi family — Suribabu, Sree Ramaprasad and Ravikumar on vocal, with Malladi Sindhu Rageswari on violin and Malladi Sree Aravind Karthik and Malladi Sivanand Yasasvi on double-mridangam.

The concert opened with Annamacharya’s ‘Vandeham jagadvallabham’ in Hamsadhwani, tuned by Sripada Pinakapani. Suribabu’s alapana was clear and assured, followed by kalpanaswaras at the pallavi with all three vocalists taking turns.

A brief Darbar alapana preceding Tyagaraja’s ‘Narada guruswami’ stood out, with Suribabu bringing out the raga’s characteristics through clear and distinctive prayogas.