Vidwan A.V Prakash was born into a lower middle class family of musicians with many brothers and a sister, the parents striving hard to make both ends meet. His father Ganakalarathna A.K. Muthanna, a violinist of repute, derived more pleasure in listening to the divine twang of the violin than in collecting fees from his pupils. Vid. Muthanna played the violin to its glory till he was a hundred and two years of age.

Prakash learnt to play the flute from a very young age and achieved success through diligence, single-mindedness and discipline. Within a short period of time, he was not only able to earn eminence as an artiste of absolute finesse but to also help the family economically. He contributed his mite in celebrating his sister Rajalakshmi’s marriage with the well-known violinist Vid. H.K. Narasimhamurthy, who was also a disciple of his father. Rajalakshmi too is a musician of repute.

I have been acquainted with Prakash for a long time. He was my classmate at Government Middle School, Chamundipuram and I had taken a few lessons from him on playing the flute, which he had given me, free of cost, a generous trait which he was known for. It is another matter that I did not pursue the art. We played cricket together and I attended a number of his music concert practicing sessions as well as a few of his concerts. Prakash took up a job in the State Bank of Mysore (SBM)at Mysore which brought some material relief to his family. He devoted his spare time to the flute — his soul mate, demonstrating the impossibility of separating an artiste from his musical instrument.

Vid. Prakash grew in stature under the tutelage of well-known flautists T.R. Mahalingam and N. Ramani. He associated himself with Mysuru Akashvani as an artiste and a Board Member. He gained in more fame having performed at Gayana Samaja; Gana Kala Parishat; Lalithakala Academy and Sri Krishna Sangeetha Sabha in Bengaluru. Vid. Prakash gave concerts all over the country and won plaudists for his mastery over the art. In 1986, he thrilled the audience at the International SAARC Summit held in Bengaluru. And in 1996, he regaled the audience at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal.

Vid. Prakash was honoured with the Best Flautist Award (1987-88) from the Indian Fine Arts Society in Chennai. He has given concerts at the Durbar Hall of Mysore Palace and in many countries abroad. Laxmi Enterprises, Mysuru, has recorded and released a number of cassettes of quality by way of felicitating the grandiose flutist. Continuing his saga in the world of music, Vid. Prakash received Artiste of the Year award in 2004-05 from Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Academy. He was also honoured by the Gayana Samaja, Bengaluru, in 2001-02 by the then Chief Minister S.M. Krishna. He has been conferred the titles of Kalajyothi and Adarsha Kalavida by the music patrons in Karnataka.

On the evening of 17th March 2016, a few minutes into the concert at Chandramouleshwara Temple in Vontikoppal, Mysuru, Vid. Prakash suffered a massive heart attack and passed away. He was playing krithi ‘raghunayaka’ in hamsadwani raga with aplomb. The fact that he met his end while giving a concert in a well-attended programme gives one the feeling that his soul has reached the lotus feet of the Lord. Fortunately, for music lovers, his two sons, A.P. Srinivas and A.P. Krishna Prasad are musicians of great promise and will carry the legacy forward.

On a personal note, nearly four decades ago, when my mother (a connoisseur of music) was alive, Vid. Prakash and Dr. S.Vijayaraghavan, a well-known Veena exponent and a mutual friend of the Vidwan and me, had visited my house where they presented a delightful duet con- cert that was recorded in an Akai tape recorder which is still with us, a priceless souvenir.

Condolence Meet: At the condolence meeting that was held on March 23, Dr. S. Vijayaraghavan observed that Prakash’s home was a flute factory, a hub of teaching and learning. The sombre end of Vid. Prakash makes one realise that the true value of a moment becomes apparent until that precious moment becomes a memory.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles /  by B .K. Vishwanath  / March 26th, 2016