Homage to a guru

Malladi Narayana Sharma paid tribute to the late Voletti Venkateswarlu.

A concert in memory of Voleti by Narayan Sharma.

Nada Bharathi recently conducted the memorial concert of Voletti Venkateswarlu, the legendary vocalist from Andhra Pradesh who mesmerised rasikas with powerful and vibrant music. Narayana Sharma, disciple of Voletti, presented a scintillating vocal concert to pay rich tribute to his guru.

Voletti, as rightly described by the legendry violinist M.S. Gopalakrishnan, was a phenomenal vocalist who had the art of singing both Carnatic and Hindustani at its depth. Voletti learnt under Munaganti Venkatramiah and then from Dr. Pinakapani, and developed a style of his own which was acclaimed by the music masters and pundits of Indian classical music. Narayana Sharma brought in the nuances of his guru in his rendition along with his son Raman. He began his concert with a beautiful Ananda Bhairavi varnam in adi, a rare one with good sangathis which set the tempo of the concert. Gowla came next for Pranamamyaham with brief swaram. Pantuvarali was taken for detailed alap in which Narayana Sharma brought out the Hindustani sangathis which sounded rich for Apparama bhakthi with neraval and swaram.

Vidamu seyaga in Kharaharapriya was a classic item presented neatly.

Yamuna Raman, with his bold voice, has followed his father's footsteps and sung in a good proportion. Dinakar aptly supported on the violin and his ragam versions were commendable. Vasu on the mridangam elevated the concert with his neat following and his tani in rupakam was impressive. The concluding items were

Akativelala in Revati of Annamayya which was often sung by Voletti in his concerts and Sarvam bramamayam .