Voleti Venkateswarulu-V Thyagarajan-Tanjore Upendran live concert

Live concert somewhere (late 70s early 80s)

Voleti Venkateswarulu- vocal
V Thyagarajan- violin
Tanjore P Upendran- mridangam

0:00 - 1) ninnu kOriyunnanurA (varNam)- mOhanam, Adi, Ramanathapuram "Poochi" Srinivasa Iyengar
7:34 - 2) rArA mAyiNTidAka- asAvEri, Adi, Thyagaraja
13:49 - 3) kanja daLAyatAkshi- kamalA manOhari, Adi, Muthuswami Dikshitar
18:53 - 4) anudinamunu kAvumayya- bEgaDa, rUpakaM, Ramanathapuram "Poochi" Srinivasa Iyengar
49:55 - 5a) nI pAdamulE gatiyani- bhairavi, Adi (2 kalai), Patnam Subramanya Iyer
1:24:39 - 5b) thani Avarthanam
1:35:09 - 6) cArumatI upacAramu lETikE (javaLi)- kAnaDa, miSra cApu, Pattabhiramayya
1:40:45 - 7) adi nIpai marulu (jAvali)- yamunA kalyANi, dESAdi, Dharmapuri Subbarayya
1:46:21 - 8) brahmai vAham kila- mIsra shivaranjani (madhyama sruti), Adi, Sadasiva Brahmendra
1:53:44 - 9) bhAja gOvindam- mIsra mAnd, Adi, Adi Shankaracharya
1:58:45 - 10) nahirE nahi shankA- kalAvatI, Adi, Sadasiva Brahmendra
2:03:02 - 11) Beet Gaye Din Bhajan BinA RE- Mishra pIlu (madhyama sruti), Adi, kabIrdas
2:09:12 - 12) nI nAma rUpamulaku- saurAshTraM, Adi, Thyagaraja

Thanks to Lakshman sir for sharing. Please pardon the sruti fluctuations as the original copy had a low and slow sruti. Plus the original labeled co-artists are incorrect; they are not TN Krishnan and Karaikudi Mani.

As I've said before and I'll say it again, Voleti is a gem of a vocalist. Whenever I listen to him, I get transfixed by his captivating voice. Like Dr. BMK, he possesses a magnetic power and unique rendering style that can never be emulated but relished. His devotion to Ariyakudi and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan is completely evident in his rendition. Everyone can enjoy his music regardless of race, caste, creed and age. Artistes like him come once a generation.

Almost all the krithis rendered here are known to us, but the classism Voleti brings is immense. Especially the bEgaDa and bhairavi. The joy he radiates in each krithi is infectious. And the North Indian/Hindustani portion is just sublime.

I would like to thank ‪@boratbear‬ for identifying the violinist as Sri V Thyagarajan, the son of the legendary violin maestro Papa Venkataramaiah. I am reproducing his comments on Thyagarajan here: "Sri Thyagarajan, like his father, would often pluck a string(s) at the end of a passage. Also, like his father, he would play the landing note multiple times, such as at 31:44 (R S S S S S R R S N). There are a few other matters regarding technique and handling of some prayOgams as well." And I would like to add that Thyagarajan's soulful violin playing complements Voleti very well.

This is a birthday tribute to the southpaw genius Tanjore Upendran. He was a bona-fide original whose playing combined both thavil and Thanjavur styles. He could play all gathis/nadais and formulated great calculations where he transitioned from one nadai to the next in his own inimitable way. Here, listen to his transition to khanda nadai at 1:27:08 and how he incorporates the same nadai in his farans (1:33:32), mohara (1:33:59) and korvai (1:34:15). I will let the laya experts, mridangam practitioners/students and lovers expound more in the comments.

Those who attended this concert, please share your reminiscences as well as other information. Those who are listening for the first time, please share your thoughts.

Long live this concert! And let's remember the brilliant vidwans who graced us with it!