As a student of Durga Krishnan, I have met Amritha and Anjana Mangalat as young kids. I have heard them play at annual recitals and have always been impressed by their dedication to Indian cultural music and dance.

I lost touch with them when I moved to PA. In the process of relocating back to Boston, I was invited to attend their Veena and Vocal recital. Since I am a big fan of both veena and vocal and was interested in seeing how my young friends had progressed, I decided to attend. It was a welcome treat.

The event was held in the beautiful Chinmaya Mission auditorium in Andover with its splendid acoustics. This concert was dedicated to their grandmother, who is currently visiting family in India.

These young women had come home from college and internships for the summer, put in one month of solid effort, and were able to put together an amazing 3 hour dual concert. What a great testament to their devotion and dedication to their art.

It was an impressive performance and it was beautiful to see these two accomplished and talented young women perform with the poise, grace and confidence of well-seasoned artists. They started the evening  with the veena concert that was dedicated to Swati Tirunal Maharaja, who, though he only lived up to age 34, left behind a treasure trove of varnams, kritis, keerthanas, padams, javalis and thillanas in Malayalam, Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi and also in Manipravalam (different languages in the same composition), and the sisters showcased some of these gems. They started with his Ata Tala varnam, Chalamela, in two speeds, followed by Seve Srikantam in Mohana Kalyani.

The main item of the veena recital was Swati Tirunal's Bhavayami Raghuramam depicting the story of the Ramayana, which he originally composed in the raga Saveri, but was turned in to a Ragamalika by the legendary Carnatic vocalist Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.  Both Amritha and Anjana shared a short but beautiful alapana in Saveri, followed by taanam in Saveri, Nattaikurinji, Dhanyasi, Mohanam, Muhari, Poorvikalyani and Madhyamavati.  The song was followed by kalpana swaras in all seven ragas ending with a korvai.  Amritha and Anjana played it flawlessly. They were so in sync and attuned to each other that they played off each other’s notes in perfect harmony. It was indeed a sight to see. This was followed by the melodious Saaramaina Mattalendho in Behag, the popular Dhanashree Thillana, and finally a Mangalam on Devi in Pantuvarali. Sri Gaurish did an impressive job on the mridangam and all three demonstrated great team work. They were truly a credit to their guru Smt. Durga Krishnan who worked with them i
ntensively and trained them on the nuances down to the last detail.

After a short break, they commenced the vocal section of the concert. Their song selection was excellent as they mostly sang pieces which were popularized by Smt M.S. Subbalakshmi. They started the concert with a Pada Varnam "Chalamela" in Ragam Nattaikurinji. This was followed by Papanasam Shivan's Tamil composition "Paraatpara" in Ragam Vachaspathi, which was accompanied by brisk Kalpana Swarams to "Hari Ayanum". Then emerged Dikshitar's majestic compostion "Shri Rangapuravihara" in Brindavana Saranga. This piece was very well-received by the audience who could instantly relate to it, thanks to M.S. Amma.

Saint Thyagaraja's compostion "Pakkala Nilabaadi" was the chosen main piece. The krithi was handled with all the reverence necessary: the sisters presented a poignant raga alapana, and neraval and kalpana swaram at "Tanuvuche". The second half of the vocal segment was laced with "Janakiramana", the popular "Kaatrinile Varum Geetham", "Dolayam" and finally ended with a traditional, auspicious mangalam. The songs chosen for the evening helped in highlighting the  range and sweetness of their voices. Credit for their vocal performance goes to Smt. Sandhya Sridhar, their vocal instructor, who also worked extensively with them in the weeks prior to the concert.

They were accompanied by Smt. Vidya Raman on the violin, and Sri Gaurishankar on mridangam, who really encouraged them throughout the concert.

The audience was very receptive to their performance and showed their appreciation well. I was really proud to see the younger generation continuing to learn, perform, and propagate the age-old art of Carnatic music in its purest form.

Much credit goes to their parents in recognizing their talents and encouraging them to pursue Carnatic music and dance in spite of their demanding schedules. This is a gift that can never be taken from them and something that they can enjoy in the years to come. I know their grandmother is in for a major treat!

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