Sisters Gayatri and Ranjani gave an absorbing concert for Narada Gana Sabha on the evening of December 26, 2009. Ranjani made a beautiful alap in Saranga Tarangini. The sisters then sang a GNB composition “Samana Rahite”. They improvised it with crisp swaras and made the kriti a lot richer. Young violinist Charumathi Raguraman gave a good account of herself, as she followed the sister-duo deftly. “Enneramum Un Sannidhi” (Devagandhari) of Gopalakrishna Bharathi was melodious and pleasing. Gayatri’s Bhairavi alap was fascinating, as she used her charming voice to fineness. She explored the raga with inspiring creativity. Ranjani and Gayatri sang a Swathi Tirunal’s navaratri composition “Janani Mamavameye” on Lord Padmanabha of Tiruvanathapuram.

Their synchronized singing merged so beautifully. The kriti got an elevation, as they peppered it with some neat swara constructions and improvised at “Suruchira Nayana”. As the improvisation reached a climax, the audience gave the sisters a big thumb’s up. This was followed by a tani avarthanam by K. Arun Prakash and K.V. Gopalakrishnan, who did a good job. Thyagaraja’s “Okapari Judaga Rada”(Kalavathi) was racy and made an impact on the audience.

As the sisters moved into creative music i.e. RTP (Ragam, tanam and pallavi), Ranjani gave a lovely presentation of the rakthi raga Kamas, bringing its beauty in all splendor. As Gayatri took over from where Ranjani had left, it looked as thought each one was out to out-compete the other. Though they sang together, one could sense a healthy match between the two. After singing the tanam, the sisters took the Pallavi line “Brocheva Evarura Ninnuvina Raghu Vamsha Deepa O’ Rama”, which was set to Kanda Jathi Triputa talam in two kalai. They made the pallavi singing interesting as they rendered swaras in a number of rakthi ragas such as Amirthavarshini, Dhanyasi, Bagyashree and Behag. The sisters alternatively rendered swaras in different ragas and made the manodarma sangeetham enjoyable to listeners. They then sang a viruttam in ragamalika and took up the popular kriti “Saravanana Bhava Ennum Tirumandiram” (Shanmukhapriya). Bhakthi rasa was in full flow, as they rendered the kriti with dedicated involvement. This kriti was well received by the audience. The abhangs of sisters have great appeal among the audience. An abhang in praise of Vitthala came as a fitting finale on this evening. It was a very well articulated concert.