Malayali Musicians Wow German Audience with Blended Performances

Last weekend, Malayali musicians and sisters Arunitha and Aanya Mohan took the stage at the Playground Music Festival in Weimar, Germany, collaborating with the German band Playfords. The performance was a resounding success, with the audience deeply impressed by how the duo's Carnatic music style blended beautifully with the band's Renaissance and early folk Baroque sound.

Arunitha explains that the audience was surprised to see the two distinct musical traditions complement each other so well. The sisters played three songs alongside Playfords and also presented two of their own compositions - Dhanashree Thillana and Raghuvamsha Sudha in Kathanak uthuhalam. They also performed a captivating trio piece with mridangam player Nora Thiele, which particularly intrigued the crowd.

Aanya notes that the audience was amazed by the sisters' virtuosic techniques on the violin, an instrument that has been adapted into the Carnatic tradition. "The violin is an adopted instrument - we borrowed it from European music and adapted it into Carnatic tradition. Because of that, they were amazed by how we could play gamaka, sliding of notes, and gliding techniques on it," she shares.

The performance also drew attention to the veena, an instrument that was new to the German audience. "Many people came up to me to ask about the veena as it was new to them. They were curious about how it's played," recalls Arunitha. Overall, the sisters felt warmly welcomed by the Playfords ensemble, who treated them as full members of the band rather than just guest performers.