The mobile phones were silenced and the curtains drawn open to a stage of artistes that were all set to enthrall the audience at ‘Flights of Fantasy’, held at Chowdiah Memorial Hall for the 16th year in a row. The performance by violin brother duo Ganesh, Kumaresh and their team left the audience spellbound.

Even while they warmed up and played short pieces, the crowd was mesmerised, looking forward to the magical evening that was to follow. While the brothers stole the show with their violin notes, they were accompanied by Shankaranarayanan on mridangam, Trichy Krishna on ghatam, Pramath Kiran on morsing and percussion, and Prasad on tanpura.

Some of the pieces that they performed were familiar to the crowd and others that left them amazed — including pieces like raga pravaham, sivadarusanam, sri kamalamba and ragam tanam pallavi. During the entire performance, the audience was deeply involved and tapping to the rhythm. And the hall was filled with an energy that emanated from the violin duo, whose facial expressions added to the charm of the evening.

There was a piece in which the violin strings were plucked instead of being played, which amused the audience and made them giggle.

The brothers did have some problems with the venue’s sound system though — they had to constantly request for modulation during the performance.

“What Ganesh and Kumaresh can do on stage, not many can. The performance by the brothers was as energetic as it can get. Anyone could see the joy they share on the stage and their talent is unmatchable,” said Lalita Goswamy, a music connoisseur at the performance.

A music student, Geetanjali Saxena, opined, “There were interruptions during the show — where the artistes’ needs were not attended to immediately — but the brothers and their team totally made up for it. The enthusiasm that the team displayed kept everyone cheerful and so involved.”