Mano Chanmugam. Smriti Daniel

Colombo’s classical music lovers will soon get the opportunity to listen to the celebrated pianist Shani Diluka thanks to the efforts of to this discerning curator of performers at his stately home, Hunter’s End, in Piliyandala speaks

Good musicians always know when Mano Chanmugam is in the house. They can hear him – his hearty “hear, hear!”, his demands for an encore – ringing unabashed over the reserved applause of Sri Lankan audiences. At Hunter’s End, Mano’s stately home in Piliyandala, artistes are guaranteed an even warmer welcome. Here, Christmas still lingers in the high-ceilinged rooms, a wonderland of trees, outsized stars and glimmering decorations that plunge down from the ceiling and pause, suspended and glinting, just over your head. Each room has its own colour scheme and no less than three nativity scenes are set with statues in porcelain and clay. As Mano points out wryly, “you have to be a little mental to do something like this.”

Our host is in fine spirits, already full of plans for the next star who will grace his living room. By the time the celebrated pianist Shani Diluka arrives, the pure white, 15-foot Christmas tree will have been taken down, the heavy furniture will have been moved and row upon row of chairs laid out. She will find not one but four pianos (and two organs) waiting for her here. There will be a private concert and then one for the general public, where the artiste will perform with violinist Gabriel Le Magadure and cellist Valentin Erben.

The first time he met Shani in Colombo, Mano had just refused to lend her his grand piano. There were issues with transporting it and she made do, but Mano wished she had had a finer instrument. So the second time around, he went one step further and arranged for her concert himself – only this time, he felt she deserved a larger audience. All this adds up, so that to