A nostalgic musical journey
To listen to the ‘masters of yesterday’ singing their favourite numbers as we heard them in the 1970s was a nostalgic musical journey. Over a dozen artistes performed for over two hours to mark the inauguration of the refurbished BMICH. It was the first public performance after the ceremonial opening by the President the day.
We certainly felt the difference. The acoustics were far more advanced than earlier. The newly installed sound system made the voices so crisp and clear. So were the orchestral notes by Rohana Weerasinghe and his band of new musicians.
It was the bright idea of BMICH DG Bandhula Ekanayake to invite the popular artistes who were in their heyday at the time the BMICH opened forty years ago to perform in the revamped hall. It was then the only high grade venue. He is keen to keep it at that now that it had opened with a lot of new facilities after being closed for three years. The artistes didn’t let him or the audience down. They proved they had been able to maintain their voices over several decades. Their looks had changed much either!
Pandit Amaradeva made one of his not so regular appearances to launch the show with the appropriate salutation to goddess Saraswathi singing Sri Chandraratne Manawasinghe’s classic ‘JaganMohni’ initially composed for the inaugural Sarasaviya Film Festival in the mid-1950s. He preferred to have Sunil Edirisinghe to accompany him.
Victor Ratnayake followed Amaradeva and then the others came one by one and sang two – sometimes a third accompanying another. There was Lata Walpola – still her voice is second to none. The audience response to Dayaratne Ranatunga and Somatilaka Jayamaha was indeed most encouraging. These two have not been in the limelight as most others have been – yet the audience found them singing what had been their favourite numbers for decades.
The show brought into focus the original composers and lyric writers too. With each song these details appeared on the big screen on stage. Recognising them was a fine gesture. For example, maestro Premasiri Khemadasa got his due share when T M Jayaratne sang his quota of songs. Ivor Dennis joined him to sing ‘Balankadathura’ – one of Khemadasa’s classic creations.. Sunil Shantha was remembered when Ivor sang ‘Kuruluparadeesaye’. The well- known names Karunaratne Abeysekera and P. L. A.Somapala were among others.
Master of folk songs, Rohana Beddage gave us a treat. Before singing ‘Mage rattaran Helena’ which made him popular overnight several decades ago, he had a story to relate. After every few lines we could hear a second voice questioning ‘Kavuda’ (Who).Beddage revealed how when he first sang the song over SLBC in 1974, someone walked into the studio and asked whether he could say it. He agreed. It was T. M. Jayaratne. It was a pleasant surprise for everyone when TM appeared on stage and joined Beddage to ask ‘Kavuda’ and the answer came ”Mage rattaran Helena’!
There was lot of humour when Beddage enacted yet another popular skit with Bandula Wijeweera – the meeting of two villagers – one from Raigama and the other from Gampola. Many more performed and it was a most enjoyable and entertaining evening.
The seventies was the era when artistes appeared on stage and sang. The total concentration of the audience was on the singer and the song. Unlike today there were no dances accompanying the songs. That earlier pattern was maintained at the BMICH show which many preferred.
With the improved facilities for artistes and the audience finding it more comfortable, the BMICH is bound to be in demand. In fact, the following day two popular dramas ‘Vikurti’ and ‘Sinhabahu’ were staged drawing enthusiastic crowds.
A word of thanks to DG Bandhula E for planning a fitting welcome to the refurbished BMICH.