Await a festive feast with SOSL
View(s):The Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka is tuning up to usher in the festive season with a concert of Festive Delights where the Old Joes and Contempo Choirs will combine in wonderful harmony with the SOSL on Sunday, December 15 at the BMICH at 7 p.m.
The audience can look forward to a special programme, conducted by Ajit Abeysekera, which will provide lively entertainment for the whole family. Included are : Johann Strauss’s (the younger) instantly recognizable “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” which in addition to being the unofficial anthem of the city of Vienna, is the permanent finale of the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual New Year’s Day concert.
Tchaikovsky’s “Polonaise”, from his most successful opera Eugene Onegin, brimming with splendid melodies and vitality and Alfred Reed’s orchestral suite of excerpts from the musical “Oliver”, a pastiche of tunes from Lionel Bart’s West End hit. The favourite melodies being performed at the concert are “Where is Love”, “I’d do anything”, “As long as He needs me” and “Consider Yourself” – all colourfully orchestrated capturing some of the mood of the original.
From Eric Coates, a composer closely associated with British light classical music is the March, from the film “Dambusters” evoking images of the Lancaster bomber squadron flying past Westminster in their full glory. The programme also includes Smetana’s famous symphonic poem The Moldau, which depicts a sequence of scenes of Bohemia’s main river as it flows through the countryside.
The second half of the concert will commence with Leroy Anderson’s marvellous orchestral medley, the ‘Christmas Festival’, followed by Mendelssohn’s majestic “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” sung by the combined choirs of Old Joes and Contempo, directed by Eshantha Peiris. The choirs will also perform “The Christmas Song” and “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring” before swinging into a jazzed up “Joy to the World” and leading the audience in a sing-a-long, which will include “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” .
The concert is sponsored by Standar . Chartered Bank and Link Natural Products. Tickets and box plan are at the Lionel Wendt theatre.