Coming to Sri Lanka is sweet music to his ears
View(s):Dressed in a bright red and black batik shirt, Gregory Rose tells me returning to Sri Lanka always feels like coming home. The British conductor has been to Sri Lanka no less than eight times, his most recent trip being in 2009 when he conducted Verdi’s Requiem in the Anglican Cathedral for an audience of over 2,000 in what he considers one of the “happiest concerts” of his long career. Now he’s back to conduct a Gala Opera Night at the BMICH which will feature tenor Asitha Tennekoon as a soloist backed by the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka’s chorus.
Gregory is excited by a programme that includes excerpts of iconic operatic masterpieces such as the Humming Chorus from Puccini’s
Gregory Rose: Happy to be back
Madame Butterfly, Verdi’s Anvil Chorus from the 1853 opera Il Trovatore and Wagner’s Pilgrim’s Chorus. There’s the odd entry that he was particularly attached to, such as the Coronation Scene from Boris Gundunov, the only opera the Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky completed and the one considered his masterpiece. “It’s simply wonderful.” Another piece will feature an overture written by one of Gregory’s favourite composers Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov who is hailed as one of the great Russian nationalist composers.
Taken all together, the selections, arrived at in agreement between him and Asitha will offer a diverse and exciting selection of music for SOSL’s audience, says Gregory. “We have some of the big blockbuster choruses but also some of the quieter choruses,” he says naming the Priests Chorus from Magic Flute as an example of the latter.
Asitha, whom Gregory identifies as a particularly talented young tenor, has received international recognition. He is among the many young Sri Lankan musicians that Gregory has seen evolve over the years. He says he continues to see familiar faces in the SOSL choir and is pleased to note that many young musicians he once worked with have found their way to careers in the field. “I’ve got to know them very well over the years, and I love working with them. They’re such a talented, lovely group of people.”This country remains one of Gregory’s favourite places in the world to perform – no small compliment when he has to his credit over 300 premieres of orchestral, choral and ensemble music throughout Europe and the Far East. A professor of conducting at Trinity Ladan, London where he is also a staff conductor, Gregory says each new choir or orchestra presents its own challenges.
Each time he wields his conductor’s baton, he must always be 10 steps ahead of the musicians he is guiding. He is at his most focused when he knows the piece by heart, and can conduct from memory – it is a skill that he encourages his young students to acquire. While he is already familiar with the pieces that are to be played at the gala, he says heusually begins by sitting down with just the music sheets in order to best understand what the composer intended for the piece. “I have a rule. I don’t listen to recordings,” he says.“When you are listening to a recording, you’re listening to someone else’s view…I want the composer’s view.” Part of gaining that insight comes also from understanding the context in which the composer worked and his or her original intentions for the piece.
Being a conductor presents other challenges – many of them not what you’d expect. “It’s a strange mix, when you’re conducting a rehearsal, of people management, psychology and of course, time management,” he says, adding later, “I have talked with conductor friends of mine and nearly all of them agree that only 25% is the musical side.” As a conductor, Gregory sees himself as having a great deal in common with actors – being able to command his musicians through gesture, eye contact and facial expression alone. In his choice of profession he has found great satisfaction, but the most satisfying moment for both him and his audience comes at the point of the performance itself. “For a conductor, you always, absolutely love the performance. That’s what you are on earth for.”
Tickets for the Gala Opera Night on May 31 at the BMICH will be open to the public for online purchases through www.tickets.lk while tickets could be purchased from Tickets.lk at 5th Lane, Colombo 3, Yamaha Music Centre, Colombo 7 and Sarasavi Bookshop, Nugegoda.