Shani returns for SOSL concert of Beethoven, Rossini and Arnold
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Shani Diluka
Classical music lovers can expect an evening dedicated to three great composers–Beethoven, Rossini and Arnold–when the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka performs under the baton of Chief conductor of the Japan Wind Ensemble and Resident Conductor of the Tokyo Wind Symphony Orchestra Keiko Kobayashi on Wednesday, March 15, at the Ladies’ College Hall.
A popular guest conductor with a following here, Kobayashi will skilfully bring out the musical nuances that encompass the unique characteristics of the three composers.
The hallmark feature of composer Gioachino Rossini, who gained the moniker ‘The Italian Mozart’, of repetitive phrases built to a dramatic crescendo, is well exampled in the Overture to the Barber of Seville, which forms the ideal beginning to the programme.
Tackling English composer Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Suite for Orchestra, ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ pushes the strings to new boundaries. Composer of over 130 film scores, considered some of the finest composed for the silver screen, Arnold is best known for his Oscar -winning film score for The Bridge on the River Kwai. The score of the ‘Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ won him the Ivor Novello Award in 1958.
Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano places the spotlight firmly on the three guest artistes performing with the SOSL, Shani Diluka, Gabriel Le Magadure and Valentin Erben. This concerto is said to have had its first sketches in Vienna with Beethoven himself being the pianist at its Viennese premiere in 1808. Beethoven had described this particular composition as “really something new” as the combination of piano, violin and cello had not been tried before.
Pianist Shani Diluka has been described as an ‘extraordinary interpreter’ who masterfully optimises her dual cultures of east and west, while championing a wide repertoire. Internationally renowned, Shani is a prodigy of the Princess Grace of Monaco programme for gifted children, specialising at the Academy Prince Rainier III.
Austrian Cellist Valentin Erben, a winner of the International ARD cello competition ARD in Munich and a Premier Prix for Cello and Chamber Music, enthusiastically pursued his love for music under André Navarra at the Conservatoire in Paris. A co-founder of the Alban Berg Quartet and a member of the Lucern Festival Orchestra, Sri Lanka will be fortunate to watch Valentin play Matteo Goffriller’s famous cello, which has been played by Pierre Fournier and Yoyo Ma, on loan from the Merito String Instruments Trust GmbH.
Hailed by international critics as an outstanding musician full of sensitivity possessing a warm deep sound and an exceptional capacity to listen, Ebène Quartet violinist Gabriel Le Magadure performs often with Shani Diluka and Valentin Erben as a chamber musician and soloist. Le Magadure has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious music halls including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Berlin’s Philarmonie, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Vienna’s Musikverein.
People’s Bank is the principal sponsor for this outstanding concert.
Valentin Erben
Gabriel Le Magadure
Tickets and box plan will be available from Tickets.lk from February 18.