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soloists to perform with SOSL
Peshali Yapa who is in the final year of her Bachelor of Music Singing degree course at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague will be one of three young soloists performing at the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka's concert on July 26. Peshali's programme will include two delightful arias by Mozart "Voi che sapete" from The Marriage of Figaro and "Smanie Implacabili" from Cosi fan tutte. This will be followed by "Pres des Remparts de Seville" from Bizet's fiery Carmen. Moving to Lieder, Peshali will sing two songs from Gustav Mahler's charming "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" and the Irish composer Victor Herbert's "Art is calling for me" from his opera The Enchantress. Peshali is a member of the Chamber Choir of the Conservatory which performed last month in The New Opera Academy's production of Mozart's Magic Flute. Outside of the Conservatory, she is a member of the Dutch chamber choir "Quod Libet", which won first prize in the Netherlands national "Early Music Choir Competition". They recently toured Belgium and took part in the 105th "Festival of Music" in Antwerp. In October she will play a leading role in the contemporary opera, "With Love.... The Three Sisters" produced by the Royal Conservatory of the Hague. Peshali had her initial training in singing in Sri Lanka under Christine Perera and Ruwani Seimon Seneviratne. The other soloists in the SOSL concert at Ladies' College will be Manahara Virasinha who is a prize winner in the Stravinsky International Competition. Manahara will play Brahms' monumental 2nd Piano Concerto, and Amila Abeysekera, still a student at Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya will play Saint-Saens' brilliant, colourful Cello Concerto No. 1. The concert starts at 7 p.m. with a pre-concert talk at 6.15 p.m. Winners of prose
and verse contest The winners of the Prose Section are: 1. The Great Divide by Antoinette Ferdinand of 25, Dharmarama Mawatha, Rawathawatte, Moratuwa. 2. Xanthippe by Daya Dissanayake of 9/27, Nuge Road, Peliyagoda. 3. The Door
by Parvathi Arasanayagam of 450, Peradeniya Road, Kandy. A man of fierce
integrity and his immortal songs Sunil Santha displayed his true character as a man of high principles and self respect who did not succumb to pressure and walked out of his cherished vocation to oblivion with his head held high. When I got to know him I was in my teens and all that I could do was hero worship this unique man. He was charismatic, handsome and carried himself with infinite aplomb and elegance in his immaculate white national dress. My first meeting with him was in a gas station at Bambalapitiya where he drove in, in a small Austin car No Z4501. I cannot forget the warm response I had when I sheepishly inquired whether he was Sunil Santha, since I connected the individual with the photograph I had seen. He invited me to Sandagiri Hotel on top of Vajira Road where he was living then and asked me to meet him at leisure, having informed me that he was proceeding for a programme at Radio Ceylon. This was an era when the radio was a luxury and a few households had small valve sets offered by Marconi, Cossor, Pye and a few others, now unheard of. I rushed to inform my friends of this chance meeting and looked forward to listening to the great maestro. Sunil after obtaining his Visharada degree in India returned home in the late forties. He was influenced by the legacy of Munidasa Cumaranatunga and relentlessly worked to achieve a Hela style which marked the beginning of a new order in the history of Sinhala music. His repertoire was wide and songs such as Sinhala Avurudde, Kavsilumini Rajinde, Nuvara Vewe Idiriyatama Yavu Helayeni, Pera Helayo Rana Gosin etc. are immortal. Sunil was extremely popular when a certain group ganged up to destroy the man who was identified as a rising star. He displayed rare traits of fierce independence and self respect something few had. By a tragic quirk of fate, this gang succeeded in misleading a respected public servant to import an Indian to assess the capabilities of indigenous musicians. Competent persons acknowledge that Sunil could have faced his guru without any difficulty, yet resisted this move based on the premise that an Indian was not competent to judge Sinhala music. He refused to attend any audition and opted to go into oblivion much to the grief of the music loving public. I used to visit him at his Ja-ela residence where he lived in abject poverty, yet with his head held high. He was content doing some menial job to keep his body and soul together. I vividly recall my visit in 1962 with my wife and infant son. He was delighted and using a box camera proceeded to photograph the baby. Though he did not have any formal training, the pictures were professional child studies and the best possible in keeping with the technology available then. Fortune favoured him when that great film director Lester James Peiris invited him to provide music for his films Rekava and Gam peraliya. About the same time he regained acceptance and re-entry to broadcasting after the arrival of that liberal understanding DG Neville Jayaweera. SLBC as an urgent measure to assist him financially put out a long-playing record, which contained some of his popular melodies. I had a pleasant surprise one morning to receive a distinguished visitor who came in a Bug Fiat unannounced. It was Sunil, bringing me a copy of the record duly autographed which I accepted with delight. When I requested him to permit me to pay for the record, in his inimitable style, he sternly informed me that if I attempted to do so he would take it back. In 1975, Clarence Wijewardena and the evergreen Annesley Malawana discussed the possibility of having a musical show where the total proceeds were to be given to Sunil in appreciation of his pioneering role in the field of music. I wrote to him and received a reply, a very short note which read as follows: "Though you have moved with me for a long time, you do not seem to know me still. Your proposal is unacceptable to me. However once my problems are sorted out, I will come your way". He had another crushing blow with the loss of his son Jagath. I remember visiting him one evening and much to my surprise, the house was in total darkness. He responded when I tapped at the door and informed me that his devoted wife Leela and daughter Kala were out. I noticed him in tears. With the help of a candlelight he was looking at the photographs of Jagath. Sensing danger I advised him to accept the loss and come to terms since his health might be affected. He passed away on April 11, 1981. SFW |
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© 2001 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved. |
