Rohan gives New Yorkers an evening of music

NEW YORK – The intimate hall of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music was the perfect setting for an “Evening of Song” featuring Sri Lankan baritone, Rohan de Lanerolle. Superbly accompanied at the piano by no less than the internationally-renowned Rohan De Silva, the recital was presented by the Taprobane Academy of Music of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, whose director Dhilanthi Fernando was the organizer of the concert. The audience comprised mostly Sri Lankans of the New York tri-state area.

Drawing from a variety of styles and genres, Rohan had the audience spellbound as he sang from his heart, song after song, phrase after phrase, each beautifully crafted and executed. He journeyed effortlessly from the passionate passages of Schubert’s Der Musensohn, to the lyrical, soothing phrases of Vaughan Williams’ beautiful Linden Lea.

The first half of the programme was devoted to art song and arias, including Handel’s well-known Ombra Mai Fu (better known to music lovers as “Handel’s Largo.”) Rodgers and Hammerstein’s all-time favourite, Some Enchanted Evening from “South Pacific” opened the second half, and it featured songs of a lighter vein as well as a few sacred songs. The highlight of the programme was, of course, that great number from “Showboat”, Ol’ Man River, made famous by Paul Robeson.

There is no doubt that Rohan de Lanerolle is one of the finest singers that Sri Lanka has seen, in the same tradition as his mentor, the late Lylie Godridge. It was an enchanting and memorable evening.