|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 11 January 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Pradeepanjalie VI : Pradeep Ratnayake plays for Indian Republic Day by Jayanthi Liyanage "Music begins when words leave off". These words of musician David Randolph were recalled by Prof. Carlo Fonseka for the benefit of the keenly attentive media audience which gathered at the Indian Cultural Centre on Wednesday, for the preview of the sixth Pradeepanjalie of sitarist Pradeep Ratnayake.
"To make music and take it forward, a musician needs inborn talent, disciplined perceptions and professional skills," said Prof. Fonseka mid-way through the recital, speaking fondly of Pradeep whom he has known on a prodigy with the sitar from the tender age of five. "My opinion is that Pradeep is the musician who brought sitar to the highest levels in Sri Lanka! When he played before Ravi Shankar at the age of ten, Shankar asked for him from his father, Bandula Ratnayake, to be trained at Shankar's own abode. Bandula's reaction to this request was that he won't give up the boy even to God!" With such laurels, Pradeep who has just completed his Master of Music degree from the Santiniketan in India, has now become the first local musician to play a key role in the Indian Republic Day celebrations of January 23. "This is an attempt to rouse a Sri Lankan identity from the Indian classical musical instrument sitar, to raise our music to an international plane," was how Pradeep described his sixth recital in his concert series, Pradeepanjali, which will be performed at the Bishop's College Auditorium at 7 p.m. to mark India's 54th year of Independence. At this performance, his manner of paying tribute to the great classical music citadels of India which honed his virtuosity in sitar, will be to improvise on the potential of the string range of the sitar and the Indian ragas, adapting them to local folk voices, rhythms, vannams, the "parallel fourth harmony" of western classics, and also the "blues scales" of jazz. "I will also improvise on Kuveni Asna," promises Pradeep, who is also expected to employ latest modern sitar playing techniques at the recital. The dialogue between the sitar and the local "bera" (traditional drums) was a point of discussion at the preview, with opinions expressed by Piyasara Shilpadhipathy and Ravibandu Vidyapathy, who added, "We need to discover refined notes in the local drums, to match the sensitive sounds emanating from the sitar." Both accompanied Pradeep on eastern traditional drums, with Chandralal Amarakoon at tabla and Kanthi Shilpadhipathy lending her voice in folk singing. The performance on January 23 is sponsored by India-Sri Lanka Foundation, formed in 1998 to promote bilateral co-operation in the two countries. Nirupam Sen, High Commissioner for India in Sri Lanka, and Mangala Munasinghe, High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in India, will attend as Guests of Honour. The public is requested to obtain free invitations from the Indian Cultural Centre after January 15. Pradeep, who is a lecturer at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, has earned popularity in Geneva and Abu Dhabi, with his amalgamations of eastern tabla, drums and sitar with western classicals, jazz and rock and also his original compositions. He directed music in Lester James Peries' newest film Wekanda Walawwa and Linton Semage's Mage Wam Atha, screened at film festivals, Cannes 2003 and Locarno 2002, respectively. His CDs include Indrakeelaya, performed at the 50th anniversary of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and Sitar gee rava in which he plays on sitar the beloved Sinhala oldies. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
