Nightingale's voice in Colombo

Reviewed by Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

I waited anxiously amongst a packed but a silent audience at the Russian Centre, Colombo last week. As the curtain lifted Dinali David arrived and her voice commenced to play its marvels mesmerising the audience. The repertoire was as diverse as it could have been when she rendered her voice to songs from Schumann to Agustin Lara. A significant feature of Dinali David was her ability to render her voice to a range of items drawn from diverse creators with facility.

Dinali David sings to a packed audience

It was evident that she was at ease with classical as well as contemporary songs. Among other things, what manifested at the recital was Dinali's sheer dedication to her chosen profession and amount of hard-practice that went to make the performance memorable. She was accompanied by talented musicians Eshantha Peiris (Piano), Shamistha De Silva (Cello) and Sanjeev Niles (Tenor-Baritone) The recital commenced with Die Soldatenbraut by Robert Schumann. Die Soldatenbraut (The Soldier's Fiancee) is a comic lied written in 1847 by Robert Schumann (1810-1856). Over the years the lied has become one of Schumann's most cherished songs.

The lyrics speak of a wish by a woman for her fiance's recognition by the king and her unashamed desire for his release. This clever folk-like tune, with its contrasting military and wedding marches, illustrates the oppositional demands placed on her companion. The piece is marked for its quick movements of tempo. Dinali perfected rather difficult pronunciation in original German song.

Then she sang "Gretchen am Spinnrade" (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) is a selection of text from Goethe's Faust set for soprano voice by Schubert (1797-1828) in 1814. It was his first successful lied (a German word, meaning song) and is a challenging work for both pianist and singer.

Gretchen is singing at her spinning wheel while thinking of Faust and all that he promises.

Schubert ingeniously uses the piano accompaniment to mimic the rhythmic repetition of the spinning wheel (mirroring the hypnotic effect of temptation and love and the intensity of Gretchen's devotion), pacing up and slowing down in response to the text, to show Gretchen's excitement or interruption.

Following Gretchen am Spinnrad, Dinali sang Musetta'S Waltz: "Quando men VO (as through the streets)" is a soprano aria from La Boheme, an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) to an Italian libretto by Lulgi lllica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is among the top five most performed operas and is considered by many as Puccini's finest work. The story is set in Paris, around the 1830s. It is a bittersweet love story of four aspiring artists who dream of the future. The plot centres on the romantic relationship of poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimi and the parallel relationship of Rodolfo's room-mate Marcello and the beautiful Musetta, a coquette and a cafe singer.

Guest Artist Eshantha Peiris played the classical composition "Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 931". The composition was written in 1720's by Johann Sebastian Bach. The German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) became interested in Italian and French styles of composing and began making keyboard arrangements of orchestra pieces by contemporary Italian and French composers. Italian concerto in F major (BWV 971:1: Allegro), was an original piece composed for solo harpsichord in this style. The first movement features both solo and orchestral textures alternating in riternello style (i.e. with a recurring refrain played by the orchestra). This three-movement concerto was first published in 1735 as the first half of Clavier-Obung, along with Bach's 'Overture in French Style'. Imbibed in classical Western music, Eshantha played the piece to an attentive audience who devoured the every minute of the performance.

Thereafter, Dinali sang Le Nozze di Figaro. Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), is a comic opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Despite its satire of the aristocracy, the opera became one of Mozart's most successful works and is now regarded as a cornerstone of the standard operatic repertoire. It recounts a single "day of madness" in the palace of the Count Alma viva near Seville, Spain in the 18th Century.

Guest Artist Sanjeev Nilles sang Agnus Dei. In Latin Agnus Dei meaning Lamb of God, and was originally used to refer to Jesus Christ in his role of the perfect sacrificial offering. In Christian iconography, an Agnus Dei is a visual representation of Jesus as a lamb, since the middle Ages usually holding a standard or banner with a cross. Georges Bizet (1838-1875) was a French pianist and composer best known for his opera Carmen. His Agnus Dei is based on the Intermezzo from the L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2, taken from his 1872 incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play.

Two pieces which were received well by the audience before the intermission were Repentir: O Divine Redeemer and Ave Maria. Repentir: 0 Divine Redeemer is a sacred song by Charles Gounod (1818-1893) while the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria is a popular and much-recorded setting of the Latin text Ave Maria. Written by French Romantic composer Charles Gounod in 1859, this Ave Maria consists of a melody superimposed over the Prelude No. 1 in C major from Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846), composed by J. S. Bach some 137 years earlier.

"The Man I Love" by Strauss is a popular classic by George and Ira Gershwin. It, among other things, proved Dinali's ability to perform compositions belonging to extreme diverse range. The remainder of the recital was made up of items such as "I Dream a Dream", "Tonight", "Allegro Appassionato", "People" and "Granada". "I Dreamed a Dream" is a song from the musical Les Miserables. A desperate and wretched Fantine sings about her broken dreams and about the father of her daughter who abandoned her. The music is by Claude-Michel Schonberg (1874-1951), and the English lyrics are by Herbert Kretzmer, based on the 1862 Victor Hugo novel of the same name.

"Tonight" is a love song sung by Tony and Maria in West Side Story, an American musical with music by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical's plot is based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Allegro Appassionato was composed by Saint-Saens after his marriage to Marie Laurie Emilie Crufford in 1975. It is a spirited work with both aggressive and lyrical themes and is a favourite on concert platform. It is written in B Minor for sole cello with piano or orchestral backing which introduces itself with a chordal accompaniment. The cello enters with a humorous syncopated melody.

Dinali David lends her voice to another song

"People" is well-known song written by Jule Styne (Composer) and Bob Merrill (lyricist) for the Broadway musical Funny Girl (1964) starring Barbra Streisand, who introduced the song.

"Granada" is a popular Mexican song written by composer Agustin Lara about the Spanish city, Granada. While there are several versions of this song, including an English version by Australian lyricist Dorothy Dodds.

The song has been covered many times. Popular versions include those by Frankie Laine who had the biggest hit version of it, Mario Lanza and Frank Sinatra and, in German, by Fritz Wunderlich.

Finally, it should be stated here that complete zest of such complex pieces cannot be realised unless the performance was accompanied by an extremely talented pianist. Eshantha Peiris's singular contribution on piano stood out as one of the memorable performances exploiting the intrinsic properties of the classical pieces of music played at the concert.

The recital among other things, proved that Eshantha Peiris as a mature practitioner about whom the nation should be proud of. It was evident that if not for his brilliant performance, Dinali's recital would have been incomplete. One of the most striking aspect of the recital was Dinali's ability to render her voice to range of creations drawn from diverse creators was remarkable.

I'm sure like me, there are for many more who listened to talented Dinali David last week is looking forward to listen to many recitals from her in future.