The Young Soloists’ Concert:

‘Youthful’ Efforts

Manilal Weerakoon, conductor substituted by Ajit Abeysekara:

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

Savini Chandrasinghe	Sasini Chandrasinghe

Billed as the 'Young Soloists' Concert', once again, the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka outdid itself with the most un-orthodox concert programming. Four soloists, three performing concertos and a vocalist singing excerpts from opera and operetta. Making matters more complicated, two of the soloists were pianists, thereby inviting the obvious comparisons. The conductor Manilal Weerakoon was substituted by Ajit Abeysekara .

Starting the concert with Camille Saint-Saens's Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, op. 33, young Savini Chandrasinghe (16) performed confidently showing ample courage and commitment. A 'light-weight' but complex concerto that is difficult to put together for most professional cellists, Savini, currently studying Bioscience for GCE Advanced Level, acquitted herself more than adequately.

Although, when it came to the 'demanding' sections, the artificial harmonics and double-stopped passages for instance, her technical deficiencies became more apparent. The charmingly under-scored neoclassical minuet saw the soloist in her best musical light. Savini was introduced to the cello at age nine by Savitri Jayatilleke and is currently a pupil of Dushy Perera. She is a student at Bishop's College, Colombo.

Robert Schumann's brilliantly written Concerto for Piano in A minor, op. 54 was next on the program. This concerto has earned a reputation as the vehicle of choice for international virtuosi such as Dinu Lipatti, Sviatoslav Richter and Martha Argerich. The program notes indicated that the concerto would begin with a loud chord from the orchestra followed by a grand opening flourish in double octaves by the pianist.

In reality, the orchestral chord was not that loud and the grand flourish, hardly. It must be said, that much imagination was needed to connect the vividly written program notes with the actual playing at hand. 'Mercurial light touch', 'frenetic cadenza', 'recklessly pretty', 'inspiringly ornamented melodic journeys' and a 'jubilant tune' were obviously not what the performers had in mind that night.

Pianist Priyeshni Peiris Perera, qualifying as a 'Young' soloist in the SOSL's generous interpretation of the word, has clearly enjoyed an exotic musical education, it is worth quoting from her meticulously detailed bio-data in the program - "Doctor of Musical Arts degree (DMA) in Piano Pedagogy (Teaching) from Texas Tech University (U.S.A.), a Master of Music (M.M) from the University of Tennessee (U.S.A.) and a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in Music and Business Administration (U.S.A.), member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA, USA), Fellow of the Royal Schools of Music (FRSM, U.K.) in piano performance. LTCL and A.mus. TCL while studying in Sri Lanka".

Needless to say, eminently more qualified than the genius she undertook to interpret that night, Robert Schumann, whose pitiful academic achievements are the disgraceful giving up on Law College only to take up piano lessons with Friedrich Wieck.

Full voiced soprano Dinushka Jayawickreme (21) was on after the intermission. Antonin Dvorak's 'Song to the Moon' from his opera 'Rusalka' was pleasantly rendered. The pathos and tragedy of the drama that permeates almost all aspects of the opera was faintly observed in her interpretation.

'Deh, Vieni, Non Tardar' from Mozart's 'Le Nozze di Figaro' was the second choice. This little, but demanding aria suffered the most, Mozart's transparent writing exposed the seemingly under rehearsed orchestra mercilessly, the suspect intonation coupled with thin string tone gave little support to the soprano. Most successful was Franz Lehar's aria, 'Meine Lippen, sie kussen so heiss' from the operetta 'Guiditta'.

It was obvious young Dinushka was enjoying herself here, perhaps feeling more comfortable in that corner of the repertoire. The Spanish melody especially, was full of life and colour. Ms. Jayawickreme began singing at the age of six with the Merry Ann Singers, and is presently coaching under Preshanthi Navaratnam.

The concert ended with Dmitri Shostakovich's second Piano concerto. Soloist Sasini Chandrasinghe (21) was excellent in her approach to this percussive concerto.

She possessed the right amount of brio and energy and without a doubt, made the sleepwalking orchestra wake up and join in the making of good music. Her lively and committed playing was a joy to listen to. Ms. Chandrasinghe began piano studies with the late Marjorie Loos, subsequently studying with Savitri Jayatilleke and Bridget Halpe.

She is presently a pupil of Eshantha Peiris while being a first year medical student at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

The SOSL must be commended for giving public solo opportunities to its 'Young' performers. But more importantly, serious consideration must be given on finding ways to bolster the ranks of the orchestra and to establish a performing standard that one can be proud of. As the self-styled Sri Lankan representative of symphonic music, fielding a string section that is only a few members more than a chamber orchestra is unacceptable.

However, it must be said to its credit, at the very least, the SOSL performs regularly, unlike some other feted high flying arts organizations whose concerts have become rarer than gold dust.