New look to mundane

Sweet sounds lit up by fireworks

By Tennyson Rodrigo

When the expectant music-lovers took their seats by 7.30 p.m. they didn't bargain for a programme starting with a tenor aria by Arun Dias Bandaranayake from his own operetta Death unto you! Mobiles. Nor did they expect an acclaimed classical violinist to end with "I'll be Loving You Eternally". But it was good fun in lighter vein.

And then the two artistes gracefully bowed and treated us to a feast of lovely sonatas and violinistic fireworks.

Stefan Milenkovich and Rohan de Silva had a long and varied repertoire to navigate over two full nights. Thoughtfully and appropriately the pre-interval repertoire on both nights was totally dedicated to the sonatas.

Beethoven's A major sonata No. 2 was the very first item in the composite agenda for the two performances. The first movement's choppy and bouncy start was executed boldly with some teasing phrases and 'asynchronous' timing creating a shade of tension on the pianist. In contrast, the Andante's slow, tuneful solo and duo parts were executed with disarming delicacy. A sense of relaxed buoyancy was seen by the time the Rondo finale arrived. It was a dignified start to the performances in the context of what was heard particularly in the post-interval segments.

Mozart wrote several works for piano and violin and the early sonatas were seen as piano dominated. However the seven so-called Mannheim Sonatas (even though five of them had only just two movements) have been regarded as being closer to the sonata species with better pride of place being given to the violin. Sonata in B-flat, K 454 is a large-scale work in the true domain of a sonata for piano and violin inspired by and dedicated to Regina Strinasacchi for whom Mozart had developed a fondness and admiration.

Milenkovich and De Silva promenaded us, as it were, into the Allegro through an affectionately caressing Largo and in so doing the smooth alternation and parity of status of the two instruments were clearly manifested by their complementing roles. The violin opened the Andante giving way to the piano and what followed indeed seemed a charming blend between an Andante and an Adagietto leading ultimately to the Allegretto. As the interwoven passagework and trills sparkled, the duo's playing radiated concertante brilliance and, always, the typically mellifluous melodic contours of Mozart made listening a great joy.

It was only at the age of 19 that Schubert wrote his sonatas for violin and piano in 1816. The minor sonatina and its two companions were certainly not diminutive works in Schubert's mind - two of them have four movements. He never titled them as sonatinas which designation was given by the printer when the works were posthumously printed. The purpose was to make the sonatas appear easy for amateurs to get interested in the works. The Allegro began with the piano and violin together making a firm and fragmented statement with a repetition by the piano followed by alternating and complementing melodic phrases. The haunting Andante opened gently with the violin somewhat forward and the piano's presence softly felt in the background; then the duo engaged in a flowing dialogue between them.

The dissonantly rich chords and complex harmonies of Ravel's sonata stood out in contrast to the other three. I felt that for at least for some listeners it might have been less appealing. Milenkovich's violin had a wholesome tone that was round and mellow with the right level of richness.

In my meagre exposure to music, the ethos of gypsydom was the last thing that the name Ravel ever evoked. I now know that Tzigane was written for a Hungarian violinist named Jelly d'Aranyi who garnished it with her own improvisatory material. Though the end product did not displease Ravel it must certainly make his Bolero blush. Whilst the original work was written for the violin and piano, it's also performed with orchestral accompaniment. Tzigane's devilish technical and rhapsodic demands make it a challenging repertoire for virtuoso violinists to flaunt their dazzling wizardry. And again, Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen is entirely in gypsy flavour with plenty of pyrotechnic wizardry. Milenkovich executed this work with ease and fluency — even the muting of the violin for certain passages was imperceptibly done with the deftness of a magician's fingers.

These works certainly tested Milenkovich's virtuosic brilliance. And so did Souvenir de Moscou, Opus 6 and La Campanella. It would be presumptuous for me to comment on his bow-control and the swift 'footwork' on the fingerboard. The dexterity with which he executed an effusion of multiple-stopping, ambidextrous pizzicatos, glissandos, spiccatos and artificial harmonics was breathtaking.

The last item, Sarasate's potpourri on themes from Carmen, lit up the audience as they readily recognized the commonplace tunes from Bizet's opera. Clearly, for the audience in general the pyrotechnics in the post-interval segments on both nights provided the most exciting entertainment and evoked tremendous applause and shouts of Bravo!!! Bravo!!! — in stark contrast to the response to the top-half sonatas.

When it all ended, standing ovations by an enthralled and delighted audience cheered the artistes. On both occasions their final encore was a nostalgic throwback to an immortal creation of Charlie Chaplin — perhaps suggesting that an eternal love for Limelight is an internal streak of Stefan's. Rohan and Stefan do come again and again!!!

Dramatic confrontation of body and mind

By Alfreda de Silva

The Plays the Thing and Two Times Two is Two had enough mystery and provocation in it to whet the collective curiosity of the audiences at the British Council when it was held from July 28 to August 1.

The young playwright, Ruwanthie de Chickera, who is reading for a Bachelor's degree in English Literature at the University of Colombo, certainly got her equation right. Even the programmes were original. They were wittily written tongue-in-cheek pen - sketches of the characters - Derrick - Prasad Perera; Derrick's-mind-Delon Weera singhe; Dirk Ravin Fernando and Dirk's mind - Gihan de Chickera-they gave no clues to the play.

On the stage is a park bench. Old Derrick totters towards it, mumbling and fumbling with a letter he holds in his hands. In fact this letter has led him to the park at the request of someone called Christine Stork of whom he has no recollection whatsoever.

He is joined by a young man, Dirk, another unknown. They have a disjointed conversation and the song Bookends about memory which the boy hums, stirs some vague recollections in Derrick's mind and he starts singing it softly and shakily. Dirk's mother had died a few days earlier. He imparts this news to the old man who remains unmoved.

This is part of Act I titled Body. In Act II Body and Mind confront each other, with Derrick and Delon and Dirk and Gihan on stage. The well-chosen cast interacts with understanding.

Gihan as Dirk's mind is splendidly convincing as he reconstructs his childhood memories both happy and poignant- those about his father that his mother had hidden from him.

As old wounds are opened in Derrick's mind, Delon catches fleeting glimpses of his past dissolute life - the park bench where he and a woman, both 'sozzled' had 'fooled around' and gone their separate ways; he without knowing anything about his impending fatherhood. Ruwanthie, who draws her characters from what is round her, as well as her imagination and her experience, sums up: "It's a mix of all these, really." She believes in her characters and adds, "I think the most important ingredients for three-dimensional characters are honesty and conviction."

Her interest in writing for the theatre started early. She wrote her first play at Methodist College, where students had a tradition of writing their own scripts for school dramas. This first effort was a competition winner and from then on she had the responsibility of writing plays for the rest of her school career.

Ruwanthie enjoys acting and recalls that she was given her first role on stage by Jerome de Silva eight years ago. Of the many challenging characters she has played, she says, her pet performances are those of Mme. Thenardier in Les Miserables, an Indian actress in Regi Siriwardane's play Temptation in Paradise, and an old lady in Caryl Churchill's Blue Heart.

Recognition and honour came her way when her play The Crutch received the award for the Best New Play of South Asia at the inaugural British Council International Awards in 1997. In 1998 The Royal Court Theatre chose The Crutch to be part of a Young Writers Festival.

In April 1999 this play, re-named Middle of Silence was produced at the Lionel Wendt by the Workshop Players directed by Jerome de Silva. In May 2000, it became a great success in Bangalore performed by the Artists Repertory Theatre of India.

The inspiration for 2 x 2 = 2 has been a dramatic technique. As a keen observer of human beings she has been fascinated by the facades behind which we hide: "I was intrigued by obstacles to expression such as inarticulacy, insecurity, selfishness and sensitivity." The result was that she came up with the concept of the mind/body division. What followed was a simple but highly effective story line.

The sparse sets with no distractions, simple but effective lighting by Amal de Chickera, and the fact that the players live their parts on stage, heighten the dramatic impact of the play.

Repeat performances will go on the boards at the British Council on August 22, 23 and 24.

Hi, how are you?

By Prof. J.B. Disanayaka

When a Sinhalese meets another Sinhalese, they hardly say "Good morning" or "Good afternoon" as the English do to greet each other, but say "Kohomada?" meaning, "How are you?"

This, however, is not an information seeking question to find out how someone is, but simply a greeting for which there is a conventional answer "ohe innava" or "varadak nae!".

The phrase "ohe innava" means, literally, 'I just exist', that is, there is nothing to complain about. The phrase "varadak nae!" means 'There is nothing wrong', and if there is nothing wrong, then, you must be fine.

The word "kohomada" can also mean 'how' referring to the manner in which something is done.

Nugegodata yanne kohomada?

(To Nugegoda - going - how)

How do you go to Nugegoda?

salli ganne kohomada?

(Money-take-how)

How do you take money?

Oya danne kohomada?

(You-know-how)

How do you know?

The Sinhalese use the word "Kohomada" in other phrases too, to mean other things. For instance, if one says "oya gihin kohomada" (You-gone-how), it is intended to prevent someone from going somewhere.

Kala Korner By Dee Cee

What a response for the maestro

Music fans turned up in their numbers to fill the BMICH the other night when the Pandit Amaradeva Trust Fund was launched. 'Amara Uvasara', the festival of music organised by the Old Anandians Sports Club was a grand success.

The maestro was a tired man. He had returned just 72 hours earlier after a hectic two-month tour of the United States and Canada performing in 12 major cities. Yet he was determined not to let his fans down.

Amaradeva had always wanted to set up a Trust Fund to help young talented musicians. The energetic President of the Old Anandians Sports Club, Manju Fernando and his team took up the challenge. Manju had seen Amaradeva perform in Los Angeles in 1991. "I was so impressed I was determined to organise a similar show when I got back," Manju says. It took many moons of planning. Banker Gilbert Mendis found sponsors for the show and the souvenir, took charge of the ticket sales (they were high priced but he was confident they would sell) and succeeded in getting a half dozen donors to hand over cheques to Amaradeva at the show to inaugurate the fund.

There was fun and music

In his performance Amaradeva took us through the different phases of his career. He introduced each song, talked about the lyric writers, told us how the song came to be written, educated us on a few finer points in music using simple illustrations and made us reel with laughter by relating humorous anecdotes.

A different souvenir

Normally one sees a host of advertisements in souvenirs. Not so in the case of the 'Amara Uvasara' souvenir. Advertisements are limited to just a single page and there are 30 pages of solid reading matter.

A feature of the souvenir is that all contributions are by old Anandians except one. He too (Henry Jayasena) is from the sister school, Nalanda. A full - page portrait of Amaradeva in colour and a double spread recording the milestones in his career add colour to the book.

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