Khemadasa on fire

Kala Korner By dee Cee

Watching Maestro Premasiri Khemadasa's aggressive action in conducting the orchestra a few days back when his latest creation 'Agni' was presented at the Lionel Wendt, made one disbelieve that he suffered from a heart ailment just a couple of weeks ago. He had a remarkable recovery from the kidney ailment and although doctors advised him to take it easy, he started work on the new opera.

Training newcomers was no easy task but he revels in it. He is one man who picks talent from remote areas and moulds them into top performers. 'Agni' is yet another success of his fruits of labour.

Adapted from happenings in the Ice Age when primitive people had not discovered fire and only the gods enjoyed it, 'Agni' depicts how one god, Prometheus steals the fire and gives it to man. It's a risky mission because he annoys his clan. He uses Agni Devi, his sister for the mission. She meets Soma who wants to grab the god-given gift for the benefit of his community who relish it. They produce iron tools. Farmers cultivate the land. Rapid changes are seen.

Khemadasa's musical score is yet another of his successful efforts to create something new. Both the music and movements portray the moods of happiness and sorrow most effectively. So do the trained voices. The 'Master' has been helped by a team of committed artistes to make 'Agni' a success. Eric Ilayapparachchi's script, the effective costumes designed by Suvineetha Subasinghe, the plain backdrop by Upali Herath and Buddhadasa Galappatti's make-up add up to provide one and a half hours of meaningful entertainment.

Incidentally, to see Kamal Addaraarachchi doing the lead role of Soma was a pleasant surprise. We meet him all the time on the screen but he is seldom seen on stage. 'Agni' is yet another example of his versatility. Indika Upamali as Agni Devi is impressive. Hers as well as the other lead voices are the result of intensive training under the maestro.

To see Khemadasa experimenting all the time is gratifying. The symphonies, the operas, the cantatas and other musical presentations keep on nourishing the Sinhala music scene. It's nice to find him give a new dimension to Sri Lanka's performing arts.Continue with your efforts, Maestro!