Drop of water in a parched cultural milieu

by Daya Dissanayake

It was truly a most welcome sip of water for parched lips, stranded in the cultural desert of Lanka, on the evening of July 20 at the Namel-Malini Punchi Theatre.

It was an evening with Henry Jayasena, the greatest playwright, director, actor and novelist among us today. All those who were gathered at the Punchi Theatre, a minute fraction of his fans islandwide, perhaps because the event received little publicity from the media, had the good fortune to see an act from 'Janelaya' and 'Thavat Udesanak', before Namel Weeramuni introduced a 'tradition within a tradition' and invited Henry Jayasena to the stage with one of Jayasena's closest associates, Santin Gunewardena to conduct the proceedings.

Henry Jayasena began his speech by saying that he has 'already said all he had to say and there was nothing more he could say'. No one present would accept that statement. The whole country looks forward to reading and listening to what Henry Jayasena has to say.

Yet there is also a truth in what he had said. As pointed out by a one time 'Akasa Mahattaya', Shelton Silva, the Buddha too had preached all He had to preach, over 2500 years ago, but the truth still stands and will continue to stand. It is the same way with what Henry Jayasena has written.

Even if he does not say anything more, what he told us four decades ago is still true. Outside the 'window' and inside the rook it is still the same. Our government officers have not changed at all except may be for the worse. There are 'Akasa Mahattayas' trying to grab the sun and the moon. In our villages we still have Bindus, Indus and Sindus. Kuveni is born, suffers till death and is born again and again among us.

Odour of sweat

Jayasena pointed out that a stage play was something that was always alive. The pleasant odour of sweat on the bodies of the actors and actresses would never be found on the silver screen or the small screen. What is filmed is frozen for eternity. There is no life in it, unlike on the stage. The role of an actor today would not be identical to what he would play tomorrow.

His personal feelings, his emotions would affect his acting. A new love, or getting jilted, or a headache could change how a person played his role. He could also forget his lines and add something on his own, very often passing unnoticed by the audience, even those who had seen the play many times before. The director himself could change the script or an entire scene from day to day, or from venue to venue. Such freedom could never be enjoyed by a film director or actors of the cinema.

Then the unexpected happened. Several 'angry young men' who had joined the gathering came up with their own questions. Even though they themselves did not know for certain what they wanted, or could not express themselves with the limited vocabulary within which they had imprisoned themselves, the discussion became a little heated and lifted it up to a more exciting level.

It was a welcome change to see that this type of gathering was attracting both the old and the young and also the 'not so young'.

The young men wanted to know why they were left stranded by Henry Jayasena and others. Why Jayasena had left 'Asadak' on their laps, without telling them what they should do next. They expected Jayasena and others of his period to continue to lead them, to get involved in the social struggle.

They complained about the harm done by the idiot box, how it destroyed the careers of young actors or the actors themselves. They complained that the 'Free Market Economy' was destroying our culture and our arts.

What these young men should realize is that the struggle was now in their hands.

They will have to continue with the work started by Jayasena, Sugathapala, Navagattegama and others. It is their responsibility now, they have to get hold of the batton and pass it on to the next generation.

It is to help them in their task that Namels and Malinis have now come forward. It is up to the young men to transfer their anger to their own creations and make their own contribution to make this a better place for their children some day.

It is probably with this in mind that Namel invited the young men for the next gathering at the Punchi Theatre on August 27 to discuss these issues.

Older generation

It has always been observed that this type of discussions were limited either to the youth in the universities only or to the older generation, most of them who have already retired from active creative work and a few in their forties and fifties. These two groups never met on one forum.

There never was an opportunity to share the views and experiences of the older generations with the enthusiasm and the anger of the new generation. Now the Punchi Theatre is offering this opportunity and it is the youth who should grab this chance, to exploit the elders, to extract the maximum out of them to nourish their own new creativity.

Namel and Malini have planned to have these gatherings every month, on the last Saturday, and let us hope and pray they will have the courage and the resources to continue with this venture and to take it to greater heights and that others could take a cue from them so that it could spread far and wide.

Robin Zebaida - A piano recital with a difference

It was a rare treat for those who attended the piano recital of Robin Zebaida on Thursday, August 11 2005 at the Bishop's College Auditorium. It turned out to be an evening of romantic music with a difference - music charged with intimate emotions, raging passions and fantasy coupled with virtuoso piano technique and the inimitable humour of the amicable pianist. The brief commentaries of the recitalist, which preceded each piece, were most welcome.

The recital began with a well-known masterpiece of Beethoven - his Sonata quasi una fantasia in C minor, better known as the Moonlight Sonata. The textbooks of musical history may list this as a classical work by a classical composer. But the Moonlight Sonata, which was dedicated by Beethoven to his beautiful young pupil, Countess Julietta von Guicciardi, with whom he had fallen in love, is unmistakably a romantic masterpiece.

The Beethoven sonata was followed by the piano arrangements by Franz Liszt of four Songs (Lieder) by Schubert. Of these works, the rendering of the piece named Tranquillity (based on the Schubert Lied titled "Due bist die Ruh"), was the loveliest also one of the most memorable ones of the evening's programme. It was serene, meditative music - a lover's seductive prayer to the Beloved!

The Earl King (an arrangement of Schubert's magnificent setting of a Goethe ballad) was, on the other hand, a total disappointment. The worried rider, his frightened little son and the evil Erlkoenig of Schubert's Lied were nowhere to be heard or felt. Perhaps they were all lost in the "Nacht und Wind"- the ferocity of the left-hand piano accompaniment!

Liszt's piano arrangements of Schubert were followed by Funerailles, an original piano composition by Liszt - a piece of programme music with an abundance of Chopinesque stuff! This piece, brilliantly performed by the pianist, brought the pre-interval session to a close.

Chopin and Gershwin dominated the post-interval session, with Grieg (with Percy Grainger's abridgement of the first movement of the piano concerto in A minor), Rachmaninov (with two Preludes - op.35 Nos.5 and 12), and Schubert (with Leopold Godowsky's arrangement of Moment Musical), adding colour. Chopin's truly Polish" Polonaise in A major, op 40 No.1., and Gershwin's jazzy "Rhapsody in Blue" were well performed, to say the least.

But, what intrigued me most, were the rendering of Godowsky's arrangements for left hand of two of Chopin's Studies, one of which was the great Revolutionary Etude. Here was a virtuoso display of piano technique, viz. piano playing only with the left hand. What is more important is that the revolutionary fervour of Chopin' great Etude was not sacrificed at the alter of pianistic gymnastics.

- Satyajith Andradi

Review :

Cellos in perfect harmony

The debut concert by the Cantando Cello Ensemble on July 27 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre

A very pleasant evening of fine music was heard at the debut performance of the Cantando Cello Ensemble. That an ensemble of only Cellos could produce such a satisfying variety of tone and range was a revelation to the audience. That there was such a body of music arranged for an ensemble of this nature, was another.

What strikes one most about the performance is that 10 Cellos could play in such perfect unison, despite having different parts, rhythms and entry points. One is used to smaller ensembles, but to see 10 players, playing in perfect rapport without a conductor, speaks volumes for the hours of practice, and the professionalism perhaps, of the players.

This was evident from the opening work, J. Pachelbel's Canon in D itself. The other noteworthy achievement was that they could play so expressively and still stay together. Some very moving and expressive lines were played by two Cellists, sometimes at opposite ends of the stage, and yet, in perfect harmony. If here were degrees in proficiency in the players, it was well hidden, probably by pairing the weaker players with stronger players. Certainly the tone was rich and steady throughout and the intonation, except for two small lapses perhaps, perfect.

Some noteworthy performances include Chopping's Etude in E minor, (arr. by A. Glazunov) performed by Dushyanthi Perera, accompanied by Ramya de Livera Perera; sacrilege, to think of a piano work being re-written for the Cello (!) but it was a good arrangement and expressively played by the Cellist.

'Cello Fan' from Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio was played by Tamara Holsinger, well accompanied by Soundarie David at the piano, Dushy on Bass and Christopher Prins on the drums. This work revealed the range of possibilities open to the Cello, indifferent combinations of instruments, and was played with great panache and spirit.

Special mention must be made of Soundarie, who answered the Cellist, phrase for phrase on the piano, and revealed her musicianship in being able to switch from Fugue type technical passages, to a 'jazz mode' as it were, within a matter of bars.

The First Movement of the 'Concerto for two Cellos in G Minor' by A. Vivaldi, performed by young Kamani Perera and Amila Abeysekera, accompanied by a little string orchestra of six players, was also very good. The two Cellists played with perfect rapport, and there was a lengthy ascending passage of music where the soloists and the sextet played in amazing togetherness. There was no toe - tapping-keepin-to-time by any of the group either, which speaks for the confidence they have in each other.

The Requiem for six cellos by David Popper with Ramya de Livera Perera on the piano, was dedicated to the late Dr. Earle de Fonseka, as an act of remembrance and gratitude for his input in the lives of so many of the players.

Hard as it was to choose, all works being of a very high standard, I thought this work in particular, was exceptionally well played. If there were drawbacks to this concert, it was perhaps the time taken to change the arrangement of chairs and stands for the different combinations of instruments.

If the auditorium lights could have come on at intervals during their re-arranging, the audience could at least have taken a peep at the next item on the program, which they were denied. Some thought may need to go into this for the next performance. - (SD)