Latha to dazzle again

Sarashi SAMARASINGHE

He is a legend in the world of vocals while she is a songstress with an inborn talent. They are none other than late Dharmadasa Walpola and Latha Walpola who were able to capture many hearts of the local audience within the past few decades.

“The Dharmadasa Walpola Foundation is organizing a musical extravaganza named ‘Saumya Rathree’ on June 9 at 6.30 pm at the Kularathna Hall of Ananda College. The main aims behind this musical gala are to commemorate the 28th death anniversary of late Dharmadasa Walpola, to rejoice in 66 years of the dazzling musical career of Latha Walpola and also to reactivate the functions of The Dharmadasa Walpola Foundation,” said vocalist Amith Walpola.

He further stated that this musical experience is going to be different compared with earlier musical happenings. “The unique feature of this show is that it is going to be a live performance by Latha Walpola at the audience requests,” he added.

He also noted that there are going to be six duet presentations by Latha along with vocalists such as Ishaq Beigg, Mario Ananda and Amal Perera. “Altogether there will be 30 songs sung in this concert and the music will be provided by Mahinda Bandara,” said Walpola.

According to Walpola the main features of this event would be old hits which were sung by both Dharmadasa and Latha though there will also be a special display of songs sung by Rajiv Sebastian in memory of Clarence Wijewardena.

“We are hoping to keep this concert in a grandscale starting from Colombo and later on to continue island wide,” said Walpola.

Late Dharmadasa Walpola has been a key figure for around two decades beginning from 1945 up to 1965 in the local musical arena. He has been a playback singer for many well-known artist. Latha started her career as a songstress at the age of 11 by singing the song ‘Namo Mariyani’.

She first sung a duet with Winson de Silva, ‘Kandulu Denethe Wahena’ which became a major turning point in her life.

She entered the cinema singing a song for the movie ‘Eda Ra’ and she has play-backed nearly 400 to 500 movies.

“I want to deliver my sincere gratitude to President Mahinda Rajapaksa for establishing a foundation named Dharmadasa Walpola. Those who are interested in having this concert in his or her village in future can contact me for further details,” said Walpola concluding his conversation.

Speaking to Daily News, Latha Walpola stated that she is amused about this concert and that it is a great pleasure for her to sing her favourite hits once again in front of an audience.