The Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka opens its 59th year of performance with the first subscription concert under the direction of the dynamic Japanese Conductor, Keiko Kobayashi. The program comprising of Beethoven’s Piano Concert No. 5, Mendelssohn’s overture to the ‘Ruy Blas’ and excerpts from Prokofiev’s ‘Romeo & Juliet Ballet Suites’ will be performed on February 20th at the Ladies College Hall at 7.00pm.
Shanthi Dias returns to her first love, Music, having recently retired after serving her alma mater, Methodist College, to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, the ‘Emperor’.
It is the best known and most frequently performed of Beethoven’s five piano concerti. Shanthi, who has performed many times before with the SOSL, considers it a great honour to be able to perform this majestic concerto, saying ” It's such a beautiful concerto and the favourite of so many”! In classic Beethoven style, there are very technical passages as well as hauntingly lyrical lines. But Shanthi says,” if you get past the ‘awe’ of performing it, it is a delightful concerto with a lot of light-heartedness too,” which suits her personality!
Mendelssohn was commissioned to write a song and overture for Victor Hugo’s play, “Ruy Blas” but as he was not inspired by the storyline he chose to write just the song. The Fund, that commissioned the works, wrote to him regretting that he had not had sufficient time to complete an overture. Nettled by the implication that he was not up to it, Mendelssohn rattled off the overture in three days just in time for the opening. Despite the hurried rush to complete his composition, Mendelssohn’s inherent talent shone through as this is regarded as one of Mendelssohn’s most popular works.
Prokofiev's ‘Romeo and Juliet Ballet Suites’ contain some of his most performed pieces of music. Although the score is written in Prokofiev's characteristically pungent style, it gives full expression to his lyrical genius. Many consider this to be one of his supreme masterpieces.
This concert is co-sponsored by Hemas, Hirdaramanis and the Chinese Dragon with airline sponsor SriLankan Airlines and electronic media sponsors Yes FM, TV1 and Legends.
Tickets and Box Plan at Tickets.lk
