THE COLOMBO OPERA FESTIVAL
The Nelum Pokuna Theatre played host to a spectacular concert produced by the Colombo Opera Company
on the 6th of November, to celebrate the sophisticated art of opera. The auditorium was filled with an audience brimming with excitement and rapture, thrilled at the chance to experience the vocal talents of Monika Evelin Liiv, Kishani Jayasinghe, Haoyin Xue
and Krysztof Szumanski, who delivered a performance so stunning that many felt privileged to have been afforded the opportunity to witness a show of this calibre. The vocalists were accompanied by the exceptionally skilled David Gowland on piano for the entire show, and the
Krasna Chamber Ensemble, led by Ananda Dabare in the second half. The first half of the show featured quintessential operatic songs, ranging from the Rigoletto Quartet by Verdi,
Santuzza’s aria from Cavalaria Rusticana
by Mascagni, to Nessun Dorma from Turandot by Puccini. Opera aficionados were bound to be enthralled by the seemingly effortless and masterful vocal prowess displayed by all four singers.
Moving away from traditional opera in the second half, the show catered to the tastes of everyone present through the performance of familiar, well-known Broadway classics such as Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Memory, I Could Have Danced All Night, and Time to Say Goodbye. Perhaps the most relatable song for most was the sublime and captivating rendition of the Sinhala song, Kimada
Nawey, sung by all four singers, which evoked emotion and sentimentality in many. As Kishani Jayasinghe, the force behind the show, aptly stated, “Music has got to be for everyone, and I feel that if we could have touched everyone in some small way. then we are happy to have done it.” The concert was sponsored by Fairway Holdings and East India Holdings.
FRANK PREMACHANDRA
“It was a beautiful show. This was my second opera experience and I’m new to the opera scene, but it was amazing and I’m so glad that Kishani did this”
PROFESSOR CHITRA WEDDIKKARA
“I think it was a fantastic show; I enjoyed both Kishani and the other singers. They should do this more often”
SAJOTHA
“We quite loved it and were impressed by everyone”
SARASALI FONSEKA
“It was refreshing and it was great that she brought a new aspect of music to Sri Lanka”
MANEKA GUNERATNE
“It was very good, Kishani did a beautiful job”
OTARA GUNEWARDENE
“I’ve enjoyed it very much”
MAYURI PERERA
“They made an effort to include a Sri Lankan item, which made me emotional- it was that good!”
SANJEE GUNERATNE
“A great performance by Kishani and the team!”
“A fantastic start to a new venture of introducing opera to the whole of Sri Lanka. I hope we see more of this kind of thing in the future”
MALLIKA
ROSHAN PERERA
“It’s refreshing to have international voices singing really famous arias in Sri Lanka. It’s very exciting for all of us!”
SHIRANI SIRIWARDENE
“A wonderful show”
FRANCIS D’ALMEIDA
“This was a very rare opportunity for us to experience such a terrific performance consisting of international stars. We are very grateful to Kishani for putting this together”
SHIRANI SELLAMUTTU
“I really enjoyed it and think it was a lovely show. Kishani particularly is so good – I think she was the best!”
“For classical music lovers this is a superb opening and opportunity to hear classical music performed by international artistes in Colombo. I hope this will be a yearly thing; we have to thank Kishani for bringing them all together”
KRISHNI
DHIRAJ
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for a SriLankan audience to have this type of exposure to international artistes. We feel a lot of pride that Kishani has achieved such great heights. Talking about today’s programme, we are very familiar with classical quartets but it’s a wonderful opportunity to experience a voice quartet, which was something new I learned about”