A classical reunion
After a long hiatus, the Colombo Trio return to the Lionel Wendt for an evening of chamber music
The Colombo trio—ramya De Livera Perera, Ananda Dabare and Dushy Perera—have performed together since 1995, and have given many acclaimed concerts in the past, performing standard piano trio repertoire from the classical to the modern period. On March 17, Ananda and Dushy will collaborate with Eshantha Peiris on piano.
Ananda, Dushy and Eshantha need no introduction to Sri Lankan audiences. They have all distinguished themselves as musicians of the finest calibre, as soloists and ensemble players.
Their programme includes Brahms’s piano trio in C minor and Anton Arensky’s Piano Trio No.1 in D minor. Brahms’s final piano trio is the capstone of the three chamber works composed at Lake Thun in 1886 and published in 1887. The F-major cello sonata and the A-major violin sonata are the other two compositions Brahms worked on in Switzerland. The last, the piano trio in C minor, combines the best aspects of these two works. The cello sonata’s passionate expression is melded to the modest proportions of the violin sonata, creating a tightly woven structure that wastes no notes. Well-loved by Brahms’s friends, Clara Schumann and Elizabeth von Herzogenberg, the trio exemplifies the best elements of the composer’s late style.
Anton Arensky is a lesser-known Russian composer, but his piano trio is undoubtedly a masterpiece and deservedly takes a place in the standard chamber music repertoire. Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op.32 was dedicated to the memory of the legendary Russian cellist, Karl Davidoff, director of the Petersburg conservatory during Arensky’s time there as a student. This dramatic trio is by turns passionate, lyrical, elegant, personal and thoroughly captivating.
In lighter vein, the trio will also perform short works by Rheinhold Gliere and Astor Piazzolla.
Box plan and tickets are available at the Lionel Wendt. he Art for Sale” Exhibition open to the public from March 10 - 24 at the Casa Serena Gallery is an exceptional collection of traditional, contemporary and abstract paintings dated from the 1930s to 2012.
Paintings by Noel Abeysinghe (19302007), Alexander Sofronoff, P. E. P. Deraniyagala (1900-1973), Donald Ramanayake (1920-1993) and Saraswathi Rockwood (1925- 2011), as well as contemporary artists R. Segar, Nihal Sangabo Dias, Sarath Chandrajeewa and Samira Kalupahana, and other unknown, yet highly talented artists are featured.
What is unique about this exhibition is the similar styles of palette knife paintings belonging to different periods. Alexander Sofronoff was a brilliant and influential expatriate Russian artist who lived in Sri Lanka during the 1930s - 1950s, an interior de- signer as well as a landscape painter. He was responsible for painting the murals on the walls of the Galle Face Hotel, some of which still remain. Sofronoff influenced one of Sri Lanka’s early landscape painters Donald Ramanayake (1920-1993). Another landscape and palette knife artist is Nihal Sangabo Dias whose breathtaking landscapes are reminiscent of Donald Ramanayake’s work, though he was never influenced by Ramanayake.
Amongst the most significant qualities of these paintings is their ability to communicate with the viewer, and hold his attention for a longer period. Nelun Harasgama’s landscape, Sarath Chandrajeewa’s “City on Fire”, Noel Abeysinghe’s “Mother and Child” and Gunther Herman’s “Lord Ganesh” are just some which share these qualities.