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To
lift people’s spirits up in the New Year, came
two evenings of song which soared to the skies, with
the first ever Sri Lanka soprano to sing at the Royal
Opera House in London. Kishani Jayasinghe wowed a house
full audience at the Lionel Wendt who gave her a standing
ovation for bringing pride to the country and swelling
the hearts of the people.
‘An evening with Kishani’ accompanied by Christopher
Glynn on the piano will remain in the memories of those
who were there as an unforgettable event that held them
spell bound. Her repertoire was a range from the classics
to a few popular numbers, beginning with songs from
around the world which included compositions from the
famous in French, Italian, Russian, English, German
and Spanish. For this set of songs she wore an evening
dress in silver grey and changed into a wine red dress
for the next set of songs which were from Mozart’s
Operas which included Temeri Come Scaglio from cossi
Fan Tutte and the Don Elvira song from Don Giovanni.
After the break, she returned with Puccini Opera Heroines
including that of Musetta from La Boheme in a black
bare shouldered dress with a flared fish tail skirt,
to finally step into a selection of songs from the lighter
side with the opening number “Raise Me Up”
being a pure delight to listen to. For this segment
her dress was in a shot olive green. Kisani also has
the honour of being the first South Asian soprano to
perform at Buckingham Palace.
The Sunethra Foundation which benefited from this concert
must sure1y be pleased with both artistes performing
without any charges. Spotted in this packed house were
Rukmani Amerasinghe, Sadhana Vikrantha with her mother
Maya, and Kavita besides the many lovers of Opera and
song and many a distinguished personage.
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