Shani Diluka is a world-class concert pianist of Sri Lankan origin – a distinguished product of the Conservatoire de Paris. Though she was born and bred in Monaco and is now a citizen of France, her DNA is 100 percent Sri Lankan.
She gives an average of 80-85 concerts a year in various parts of the world with the majority centered in Western Europe. With several critically acclaimed classical CDs to her name, she has joined the prestigious label Warner Classics as an exclusive artist – an honour reserved for the crème de la crème. So exceptional is her talent that she has been hailed by Piano magazine as “one of the greatest of her generation.”
She has collaborated with several eminent musicians in recent years, including Valentine Erben (cellist), Natalie Dessay (opera singer), and Elisabeth Leonskaja (pianist), and also performed extensively with various orchestras, including the renowned Quatuor Ébène. Her pioneering inclusive approach to music has been warmly received at the highest levels in France and her most recent recordings for Warner Classics built around Marcel Proust have figured prominently in the Proust Celebration 2022.
It is not often that this gifted pianist performs in Sri Lanka, but whenever she does, she mesmerises the audience with her magical touch and inborn musicality. On December 6, she collaborated for the first time with the celebrated Chamber Music Society of Colombo (CMSC), whose Artistic Director/Concertmaster, Lakshman Joseph-de Saram, is a world-renowned musician in his own right. The concert was jointly sponsored by the European Union and the French Embassy and held at the Lionel Wendt. The performance was given to a full house.
The program consisted of the following pieces: Mozart’s 25th Symphony in G minor (four movements); Vivaldi’s Concerto for two violins, cello, strings and continuo in D minor (four movements); Corelli’s Concerto gross in D major (four movements); and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major (three movements). The first three pieces were presented before, and the fourth (main item), after the intermission.
Exquisite architecture
Mozart wrote 27 piano concertos and though most of them carry the stamp of genius, where the accompanying instruments complement each other with a piano in the centre, some experts argue that the 23rd concerto (K488) is the most divine due to its exquisite architecture and rich emotional tableau.
The manner in which the profound dialogue between solo pianist and orchestra gives way periodically to the impish interplay between smaller accompanying groups (especially in the first movement) is something to behold. In this concerto, the composer substitutes clarinets for oboes, thereby giving the music a deeper tone and darker hue.
All three movements are embellished with lovely melodic contours and warm tonalities which blend imperceptibly into one another like the currents of a bubbling stream. If the first sonata-like movement (Allegro), written in a double exposition form, is tender and cheerful, the second (Adagio), composed in F-sharp minor, is deeply introspective and melancholic, and the third (Allegro assai), joyful and vivacious. The lively and tuneful introduction is irresistible and so is the ornamental cadenza in the first movement, which plays a crucial role in the concerto as it sets the stage for the upcoming adagio.
Since this is one of those concertos which is usually directed from the keyboard, the onus is on the soloist to build an intimate rapport with the orchestra to capture all the nuances of the dialogue as well the subtle variations in timbre, tempi, and dynamics.
In this regard, the performance rendered by the Diluka/CMSC partnership surpassed all expectations – an astonishing achievement considering that Diluka (given her hectic international schedule) had limited time to rehearse with the orchestra and mould it according to her needs. A notable feature of this scintillating performance was the effortless manner in which the solo pianist and the orchestra blended into a cohesive whole and blithely captured the spirit of Mozart and not just the flavour and texture of his music.
Diluka’s ability to extract a powerful emotional response from the audience is a notable aspect of her virtuoso pianism. To conduct while performing is a daunting task for a solo pianist, but she rose to the occasion with aplomb. Her fluent technique combined with her keen intellectual grasp of the architecture of Mozart’s 23rd enabled her to perform this vibrant concerto with remarkable grace, eloquence, and clarity. Her articulation of the delicate cadenza as well as the poignant adagio was so sublime as to leave an indelible impression on the mind.
Overall, this was a fine presentation by the soloist and the orchestra where contrasting moods, ideas and motifs were sensitively portrayed and the sprightly rondo of the finale performed with breathtaking power, elan and finesse. So dazzling was the team work that it electrified the audience. After receiving a warm, enthusiastic and extended ovation, Diluka played an encore (a four-minute piano transcription of de Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance) with such fluency and manic intensity that it sent the audience into raptures.
Symphony No. 25, regarded as Mozart’s first “tragic” symphony, was written in the Sturm und Drang style with emotional extremes represented by sudden excursions into minor mode. The orchestra showed a great deal of finesse in the way it executed the symphony’s dramatic elements and syncopated rhythmic patterns. The contrasting moods and dynamics as well as subtle changes in timbre were presented with clarity and precision.
Solo group
The architectural style of the other two pieces is similar in the sense that the respective baroque composers (Vivaldi and Corelli) employ two violins and a cello as the solo group with the music constantly alternating between the concertino (solo passages) and the ripieno (tutti passages). Though each has four movements, the differences are significant in respect of tempi with the Vivaldi piece perhaps exhibiting slightly more depth and variety than the Corelli piece.
In both concertos, the solo group (led by Concert master Joseph-de Saram) was outstanding in respect of technical and artistic merit and blended superbly with the rest of the players.
The sublime quality of the music came through with the ensemble skillfully maintaining a delicate balance between individual talent and team work.
Full marks to the Concert master for the exemplary manner in which he directed the first half of the evening’s program.
The concert in its entirety was a resounding success. Let us hope there will be future collaborations of this nature between Shani Diluka and the CMSC.