All through out my life, it has always been said to me that popular music does not go together with the classical. Or at least that's the idea i have been given. People i met in different parts of my life had successfully given me the impression that the two genres contradict each other. "Hey your voice is so pop" "That's not the technique to use for choir singing" such and such.
Tonight i had the privilege to attend The Philippines Madrigal Singers' Madz About Love... Madz About Peace Concert. It was a concert held following the release of their newest album, Madz In Love Continues, a sequel to its previous album of compiled classic love songs, Madz In Love. Tonight, i was proven wrong. Or should i say, the people who gave me that idea about pop and classical music were proven wrong. I am finally sure that these music actually complement each other. Classical techniques can be used properly to sing popular songs. Yes, it takes great music arrangers, composers, and singers. Not too much vibrato, not too much screaming. A little bit of this and a bit of that. Whatever it takes, it is not impossible.
while CD signing
The night was a fortune-filled one. We were having the best of luck.
Fortune No. 1: All 18 of us got 30% discounts. Would it be proper for me to say more? Oh well, anyway, Thank you so much Ate! You know who you are.
Fortune No.2: It was no mistake that we were going to be late when traffic stopped us just a few kilometers after leaving the town. Bad traffic followed all through out the hi way, which finally took us about two and a half hour to finally reach the Cultural Center of The Philippines (CCP) where the concert was to be held. Yet regardless the traffic, we were able to make it before it was too late and entered the theater upon the end of The Madrigal's 4th song for the night.
Due to Fortune No. 2, we were able to witness what i think was one of the most beautifully rendered songs that night. Yes, it was far too early to judge since it was the first song we got to hear and most of us were probably still trying to get comfortable in our seats, but i was right away blown away. The title I'm not sure of, but it was their angelic voices accompanied by a simple guitar playing. Beautiful it was. The guitar was indeed something since, i suppose, it's not every day you get to see choirs sing with a guitar as an accompaniment instead of the usual, classical, oh so famous piano.
Beautiful songs came one after the other on the first half of the concert. One of the best beauty from this part must be Over The Rainbow, one of my favorite songs of all time. With the flowery lighting as a background and a heaven-sent sounding soloist, they could not go wrong. Oh, and their pianissimo (pp) parts were well done. They could sing a pp with such powerful vocals we could still clearly hear the lyrics. I, on the other hand, have always sucked at playing and singing those pianissimo parts. Hehe. I'm too loud of a creature to sound soft, i guess.
Fortune No. 3: Following the first part of the concert was the usual 10 minutes break. Another luck of the night, all of us in that balcony section who supposedly paid an amount of P500-P700 were told to transfer to another section. Ohh Yeah we were. they lead us to the section with the best seats in the building. Expensive ones i would dare bet, probably about 4 times the amount each of us paid. It turned out that these seats were quite empty and for some godly reason they just needed to fill them up so badly. Of course, the concert only got better naturally.
Song after song in the second part of the concert blew the audience away and second most especially to me would be the song It Might Be You. I don't know if it was his charm, his vocals, his falsetto that oculd melt the room down, the song, or probably all that. It. Was. Perfecto. Everyone instantly crushed him. Lol
Following that magical moment (oooh yea) were Popular songs such as Very Special Love, Love of My Life, How Did You know, each of them putting a smile on my face. You probably might not know some of these songs since they are local love songs but trust me, Filipinos make some of the world's greatest love songs! No question about it.
Love songs, though, are love songs. It blows you away, it makes you close your eyes and charms you to sleep. The Madrigals must have predicted this because all of a sudden the audience were brought to life by the very familiar intro music to Jason Mraz's I'm Yours. I cannot begin to describe how crazy that felt. Yes, we were expecting popular music. But I'm Yours? Nobody saw that coming. I could hear the room buzzing in shock as my friends (and i) had endless "oohs" and "aahs". A choir and Jason Mraz never would have sounded right until tonight. This particular rendition of the imaginable timeless song right away convinced me that anything is possible. Impossible is nothing. You name it. I cannot stop smiling to the memory of it. :)
The genious behind their music arrangements,
and yes, I'm Yours.
and yes, I'm Yours.
The Madrigals definitely made sure our smiles did not fade at the end of Mraz's. Following the unexpected number was another unexpected performance, this time a remix of Five For Fighting's Superman which included choreography by the tenors and bass section! It was hilarious. They went from Superman to Meteor Garden's famous "Oh baby, baby, baby... My baby, baby" to a few other comically performed songs, even the McDonald's Philippines' short jingle and catch phrase. It was entertaining indeed. It charmed the audience back to life.
We were given two more songs before the closing remarks and finally the curtain closes. But really, by the time The Madrigals were done, the crowd was definitely not. "Moreeee" was heard through out the room from us, obviously we could not get enough of the concert. Now they did not disappoint. The curtains were once again pulled up as they sang the very familiar Heal The World by Michael Jackson and officially ended with Lion King's Circle of Life. About this particular last song,"the best for last" is the only way to describe it. The sound of monkeys, lions, and some other jungle creatures produced by its selected members sounded extremely real all through out the song. I wouldn't be surprised to go out the door and find my self in Amazon. It did sound like it. It was the perfect song to end the concert with.
All in all, the concert was AWESOME.
It is not every day that i get to listen to music of this kind. Now that i would blame on my country, to which such music would not easily appeal. I could go all night talking about Indonesia's musical industry. Besides, classical and popular songs, it really does not happen everyday. It is so worth it when it happens though, i think they should make it a holiday.
Missing three songs in the beginning did not change anything. We piled out of the theater MADly in love with the Madrigals nonetheless! The traffic was so worth it. As for the greatness of the concert itself, well, i would not consider that a fortune. It was simply meant to be.
now let us not talk about my cellphone. goodnight, people.
1 Comments:
i salute the amazing arranger...and the rest for a job well done...
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