Hooked on classics
The newly popular, four-member group Blake will join the Crossover section of MISA this year. Photo: Courtesy of Gold Typhoon Music
Shanghai's music lovers are counting down the days to the annual Music in the Summer Air (MISA) event. Now in its third year, the festival, which features classical music performances, kicks off on July 29 and lasts until August 12.
Themed as "Hot Classical," this year's MISA will highlight "crossover" musical styles beyond the purely classical, in an attempt to attract more younger audiences. For the first time, the performances will include elements of movie soundtracks, pop, jazz, and American folk, among other musical genres. A cursory glance at the two-week program shows that more than half of the events will feature such crossover musical styles.
Diverse styles
Four separate sections make up this year's MISA grogram - Movie Time, Crossover, Miniatures with Masters and Classical Breezes. The Lord of the Rings Symphony, which will be the opening concert to 2012 MISA, together with the BBC's Documentary Concert - The Blue Planet, will be among the highlights of the Movie Time section. And this will be the first time both pieces have been played in China. Miniatures with Masters includes a concert featuring 14 performers from the cello section of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO), and a separate concert by the Chinese-born pianist Chen Sa.
Classical Breezes will bring music fans China's first-ever performance by The State Hermitage Orchestra from Russia featuring the world-renowned cellist Natalia Gutman, as well as London Summit featuring Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO).
In the Crossover section, songs from the late, legendary singer Teresa Teng will recall the Taiwanese diva's amazing voice. American folk music is provided courtesy of Fanfare for the Country Man performed by the American band Buffalo Rome, together with the SSO; while nostalgic songs by British band The Beatles will unsurprisingly feature in Beatlemania, a concert given by vocalists Mary Carewe and Graham Bickley alongside the RPO. The newly popular, four-member group Blake will join hands with the C.S.G. String Ensemble (a Chinese female ensemble) to hold another concert in the Crossover section.
Wedding singers
Blake came to public attention because of their critically-acclaimed performance at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Their wedding song "All of Me" thrust the group's male singers (all of whom are aged around 30) into the spotlight.
Blake, who came together in the UK in 2007, is made up of Ollie Baines (tenor), Humphrey Berney (tenor), Stephen Bowman (bass) and Jules Knight (baritone). They named after William Blake, the English poet and painter. To date they have released three albums - Blake, And So It Goes and Together - which have sold more than 1 million copies around the globe. Two of their albums were nominated for Album of the Year in the UK, and in 2008 they were the winner of a Classical Brit Award.
The group already had a close connection with the British royal family. Knight was a university friend of the royal couple while they were studying at St Andrews in Scotland. "'All of Me' is a song that talks about marriage and love, and giving yourself to someone emotionally," Knight told the Global Times. "It's a universal love song that everyone can understand regardless of race, religion and language."
And Baines was a high school classmate of Kate Middleton. On a separate ocassion they have performed for the queen at Buckingham Palace.
"The treatment of the songs we sing could be called classical, but they are still very 'poppy.' For example, the song 'With and Without You' has classical elements, but we don't perform it in an operatic way. I think this is definitely the first time a group like us has ever come to China," Knight added.
Three of the members of Blake have long experience of singing in choirs from a young age, as Berney explained. "The choir experience is useful because it teaches you discipline and how to work in a team. It also teaches you how to sing in harmony," he said.
The four group members said that they spend almost 300 days a year together. "The most important thing for the cohesion of our group is a sense of humor," said Knight.
"And we all understand that it's a fun job and that we're lucky to be doing it. When good things happen, we dance on the table with champagne; when bad things happen, we 'cry' together on the table with whisky. Whether things turn out good or bad, we are all in it together," Bowman added.
Shanghai connection
The closing ceremony of the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) on June 24 saw Blake's first appearance before a Chinese audience. As the guest performers, they sang the song "She" which was featured in the hit film Notting Hill and was dedicated to previous winners of the Best Actress awards at SIFF. The four men joked that the number of viewers who watched this one-off performance might surpass the total number of people they are ever likely to play to during their entire career.
"We know the Chinese have a passion for music, especially for the musical traditions within their own country. So we want to capitalize on that and bring our own special brand of classical music here, and hopefully they will love it," Berney told the Global Times.
For their two-hour MISA show, Blake will perform alongside the SSO, and 25 female string players. They will present about 20 songs from their repetoire. One Chinese song, "You and Me" (the theme song to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games), will be especially dedicated to the Shanghai audience.
The band members admit that their good looks don't do any harm to their popularity, especially among their female fans. But they insist that the music comes first.
"It's our passion and ambition as a group to be successful and each of us has a role to play in that," said Berney. "We are singers, but we are also very involved in the decisions in our business, such as running our own company and making records," he added.
Blake with C.S.G. String Ensemble
Date: August 3, 7:45 pm
Venue: MISA at Lujiazui - MISA Concert Hall
MISA陆家嘴主会场-篷房音乐厅
Address: 15 Lujiazui Road East
陆家嘴东路15号
Tickets: 60 yuan to 380 yuan
Call 6437-4682 for details