Striking a memorable note
View(s):In the run up to Les Mis, the Sunday Times asked Soundarie David, Music Director of Soul Sounds, Ishan de Lanerolle of the De Lanerolle Brothers, and Eshantha Joseph Peiris, co-founder of the Music Matters school, for their thoughts on this renowned musical.
Q: Do you have a favourite track?
Soundarie David
Soundarie:My favourite song would be ‘ On my own’ for the lyrics, and in particular for the accompaniment. I feel the music has been carefully written, to compliment the emotions and the setting of the song. That being said, I also love the song “I dreamed a dream” because of the range of the song, especially the deep low notes.
Ishan:I dreamed a dream – because it’s simple yet powerful and delivers a very strong message. We sang it for the first time about five years ago in London and thereafter in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world and it has become a favourite of ours.
Loved the first time Susan Boyle sang it on Britain’s got talent. But her renditions thereafter have never been the same. The reason is that she was in certain circumstances in her life that brought out the true meaning of the song when she first sang it.
Eshantha:The song that I most like listening to – in context of a staged production of Les Mis – is “Bring Him Home”, which Valjean’s character sings as a prayer.
Given the simplicity of the melody, the directness of the lyrics, and the fact that Valjean is alone on stage, this song really lends itself to personalized interpretation by the actor, in terms of musical and dramatic decisions.
The fact that a song like this can be sung in so many different ways makes live performances worth watching, in my opinion.
Q: If you could skip a song, which one would it be?
Ishan de Lanerolle
Soundarie:I don’t think I would skip any song in particular, as each has its own flavour, its own meaning, and the music as seen throughout this musical, compliments the lyrics and setting of that particular song. Of course there are the more popular songs from the musical, and they would obviously stand out.
Ishan:It’s difficult to keep out any song away…But if I had to it would be Lovely Ladies… It’s the lyrics.
Eshantha:I think that songs composed for dramatic settings work best when viewed on stage, in narrative context, so I don’t think I would listen to just the soundtrack on its own.
Most of the songs seem essential to the story-line (even though half of them weren’t there in the original 1980 French musical), so I don’t think any of them should be skipped.
Q: What will you be comparing the upcoming production to and what will you be looking for in the performances by the Workshop Players?
Soundarie: Having seen Les Mis – in London’s West End, one tends to compare, but Jerome’s productions have always been more than just an amateur performance.
At the end of the day, I think what is important is that those on stage enjoy what they are doing. For example even if there is a challenging note to sing, if you sing it with all the necessary emotion, then you can be confident that it will reach out.
Eshantha Peiris
The Workshop Players have not failed to deliver to date. Jerome with his passion for theatre has given Sri Lanka a taste of West End/ Broadway over the years and as always we are eagerly looking forward to this production.
Ishan:Will be comparing it to the performances I have seen at Imperial Theatre in NY and Queens Theatre in London, keeping in mind that they do this full time whereas our actors and singers are singing and performing after a tired day’s work.
Challenging notes would be the last three notes of Bring Him Home. My advice to the singers is that technique is something which has to be done through a period of time, it cannot be absorbed or learned overnight.
Hence just go and sing with your heart and feel the emotion which is the most important thing…It’s not at all an easy thing to do [to balance emotion and technique]… But I will always trade in technique for emotion as what we are doing as singers is putting words to music, but if there is no feeling and emotion in the voice you might as well just say the words.
Esthantha: If an artistic performance of any kind – be it musical, dramatic, or danced, on stage or on film, professional or non-professional – can give me some insight into the human condition, I consider that performance successful.
Artistic technique definitely helps in conveying emotions/messages etc. but all I really want from a musical is to be entertained with a thought-provoking story.