On the evening of October 20, Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc (in English, The Little Singers of Saint Marc) from France held a concert at the Guangzhou Opera House to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the film "Les Choristes."
The Little Singers of Saint Marc and Maximuse in performance (Photo: Mansy)
An important step for Cantonese music to go international
After the intermission, members of Guangzhou's local choir—Maximuse—joined the Saint Marc children to perform "Moon and Cantabile", an original Cantonese piece by local songwriter Jiu Shi Yong Cha. The first part of the song was performed in French, with lyrics penned by Saint Marc's conductor and art director Nicolas Porte, while the latter parts featured tutti in Cantonese, immersing the audience in nostalgia for the old days of Guangzhou through the melody and lyrics.
"I was moved as soon as the Saint Marc kids started singing; their voices are truly heavenly," said Deng Zhishun, the original performer of "Moon and Cantabile" and a member of Maximuse.
Deng told GDToday that he often sings this song to help his child sleep. "I feel like most of the lullabies are quite old. Though the melody of 'Moon and Cantabile' is similar to a lullaby, it is much more modern."
In recent years, Deng and his team have been promoting Cantonese music by rearranging classic songs, creating new ones, and organizing concerts. They even established a music label named "YUET YU GOR Music Factory", with Maximuse as one of its bands. In Deng's view, the collaboration with Saint Marc is an important step forward to promote Cantonese music on an international scale.
Music as a universal language to help people understand each other
Regarded as a classic French film, "Les Choristes" has garnered a massive fan base in China. The Little Singers of Saint Marc, known for their original soundtrack performances, have also received widespread acclaim from Chinese audiences. On the evening of the concert, many fans came to support and even rushed to the stage to shake hands with the little singers after the performance.
Audience and Saint Marc's children saying goodbye to each other (Photo provided by Maximuse)
Although Saint Marc has performed in China multiple times, this was their first time singing in Cantonese. "It's difficult to capture the sounds because they are so different from French. We needed help from those who could speak the sounds to us, and then we tried to reproduce them," shared Nicolas Porte about the challenges of singing in a new language.
Deng also recounted the language barrier they faced during the rehearsals with Saint Marc. "We tried to communicate with each other but had to rely on English as a third language. We found it quite difficult to make ourselves understood."
Fortunately, they have music, a common language that they share. "After singing together, we could not help applauding and cheering for each other, and I felt that despite our different languages, music allowed us to understand each other."
Porte had the same feeling when recalling his experience of touring around the world. He noted that, despite language and cultural differences, music always brings children together and helps them understand each other, for "music is universal."
This concert was part of the Festival Croisements to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France.
Reporter | Chen Siyuan
Editor | Nan, Monica, James
Cover | Maximuse
