Delectable Leehom
What happened when the acclaimed Kuala Lumpur Symphony Orchestra(KLSO) teamed up with Leehom, one of the finest Chinese musical talents in the world? They brought the house down, of course.
Leehom-KLSO's memorable concert took place one balmy night in Dewan Merdeka, Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) in the capital two weekends ago. As expected, it was a sell-out event. Dewan Merdeka was packed to its maximum capacity (3,200). Mind you, the tickets to Leehom-KLSO concert were snapped up as soon as Salem Cool Planet, the organiser, announced the concert date early this month.
However, the concert took off with a hitch at 8.30pm as it was half an hour delayed. While the 60 members of KLSO and Leehom deserve credit for having arrived at Dewan Merdeka as early as an hour before they were scheduled to perform (the concert was slated to start at 8.00pm), the Malaysian audience, however, seemed unable to kick off the bad habit of turning up late for almost any event. Even a few minutes before the concert started, some of the audience could still be spotted entering the hall.
Having waited long enough for the audience to settle down in their seats, the KLSO got the show going with its rendition of Light Calvary, which had an upbeat tempo that seemed to warm the audience up. The crowd, comprising mainly of teeny boppers who are less exposed to a symphony orchestra's performance, began to pay more attention to the young members of the KLSO. The orchestra was helmed by a funky young conductor, Eric Lee.
As soon as Leehom took the centrestage at 8.40pm, the crowd went ballistic. They screamed and shouted, "Leehom, I love you." Amid his fans' high pitched cries, the American-born Chinese singer-songwriter-musician gave his first number, My Rival, Beethoven, while the orchestra livened up the song by changing its tempo.
Next, Leehom took a breather to utter his thank-you's. "This concert is a dream come true for me. I've always wanted to perform a solo concert with an orchestra because I was actually trained to be a classical musician. Somehow, I ended up as a pop singer instead," said the 23-year-old, smiling.
The concert rolled on with the popster giving his rendition of Wish Upon A Star, Broadway-style. Footage of Disney's reowned animated classic Snow White was also shown on the screens. Effortlessly, Leehom moved from R&B to jazz to funk to rock with numbers like Crying Palms, Frozen Dreams and Impossible To Miss You. But it was his duets with KLSO's petite soprano, Michelle Quah that stole the show. Adapted from Leehom's final-year thesis at Williams College of Music in New York, the twosome performed two Broadway pieces entitled Days Like These and Somewhere Out There. The awed crowd listened in silence.
Leehom continued to spice up his performance by showcasing his talent in playing the violin via his latest single, Julia -- much to the audience's delight. Two hours passed by unnoticed. Finally, it was time for Leehom and KLSO to bid everyone good night. The young artiste capped his performance with his most celebrated single, Revolution.
And the calls for encore lasted for more than 10 minutes. Being the obliging person he is, Leehom got onto stage again and enthralled the crowd with an English number, Mary Says.
The verdict? Hats off to Leehom and KLSO! Having been given less than two months to rehearse, they managed to stage one of the most entertaining concerts in Malaysia in recent memory. The music world has Leehom to thank for having taken Chinese pop music to greater heights.
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The midi file that is playing is the courtesy of Robin's Chinese Midi Files Page. This is a song by Leehom and William So(also sung by Jacky Cheung and Roland Cheng), Zuo You Wei Nan.
