Classical Crossover comes to HOYS 2009

Many people attend the Horse of the Year show to be entertained by the displays of great horsemanship. However, for me, the event had one further attraction in that the musical entertainment for the evening was being provided by the two artists I support on Classicalx; Blake & Nick Garrett. 

Blake opened the evening show with a beautiful rendition of the Jeff Buckley classic “Hallelujah”. They have performed this song many times since they released it almost 3 years ago and yet it is a song I could never tire of hearing. What makes it so enjoyable is the way their four voices blend perfectly together to create such incredible harmonies. They also know how to work the dynamics of the song to perfection and demonstrated this with soft hushed tones in some parts before releasing the full power of their voices in others. Whilst Blake may still be relatively unknown in wider circles, if the response from this audience was anything to go by, then they have certainly picked up more fans from their performance that night. 

Following their performance, Blake joined a host of celebrities in the VIP hospitality area to enjoy the rest of the show, this included one of the hi-lights of the evening, a spectacular display by Daniel Naprous & the Devil’s Horsemen. Whilst preparing the arena for this event, we were treated to a piece of music entitled “Equus” which was written especially for Horse of the Year Show by none other than bass-baritone singer Nick Garrett. It was the first time I had heard this piece of music in its entirety and it was enjoyable to hear it in the setting for which it was created. The piece ends with part of Mozart’s Musical Joke which has been used many times as the theme tune for BBC’s Horse of the Year Show and indeed many people recognised this and showed their appreciation in their applause. 

Not long after this Nick walked into the arena looking rather dashing in an 18th century evening suit with tails and cravat. He was joined by soprano Sophie Louise Dann who has performed with Nick on many occasions and they sang a medley of songs from the musical Phantom of the Opera including; Music of the Night, Phantom of the Opera & All I Ask of You. Whilst singing, they were accompanied by a display of horsemanship, the likes of which I have never seen before. Daniel Naprous & the Devil’s Horsemen all dressed in period costume, entertained the crowds with their remarkable riding skills and truly complimented the mood of the music and the singers themselves. Nick’s unmistakeable rich bass-baritone voice captured the essence of the music perfectly. He sounded quite dark and menacing in “Phantom of the Opera” whilst in “All I Ask of You” his voice was soft and tender and full of warmth which when combined with Sophie’s beautiful soprano voice gave a very romantic feel to the music. This performance delighted not just the eyes but the ears too and it was hard to say whether you were captivated more by the mind-blowing visual displays of horsemanship, the out-standing vocal performances or a combination of the two. The audience had clearly enjoyed every minute of the performance as the applause that followed was quite deafening and lasted several minutes as horses, riders & singers took their bows. 

The evening continued with many other displays including the Pony Club Mounted Games and Shire Horse of the Year Championship and was brought to a close by actor Simon McCorkindale reading “Ode to the Horse” and a final performance from Blake who led in the audience in a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne. 

The day had been enjoyable on so many levels, not just because of the horse displays and competitions but because I had been able to enjoy music from two of my favourite artists. It was also gratifying to hear that they had enjoyed each other’s performances - Jules from Blake had commented afterwards that he thought Nick was a great singer and had enjoyed his performance. 

Although the event was primarily a horse show, it was a brilliant opportunity to showcase the musical talents of these artists and to show how music has a place in all areas of entertainment; including sports. Hopefully it will have helped introduce more people, particularly the younger audience members to a different genre of music and give them a desire to find out more – this is after all one of the aims of classical crossover artists and I can’t think of two better examples to act as an introduction to this style of music.

Added: October 16th 2009
Reviewer: xantha
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