For many, a night at the opera may conjure up images of fat ladies dressed as Vikings singing in high-pitched Italian. However, the opera performance by Chinese baritones Song Gang, Yu Di and Wang Zhida at the Sennheiser Shanghai Concert Hall (SSCH) on Tuesday night will shatter any such preconceptions.

The three professional opera singers will sing what has been dubbed "popera," the singing of popular songs in an operatic style.

Song Gang

They will interpret different works from different genres such as pop, jazz and rock, in the bel canto style of opera singing. The three men all studied opera singing for eight years at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SCM).

The songs they will sing include "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" (the theme song from The Lion King); "Parla Più Piano" (the Italian version of "Speak Softly Love," the theme song from The Godfather in 1972); "May It Be" (the song featured in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring); "Les Rois du Monde" (the second single from the 2000 French musical Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour) and "An Xiang" (the theme song from popular Chinese television drama, Jin Fen Shi Jia).

Wang Zhida

"One of the most natural male voices is the baritone," Song Gang told the Global Times. "After long-term training, some baritone voices have the ability to go up and down, to become tenors, bass or bass baritones." He said that this allows for a more subtle interpretation of songs.

According to Song, the theme songs from films, television and musicals are particularly suited to the operatic treatment as they feature strong dramatic dynamics and varied timbres.

"These songs, which are in different languages, give a platform for a fusion of classical and popular influences and can create a unified harmony through music," Song said.

The group got together in 2013 and has been performing as Vocal Force. They say they are trying to break the boundaries of genre, and as such think of themselves as vocalists, rather than labeling themselves as opera or pop singers.

Each of the three singers is around 30 years old and, with an average height of 1.87 meters and a penchant for tightfitting black suits and chic hairstyles, they hope to challenge the stereotypical image of the opera singer.

"The image of the opera singer standing still with a puffed out chest and wide-open mouth has been deeply rooted among the Chinese public since Western opera came to China in the 1910s," Yu Di said. "We have a more free performing style when we are on the stage."

Yu Di Photos: Courtesy of SSCH

According to Yu, the language they sing influences the sound the larynx can produce. "Compared to Latin languages composed of letters, Chinese composed of characters has relatively more limitations when singing popera. Therefore, for a Chinese popera ensemble, it is quite difficult to find a song that's iconic enough and will remind people only of us. It is also difficult to do original works," Yu said. 

"On the other hand, since each voice is unique and each of us is a different person, to synchronize such powerful vocals is to synchronize three bold personalities. We all performed solo before founding this ensemble, and we still have a long way to go in terms of putting our egos aside and building something together."

The concert is part of SSCH's Youth Dream project. Until April next year, a series of classical music and crossover performances by young Chinese people, usually aged around 30,will be put on under the project.

An Dong, the current music director of SSCH, said that through this project, they want to develop more new forces in China's classical music circle and also encourage more young Chinese people to take a greater interest in classical music.

Date: Tuesday, 8 pm

Venue: Sennheiser Shanghai Concert Hall

森海塞尔上海音乐厅

Address: 523 Yan'an Road East

延安东路523号

Tickets: 80 yuan ($13.06) to 380 yuan

Call 5386-6666 for details