“Chante, c’est noël…” And, as we relax at home sipping our mulled wine and devouring another mince pie, it’s truly quite enchanting to imagine that, at this very moment, the paths and ways of Disneyland Park are alive with magical, enchanting entertainment and beautiful decorations, as, through the air, a wondrous medley of festive music echoes…

Then, when night falls, it all comes together with Enchanted Candleabration — the famous tree, castle and lamppost-illuminating spectacular that first begin in Paris and has now sparked a whole series of similar shows at every other Disney resort.

In Paris, it would have been easy to re-play the park’s hugely successful hit song “Chante, c’est noël…” itself, but, as Jérémie Noyer learns, that wasn’t enough for Vasile Sirli when he came to score this unforgettable Christmas spectacle…

Can you tell me about the musical concept of Enchanted Candleabration, with its unexpected mix of symphonic, orchestral music with a Broadway-like ballet, the One Man’s Dream number featuring Disney’s Princes & Princesses?

I have to say that I’ve never had the slightest doubt about that association. From the very beginning, Show Director Christophe Leclercq had the idea to treat the Disney Princes & Princesses in both a classical and a contemporary way. And today, a Broadway number is considered as being classic. We had many different options, yet I believe that this one works best. And that’s also the opinion of all the creators of the show.

In addition, I do respect and admire the music created by my colleagues in California, Florida and Tokyo. That’s the reason why I decided to adapt One Man’s Dream by Bruce Healey, Music Director at Disneyland, California, in collaboration with Christophe Leclercq, the director and choreographer of the show. This particular number is dedicated to the dreams of every child, big or small, dreams of an imaginary world of fairytales, with Princes and Princesses, and that song perfectly fits that concept.

How did you manage to integrate One Man’s Dream into the harmony of Enchanted Candleabration?

We took very good care of the choice and relations between the different styles. We didn’t want to draw the attention to the music, but rather to the overall show. We wanted that contrast to express the fact that something new is happening. And at the same time, it had to fit the Princes & Princesses concept, which was already part of the original Disneyland, California concept.

In editing, we were driven to make the result as poetic and artistic possible, in respect of Bruce’s original intentions. You go from one style to another as if you would turn the pages of a magical storybook.

The most magical moment is certainly the illumination.

Absolutely. That’s the moment for us to invite Tinkerbell to launch the illumination of the Castle, Main Street and the giant Christmas Tree. The whole park is vibrating, chiming…

She illuminates the Castle and plays with the lamposts along Main Street. Musically speaking, that moment is based on two original pieces introduced by the Peter Pan theme. The first one, Lumina, is an intrumental piece accompanying the illumination of the Castle, and the second one, Ring the Bells, is a choral piece played in sync with the illumination of the lamposts. Jay Smith wrote the lyrics and, to interpret them, we got in touch with the same artists who used to sing carols in the park, the Disney Carollers.

The style of Ring the Bells is very interesting, a very unusual blending of different influences.

You know how I love to mix influences! So, there’s a touch of English traditional music, with very calm harmonies, and a touch of American, jazz swing, along with ethnic elements coming from Eastern Europe, where I come from myself.

Ring the Bells is all the more successful when we hear it as the snow is falling every day on Main Street…

We are very grateful that people love it so much, and we feel it through the fact that the CD is very successful, too. We’re very proud of that!