Eric Petrossian - KINGDOM COME: THE LIFE OF CHRIST

Besed on the Gospels in the NIV, this is a one man show with a difference. Eric is the Narrator, Jesus, John the Baptist, Peter, Pilot, ..., even Mary, even Satan. This is exactly what it purports to be: The life of Jesus on Earth. Two 40 minute performances, starting at the very beginning, with a few words from Genesis and a genealogy, and finishing with the post resurrection encounters.

I have seen many presentations of the gospel in my time. Our very own version in 1989 is still clear in my memory. This is different because it is just one man. I recently watched a biography of Patrick Stewart - who is renowned for his one man show, so I had a little idea of what to expect. Eric does a good job of changing characters, and there was never any confusion about who he was supposed to be. The conversations were very skillfully handled. Some of his accents may have been difficult to place - I remember thinking one was a cross between Derek Jacobi's Claudius and Sean Connery. Most of the time the portrayal of the story meant that, there really wasn't too much time to come up with such ridiculous comparisons. Even though I knew the ending the dramatic portrayal brings out long lost understandings and probably a few new ones too.

Take a look at the Christ Church page, and you will see that I am not alone in thinking that this is a brilliant performance. Many people have recommended him, and rightly so.

Christ Church was laid out with tables at the back and cheese and wine was served at the interval. My only concern was that so many people missed the opportunity to see him. The church should have been creaking at the seams with people trying to get in. They may never know what they missed.

If you get a chnace to see Eric somewhere else go out of your way to make sure that you do.

Hutton & Shenfield Choral Society at Chelmsford Cathedral – Handel's Messiah (Saturday 3 March 2007)

George Frideric Handel on Wikipedia

Hutton & Shenfield Choral Society has about 120 singers, tonight there were 4 soloists. Chelmsford cathedral (once known as St. Mary's Chelmsford) I was told has wonderful acoustics. The church was turned so that we were faced away from the cross, and the choir were seated on a stepped platform underneath the organ. There was a small orchestra at ground level. The cathedral is a lovely building to be in at any time. We had tickets waiting for us, and had parked around the back of the cathedral. A friend had invited us – many thanks to him, for a brilliant evening. We took our seats towards the back, to get the best possible view around the church's pillars. By then the church was almost full. Sitting among the 600+ audience (my estimate) we waited patiently for the evening to start.

I am not a musician, and this is not the sort of music I regularly enjoy listening to. We read in the programme what the course of the evening would be. The Wiki article has a brief description. We were requested NOT to stand during the Hallelujah chorus, as apparently has become a tradition. There are two pieces in this programme that are well know, the other is 'Unto us a son is given'.

The choir processed in , lead by the soloists. The music proceeded, and was very easy listening (for me at least). Words of scripture set to music. That's all it really is. The thing to note here, is that there is no amplification. Not a microphone in sight. What you hear is what they are singing – no more and no less. The acoustics lived up to their reputation. The soloists were all very good. In the packed cathedral the audience was silent – completely silent. When the singing or music stopped there was a total absence of sound. The choir was also very good, at one stage making the trumpets difficult to hear.

Only one person stood during the Hallelujah chorus – having now heard it live, sung by a highly competent choir, I can understand why you might feel like standing! A modern day work would stop here, but Handel goes on and completes the story of the Messiah.

Live music, even amplified live music, is so mush more entertaining, and engrossing, than recorded music. The live music that we experienced tonight - without amplification – is just another step ahead. From the soloists I could hear perfectly at the other end of the building, to a choir that filled the space, and almost drowned out the orchestra.

I'd have to say “Go and see it”, but you can't, it was a one off.

Soloists

Rachel Nicholls - Soprano
Alexandra Sherman - Contralto
Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts - Tenor
Christopher Dixon - Bass