Search - The People's Passion / Jessye Norman, Jane McCulloch, Donald Fraser on DVD

Grander than your congregation's holiday cantata

RuthRoe | Florida | 06/29/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I tried the disc because it had Kevin Whatley in it. (I'm a new fan of the Inspector Morse series, which includes Kevin Whatley as the co-star.) I was not at all sure what I would hear, before it began. There are a couple grand singers, and some other singers who sing their solos "with a sound, like one of the people." (read that: Kevin Whatley is not an opera star, but he has one of the starring roles in the story. My daddy would have described it as "he sang it all the way through," accurately but robotically rather than lyrically.) After I was finished my first watch/listen, my impression was that while I was pleased to have heard it, I felt no passion or need to have my own copy of the program. Oddly, several weeks later now, I do find that I want to watch/listen again. I have sung in a large professional chorus; and I have sung in a rather small congregation choir. Each group has its place, even in the experience of the presumably 'opposite' audience. The production is bare-bones; which at first seems cheap rather than thrifty, but prior to the conclusion it had become apparent how the program is a finely produced program which happens to be shown without distractions of posh scenery or multitudes of characters. The opera is aptly named, "the People's Passion." Not everyone will want to own this program. But anyone who has any tolerance for listening to a basic story of Christianity, and who has any toleration for experiencing music in the form of classics or modern masterworks, will be pleased for the opportunity to enjoy this."