The Promise, by Jill Townsend (based on Luke's Gospel and the Acts of the Apostle), produced by Opera Brava God Andew Mayor Satan Peter Bradford Gabriel Iwona Januszajitis John the baptist Christopher Parke Jesus David Ashmore Turner Mary Amanda Buckland Elizabeth Louise Lavilles Joanna Iwona Januszajitis Mary Magdalene Judy Slater Saul/Paul Ross Campbell Gamaliel Christopher Parke Luke Bronek Pomorski Peter Robert Carlin John the apostle Andrew Mayor Children's choruses (crowd, children, Pharisees, soldiers) Director Adrian Hilton Conductor Keith Wills I originally noticed this work in the South Bank programme because I'd been wondering vaguely whether there was any material for opera in the Acts of the Apostles. It's the result of a two-term project by Opera Brava, a Christian music-education group, and a number of London primary schools, and it isn't really what I was thinking of. I booked with some misgivings, as the listing offered half price for under 16s, and as I expected, I was probably the only person in the audience not related to one of the performers, who included about 200 5-9 year olds. But I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was also cheered greatly that children are doing such good performance work. The first act consisted of a brief prologue, the creation, followed by the life of Jesus according to selected scenes from Luke, up to the crucifixion. The second act consisted of the resurrection narrative from Luke, and scenes from Acts up to the conversion of Paul and his acceptance by the Christians, followed by a finale of Christ in glory. The general shape of the work was similar to a mystery play, with a cosmic frame and simple scenes aimed at an audience who already know the story, plus a few comic or entertaining segments. The libretto didn't seem to use much scriptural text, if any, though there was a odd mixture of colloquialisms that made me think of the Good News Bible at times. Instead, it presented the main themes of each scene in choruses and arias, with some help from other gospels and the interpretative traditions, but no sectarian contentions. For example, John preached to competing choruses of ordinary Jewish people, Pharisees and Roman soldiers. Some of this was done to provide interesting music for the children (for example, a lively interchange between shepherds about watching sheep), but the overall result certainly counts as operatic. The music was somewhere between Noyes Fludde and Andew Lloyd Webber (yes, Jesus had a multicoloured coat). There were a couple of pastiche Bach arias, and some Israeli-style folksiness. The best parts were the children's choruses, all based on simple parts sung together multo con brio. Particularly impressive was a sung and acted version of the parables of the houses build on rock and sand, and of the sower. Also effective was Mary's lament, first sung in sympathy with the widow of Nain and then reprised very movingly at the crucifixion. (I heard someone say that Amanda Buckland had sung this in their church the weekend before -- it was clearly suitable for liturgical use, Surprisingly, given the background to the work, very few other parts of it would be.) The adult singers were all professionals, and delivered commitment if not always great vocal style. Judy Slater, as Mary Magdalene, was impressive -- she also sings Carmen in Opera Brava's production, and looks perfect for the part. The main problem I found thinking about this performance afterwards was that it is essentially preaching to the converted, literally. Although Jesus happened to be doe-eyed and long haired, he was also presented in an anodyne way. And although the suffering of Mary and the early Christians was presented vividly, I got little sense of the power of Christ's message that was supposed to justify it all, or of the spirituality involved. But I suppose that wasn't the point -- it was an outstanding work for the children involved to perform, and they obviously got a lot out of it. I wish that Handel had done another Saul, about the man from Tarsus.