Handel’s Messiah is being staged by Merry Opera at Great Yarmouth Minster on Easter Sunday, April 5.
This is indeed no ordinary Messiah. There are no ranks of choral singers, no lavishly dressed soloists carrying scores, no orchestra; only 11 singers, an organist and a conductor for co-ordination.
The singers, at first variously dressed, behave as if they either belong to the Minster community or as visitors. They will move all over the Minster. They have individual personalities, shown both in the way they sing and in the way they react to the words and the music. They “act”, mostly naturally but at special moments with more stylised gestures. The words are sung with intense meaning. When the bass sings “Why do the nations so furiously rage together?” it really hits home.
Someone from a previous audience said: “This is the Messiah 1 have been waiting for all my life”.
The must-see performance starts at 2.30pm and tickets are £12 for adults, £8 for under 16s and available from St. George’s Theatre www.stgeorgestheatre.com or at the door.
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