FULL The Rite of the Gospel Paris 2023 Linda Lee Hopkins
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: The Rite of the Gospel
- Composer: traditional
- Libretto: traditional
- Venue & Opera Company: Eglise Saint-Sulpice, Paris, France
- Recorded: May 16, 2023
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Linda Lee Hopkins, and others
- Conductor:
- Orchestra:
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: ALTEA MEDIA
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
“Are you here to worship? Or are you here to watch?” Linda Lee Hopkins, in a flamboyant red dress, sets the tone from the start of her concert at St-Sulpice Church on the evening of May 16: you won’t understand the gospel if you don’t open your heart to God. The huge golden altar of the majestic church perfectly suits the diva of the genre, born in South Carolina, a former slave state in the United States, where the Negro spirituals then gave birth to a highly religious gospel. On stage, the extravagant singer connects personal compositions recounting her spiritual journey and classics of the genre, and even leaves the microphone to her musicians, whose voices are just as remarkable. We will long remember bassist Al Sanders’ rendition of the negro spiritual “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”, his warm, gravelly voice. There are many addresses to the public, in French and in English: you have to warm up an audience that is far too shy for gospel fever, which will still end up snapping its fingers and pushing the song towards the end. Linda Lee Hopkins, voluntarily mischievous, plays the woman-child and threatens the public: “If you don’t like it, we’re out!” Then burst into loud laughter punctuated by “Lord help me” or “My goodness “. It’s a real American show: going without transition from laughter to tears during a composition entitled “I Know”, Hopkins shares her emotions without any shame, invaded by a divine feeling that never seems to leave her.
Because if the concert is not a religious ceremony strictly speaking, the superior presence to which the gospel is entirely dedicated is palpable, whether one is a believer or not. Hopkins and his choristers, from The Spirit and Truth Singers, went so far as to set one of the psalms from the Bible to music, and all the songs performed refer to “Lord Jesus”. Linda Lee Hopkins’ piety transcends her and her voice soars towards the ceiling of the church, sometimes soft like a prayer, sometimes powerful like an invocation, always perfectly mastered. It’s hard to remain indifferent to so much fervor and we quickly understand why Hopkins was presented to us as “one of the most beautiful voices of the moment”. We retain a mixture of exaltation and serenity that we would like to retain as long as possible.