Mekhios – From the hushed and pensive opening notes to the stirring triumphal finale, Khitian Maritak’s choral Sarum Symphony held listeners entranced for the entirety of its three-hour length. “I wanted to express [the Empress'] rise to power as the journey of her lifetime, to make the audience feel her experience,” the honored composer stated later in an open interview. Home viewers may not have received quite as powerful an experience as the attendees, but the program has been recorded to produce the closest possible facsimile and will be available next month for purchase.

Featuring the vocal talents of soloists Ameyn Jural and Louwi Kil, the Symphony presented an immersive experience incorporating subtle lighting to enhance moods and utilizing to their fullest extent the unusual acoustical properties of St Nhyron’s Basilica. The extensive twelfth movement, expressing the climactic battle above Mekhios, has already been called a “marvel” of precision composition, with singers representing both the Sarum fleet and the Minmatar Elder fleet passing around and amongst the audience in a recreation of the chaos and unpredictability of the fight, and culminating with the Elder fleet singers faltering and scattering from the Sarum singers’ concentrated sound. Members of the audience flinched from the blinding golden light which was projected from behind soloist Kil, filling the Grand Nave with radiance recalling the Empress’s finishing blow to the Elder fleet titan.

Impressions from the audience have ranged from “moving” to “breathtaking.” Privy Council member Arem Mecshilad enthused, “I have never heard — experienced — something so powerful. The five minutes of total darkness with the single soloist [Jural] representing Jamyl’s lost years was especially poignant.” No reaction has yet been issued by the Empress, though she and her retinue were in attendance in full formal regalia.

Composer Maritak appeared unconcerned by the lack of comment. “The Symphony was written of her, yes, but not for her. She was there, she does not need to experience it the way her people do.” Added Maritak, “this is the story of a remarkable woman who has had the Lord’s hand upon her shoulder, and we must all remember that.”

PATOR – The Minmatar People’s Theatre announced their new season today, drawing fire from media watchgroups outraged at the inclusion of what they call a “rascist” play. The MPT, who were the last group to receive funding from the now-defunct parliament, will stage a version of the 600-year-old ‘Plantation’ by Ammatar author Dekkameron. Though the play is considered by many a classic, at least one of the groups, Equality in Action, plans to protest the show. “There is no redeeming social value in this play whatsoever, and it is disgusting that government money would go towards perpetuating racist stereotypes” said Keinnan Bakkia the group’s spokesman.

Have you ever wanted to bring Jita to its knees? CCP is inviting you to do just that on Sunday, September 5, 2010. We’ve established a dedicated node for Jita, backed up by new hardware, and now we want to put it to the test. We invite all capsuleers to join us in Jita between 20:00 and 21:00 UTC this Sunday, and help us set a new record for players logged into the trade hub.

EVE Online: Tyrannis 1.0.5 has been deployed successfully and Tranquility is now accepting connections. You can review the list of fixes and changes at our patch notes page.

Forum threads are available in the EVE Information Portal for players to give feedback and alert us to any issues they may be experiencing.

Mass testing is an effort undertaken by both CCP and the EVE player base in the war on lag. Hundreds of players have participated so far in the Summer mass tests, and we’re making progress as seen in the results here. CCP is still seeking your help in ourcontinued efforts to improve EVE’s performance through weekly mass testing, and we hope you’ll join us in the next test today, September 2, at 20:00 UTC.