BaL 9.12.17 - Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius

[seabright]

I believe there's an off-the-air broadcast on CD of a 1982 Boston Symphony performance conducted by Colin Davis, with Jessye Norman, Stuart Burrows and John Shirley-Quirk which I haven't heard but which I read somewhere is wonderful. It won't count on BAL of course, being a "pirate" CD. Another one which won't count is the 1957 Barbrolli / RAI Roma broadcast released years ago on the 'Arkadia' label. Jon Vickers was a superb Gerontius, with Constance Shacklock and Marian Nowakowski his fellow soloists. The Rome choir sang their parts, presumably phonetically learned in English, as if they were from 'Aida' and the work sounded all the better for it, having certain operatic qualities. There's a sample of Vickers on You Tube that makes one regret he didn't record the work commercially ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asxrWBVnfrs

Also, someone has uploaded the complete Barbirollii / Rome performance, so there it is for anyone interested. One has to marvel at the Italian choir coping with the "Demon's Chorus" at Barbirolli's breakneck tempo ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LaM6d-6qIs

[underthecountertenor]

I find the Andrew Davis version very satisfying: once it starts I am swept up in it, there is a magnetic glow to proceedings, comparisons are (for me as I’m listening) taken off the agenda. Orchestra play beautifully.

Agreed, and for me Dame Sarah C is the rightful heir to Dame Janet B as the Angel.

[cloughie]

Agreed, and for me Dame Sarah C is the rightful heir to Dame Janet B as the Angel.

I would say that Alice Coote has an equal entitlement.

[VodkaDilc]

It seems so soon after the last time this was the chosen work, but perhaps it's my age. It's in my top three or four works of any genre, so I am especially interested - even though I haven't listened to BAL for months.

I have a recording of the last Gerontius BAL somewhere, but, from memory (not reliable), I think that it was a very suitable and qualified reviewer (Anderson perhaps) and he sat on the fence by saying, rightly, that keen collectors would want Sargent (x2), Barbirolli, Boult and Britten.

I still think that just about sums up the current position too.

[Petrushka]

His recording for Chandos is indeed superb, but equally fine is Sir Andrew’s live performance on DVD, also with BBC forces, given in the visually enhancing setting of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1997 with the great Philip Langridge.

I was present at that performance but, seated halfway down the nave and in the notorious acoustic, hardly heard a note! I swore never to attend a concert at St Paul's ever again. The DVD, however, is fine.

As for recordings, I have Barbirolli, Boult and the 1945 Sargent. The Barbirolli would be my first choice, a recording I've loved for over 25 years.

[EdgeleyRob]

I find the Andrew Davis version very satisfying: once it starts I am swept up in it, there is a magnetic glow to proceedings, comparisons are (for me as I’m listening) taken off the agenda. Orchestra play beautifully.

Agreed, and for me Dame Sarah C is the rightful heir to Dame Janet B as the Angel.

[Nimrod]

Mentioning off the air performances, I have a recording of the NYPO/ Maureen Forrester (magnificent)/Lewis and Morely Meredith conducted by Barbirolli in 1959, a wonderful performance by musicians most of whom would not have been familiar with this score. A pity it's not available on CD. There's also a superb performance from London with JB conducting the Philharmonia with Ronald Dowd as a fine soloist that's quite magnificent, but not available.

[Nick Armstrong]

The recording I would choose, with one reservation, is Britten's. The semi-chorus is the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, and the contrast it provides with the LSO Chorus is a masterstroke. Some may quibble about Pears as Gerontius, but I think his interpretation is finer than any others I've yet heard. His voice may not have been particularly fresh by the early 1970s, but Gerontius was presumably no spring chicken either.

My choice too. Britten's urgent direction of the "Praise to the Holiest" section gives me goose-bumps every time (despite recording shortcomings, which have never worried me at all), and the final section I find uniquely affecting.

[BBMmk2]

His recording for Chandos is indeed superb, but equally fine is Sir Andrew’s live performance on DVD, also with BBC forces, given in the visually enhancing setting of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1997 with the great Philip Langridge.

This is most interesting. As some Forumistas will know, I am quite a fan of Sir Andrew, with all that he does.

[duncan]

I was present at that performance but, seated halfway down the nave and in the notorious acoustic, hardly heard a note! I swore never to attend a concert at St Paul's ever again.

I was in one of the transepts and didn’t hear much either. The best part of the evening was gatecrashing the party in the crypt afterwards. It was a celebration of the BBC’s 75th anniversary and the great and good were there. I remember Jim Callaghan was being completely ignored, yesterday’s man, and feeling a little sorry for him.

As you were...

[jonfan]

It will be interesting if the old performances still outdo the new. Barbirolli, Sargent 1945, Britten and Boult held the stage. The cleaning up Boult’s video performance has been a revelation and great to see and hear Pears, Shirley-Quirk and Baker at the top of their game plus the joy of seeing Sir AB and his long baton. JB sounds better then for Sir JB and in fresher voice than for SR many years later.

[mikealdren]

It can also be reassuring for Forumistas to read that their own negative feelings towards a work are shred by others,

I do love it when spell check or typos produce unexpected results.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I do love it when spell check or typos produce unexpected results.

[BBMmk2]

My choice too. Britten's urgent direction of the "Praise to the Holiest" section gives me goose-bumps every time (despite recording shortcomings, which have never worried me at all), and the final section I find uniquely affecting.

Hiya Cali! No likey Sir Andrew's then?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... Britten's urgent direction of the "Praise to the Holiest" section gives me goose-bumps every time (despite recording shortcomings, which have never worried me at all) ...

It bothered me from the start. I bought the recording on LP as soon as it was released. I thought it must be a tracking problem, even though I had a Shure V15 Type 2 Improved cartridge, but no amount of record or stylus cleaning made any difference. When it was released on CD, I assumed it would be the end of the problem, but the overloading just sounded all the starker in the clinical digital format.

Interestingly, the same problem occurs (on LP and CD) in Britten's recording of "The Golden Vanity". and this recording was used to test the tracing/tracking ability of expensive pick-up cartridges, until the testers realised the problem was in the recording itself.