BaL 9.12.17 - Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

0930
Building a Library on Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with Mark Lowther.
Following the triumph of Elgar's Enigma Variations, The Dream of Gerontius is a work by a confident composer at the height of his powers. But sharing the fate of so many first performances, its 1900 premiere was not a popular success. Under-rehearsed and chaotic, partly due to the complexity and modernity of the writing, there was another issue, too: the Anglican community bridled at the work's uncompromisingly Catholic text by Cardinal Newman. More than a century later, in more ecumenical times, the work is part of the standard repertoire of choral societies up and down the land and has been most often recorded by UK conductors, choirs and orchestras.


Available versions:

Mark Tucker, Lilli Paasikivi, David Wilson-Johnson, Sydney Symphony, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs & TSO Chorus, Vladimir Ashkenazy

Richard Lewis, Dame Janet Baker, Kim Borg, Hallé Choir, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Ambrosian Singers & Hallé Orchestra, John Barbirolli

Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Andrew Staples, Thomas Hampson, Staatskapelle Berlin, Staatsopernchor, RIAS Kammerchor, Daniel Barenboim

Vinson Cole, John Hancock, Jane Irwin, Bard Festival Chorale, American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein (download)

Nicolai Gedda, Helen Watts, Robert Lloyd, Janet Baker, London Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult

Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk, Yvonne Minton, The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, London Symphony Chorus, Benjamin Britten

Stuart Skelton, Sarah Connolly, David Soar, Sarah Connolly, BBC Symphony Chorus & BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis

David Rendall, Anne Sofie von Otter, Alastair Miles, London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis (download)

Paul Groves, Alice Coote, Bryn Terfel, Hallé Orchestra, Hallé Choir, Hallé Youth Choir, Sir Mark Elder

Robert Tear, Alfreda Hodgson, Benjamin Luxon, Scottish National Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Alexander Gibson

Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Michael George, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Huddersfield Choral Society, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, Vernon Handley

Roderick Elms, Felicity Palmer, Arthur Davies, Gwynne Howell, London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox

Matthew Best, Sarah Fryer, William Kendall, Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Waynflete Singers Choir, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, David Hill

Jane Irwin, Justin Lavender, Peter Rose, City Of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo

Janet Baker, John Mitchinson, Benjamin Luxon, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Simon Rattle

Heddle Nash, Gladys Ripley, Dennis Noble, Norman Walker, Huddersfield Choral Society, Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent

Arthur Davies, Felicity Palmer, Norman Bailey, London Symphony Chorus & USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov

Peter Auty, Michelle Breedt, John Hancock, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, with Collegium Vocale Gent, Edo de Waart


DVD:

Dame Janet Baker, John Shirley Quirk, Peter Pears, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, Sir Adrian Boult

Philip Langridge, Catherine Wyn Rogers, Alastair Miles, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Sir Andrew Davis (not generally available, but you know BaL these days)



Excerpts only:

Margaret Balfour, Steuart Wilson, Herbert Heyner, Royal Choral Society, Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Edward Elgar

[Cockney Sparrow]

Can we have a separate thread for all those who want to express the depth of their disregard for DoG/ Elgar and his Oratorios to post their views? (It gets tedious reading much the same comments from much the same posters). And a thread calling into question Record Review's policy for selecting BaLs (which would be a vehicle for making the same comments....).

If it works, I might update this post with search terms which would enable interested newcomers to find the numerous dismissive and critical comments previously posted for this work and Elgar's compositions of this nature.

Myself - I refrain from commenting in threads where I know the music is not of interest to me, or I have a poor opinion of it - generally (not least because its unlikely I could convinvingly analyse why, nor have the time to defend/discuss my position with those of an opposite view). In fact, I largely refrain from looking at threads which indicate that is likely to be the case. (This forum contains a wide spread of musical and other interests, so that leaves me plenty of threads to read - in fact I think I spend too much time reading the threads in which I might be or am interested).

(BTW, its interesting to see enough people value DoG - given the number of available recordings above - to want to record it, keep it in the catalogue, buy it - and presumably listen to it (as well as listen to the BaL)

[Barbirollians]

Disappointment from me for you here Cockney Sparrow . This is a work fully worthy of a BAL although Elagr's choral works are not my favourites . I have Boult, Barbirolli and the Sargent and I much prefer the latter due to the singing of Heddle Nash and the other principals - marvellous as Baker is for Barbirolli .

I just wish someone would find an off air or private recording of Ferrier as the Angel.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

To start the ball rolling, it's the Angel who is the critical factor here. So for me that rules out the Boult CD with Helen Watts, and both version with Felicity Palmer (Hickox and Svetlanov). Both of these have their fans on this forum, but they are not for me.

I would have liked there to have been a live VPO/Rattle recording, but that too would have been let down by the Angel (Magdalena Kožená).

Of more recent recordings, Mark Elder's is surely a strong contender, and Alice Coote is excellent. However, all Angels are likely to be in the shadow of Dame Janet Baker, who recorded the role with Barbirolli, Boult (DVD) and Rattle.

Barbirolli is a likely winner, being superbly conducted, sung, played and recorded. Some have complained about Kim Borg's accent, but I think his selection was a touch of genius. The three soloists (Baker, Lewis and Borg) were there at JB's memorial concert in September 1970. A critic remarked that there wasn't an empty seat in the Free Trade Hall, but there must have been at least one (mine, as I had a ticket, but was unable to make the concert). A young Simon Wright helped to brush up the choir for this performance.

But I digress.

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 reservation is that Decca, for once, bodged the recording levels. I don't know why, as the engineers were Kenneth Wilkinson and James Lock, but there is considerable overload distortion in the Demons' Chorus. They avoided this at the climactic points in "Praise to the Holiest" by limiting the dynamics, which wasn't exactly ideal. Could it be that The Maltings was just too small for the recording of a large choral work? The Kingsway Hall might have been a better choice.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Can we have a separate thread for ...

No. (Unless Alpie wants to create one.) It can, indeed, be tedious when other Forumistas disparage works that we love (and, to make it clear, I love DoG) but if Hosts had to create "parallel" Threads for every work/composer/topic that arises there wouldn't be enough time left to eat or sleep. We'll just have to put up with others' pesky opinions.

(It can also be reassuring for Forumistas to read that their own negative feelings towards a work are shred by others, helping them to see that they're not a lone voice against the general "love fest". )

Baker/Lewis/Borg/Hallé/Barbirolli has been an essential part of my collection for - crickey! - forty years. I also have the later Sargent recording (I cannot abide Heddle Nash's voice - apologies for being tedious), Colin Davis, Barenboim, and the Britten. But it's Barbirolli I usually play when I want to listen to the work.

[cloughie]

To start the ball rolling, it's the Angel who is the critical factor here. So for me that rules out the Boult CD with Helen Watts, and both version with Felicity Palmer (Hickox and Svetlanov). Both of these have their fans on this forum, but they are not for me.

I would have liked there to have been a live VPO/Rattle recording, but that too would have been let down by the Angel (Magdalena Kožená).

Of more recent recordings, Mark Elder's is surely a strong contender, and Alice Coote is excellent. However, all Angels are likely to be in the shadow of Dame Janet Baker, who recorded the role with Barbirolli, Boult (DVD) and Rattle.

Barbirolli is a likely winner, being superbly conducted, sung, played and recorded. Some have complained about Kim Borg's accent, but I think his selection was a touch of genius. The three soloists (Baker, Lewis and Borg) were there at JB's memorial concert in September 1970. A critic remarked that there wasn't an empty seat in the Free Trade Hall, but there must have been at least one (mine, as I had a ticket, but was unable to make the concert). A young Simon Wright helped to brush up the choir for this performance.

But I digress.

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 reservation is that Decca, for once, bodged the recording levels. I don't know why, as the engineers were Kenneth Wilkinson and James Lock, but there is considerable overload distortion in the Demons' Chorus. They avoided this at the climactic points in "Praise to the Holiest" by limiting the dynamics, which wasn't exactly ideal. Could it be that The Maltings was just too small for the recording of a large choral work? The Kingsway Hall might have been a better choice.

I agree about Janet Baker being the one to match and Alice Coote being excellent but there are a numberbof the others I have yet to hear so it will be an interesting BaL. Elder's come close but Barbirolli's would always have been my first choice other than for Kim Borg's accent so there's room for another to nudge it into second place.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Naxos is a company that that generally produces good, workmanlike recordings, but for David Hill's Gerontius recording, they didn't really didn't hit the mark. The Choir and orchestra lack impact unless you turn the volume up, and then the soloists sound like Madame Maxine, Hagrid and Grawp.

[Alison]

Who is the reviewer?

Not Richard Morrison please

Sorry, just seen it. Mark Lowther - perfect as an Anglican priest!!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Who is the reviewer?

Not Richard Morrison please

It's all there on the OP.

[Barbirollians]

Thank goodness it isn't Morrison - his BAL of Elgar 2 was the nadir for this programme.

[BBMmk2]

Oh this is wondrous! I have Boult, Barbirolli, Sir Andrew Davis and Barenboim.

[Parry1912]

This is a work fully worthy of a BAL although Elgar's choral works are not my favourites.

I tend to agree. I would happily swap The Apostles, The Kingdom, and one or two others for some more symphonies and concertos from Elgar's prime. Somewhat OT, apologies.

[Alison]

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.

[BBMmk2]

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.

I might play that later!

[Keraulophone]

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.

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.