Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius

COMPOSERS: Elgar
LABELS: Warner
ALBUM TITLE: The Dream of Gerontius
WORKS: The Dream of Gerontius
PERFORMER: Philip Langridge, Catherine Wyn Rogers, Alastair Miles; BBC Symphony Chorus & Orchestra/Andrew Davis.
CATALOGUE NO: 3984-22351-2

PRESENTATION: *****







This is a very good Gerontius. Davis’s



long-standing love of the work is



evident at just about every point,



but he keeps cool-headed enough to



shape the drama convincingly. The



climactic ‘Praise to the Holiest’ takes



a little while to acquire the requisite



grandeur and sweeping eloquence,



but it gets there in the end. And in



the pause at the end of that great hymn Davis gives the St Paul’s



acoustic enough time to resonate



fully before picking up the musical



story again – a moment to relish.



The solo team is terrific. Langridge



is an absorbing Gerontius, bringing



extraordinary depth to the minutest



details of characterization. Catherine



Wyn Rogers is tonally glorious as the



Angel. Miles is more commanding



still than in the Colin Davis LSO



Live version (reviewed on p79).



In terms of presentation this is an



old-fashioned concert film in the best



sense: close-ups on players, soloists,



conductor and architectural details



judiciously chosen. James Naughtie’s



introductions are an almost ideal



combination of informality and



seriousness. The recording too



maintains a fine balance: enabling



one to hear the music clearly enough



while allowing the cathedral’s own



contribution to be heard and felt too.



Recommended. Stephen Johnson