DREAM
OF GERONTIUS 1900 (Winged Lion Signum)
The sheer importance of this new release of Elgar’s choral
masterpiece has perhaps led its producers to go over the top in terms of
presentation. This is a surpassingly wonderful account, but it is packaged in a
way which some might describe as pretentious.
Okay, this is a period-instrument performance (about which more
later) but does that really justify the title “Elgar The Dream of Gerontius
1900”. What next: “Haydn The Creation 1798”; Britten “War Requiem
1962”? The two CDs are slipped into a handsome hardback booklet, illustrated
with sylvan scenes which don’t really add any significance (though there is one
fascinating shot of the recording in Croydon’s Fairfield Halls), John Henry Newman’s
text, full lists of the choristers and orchestral
players, biographies of the soloists, acknowledgements to sponsors and donors,
a sermonising preface from Stephen Hough and a stimulating introduction by the
harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani.
More valuably, there is an illuminating discussion of the
period instruments of around 1900 which make up Paul McCreesh’s orchestra of
Gabrieli Players. detailing their history and provenance – and including Elgar’s
own trombone. Crucially, the strings,
largely set up in gut, bring a softer context to the entire proceedings, and
this has an impact on the recording level.
Gerontius’ deathbed scene is evoked in a reverent hush,
though it does take the ear some time to adjust to this low volume. One bonus
is the clarity of the harps as McCreesh unfolds the Prelude with a subtle
control of shape and dynamics, and an awareness of wind colours throughout the
whole performance.
Nicky Spence, recording his first Gerontius (I reviewed the
tenor’s first performance of the role at the Hereford Three Choirs Festival in
2022), brings a huge amount of emotional intelligence, in character as a frightened, vulnerable man facing death,
phrasing with a continuous beauty of tone and meticulous diction.
The choristers (McCreesh’s own Gabrieli Consort, plus
Gabrieli Roar – young singers from an ambitious choral training programme
singing alongside experienced professionals – and the Polish National Youth
Choir) bring equal clarity and
involvement, heard initially in the “Kyrie” semi-chorus delivered without the
disasters of the 1900 Birmingham premiere
(no ‘period’ recreation here, then!).
Spence’s “Sanctus fortis” is lapel-grabbing, the dying man
desperately reciting his belief in Catholic doctrine, rising above his physical
weakness to deliver his final prayer. This is touching and moving, unlike some
renditions I have heard, stentorian enough to rival Siegfried’s Forging Song,
and the combination of the chorus’ “Rescue him” and Gerontius’ despair is appropriately operatic.
As Gerontius dies, the Priest sends him on his way, Andrew Foster-Williams’ the warm, comforting
bass-baritone, joined by the strong chorus, confident in the redemption of
Gerontius’ soul.
McCreesh evokes an otherworldly calm for the opening of Part
Two, the afterlife into which Gerontius has passed, and where he now meets his
guardian Angel. Anna Stephany young-sounding as an Angel should be – Angels are
ageless, after all. There is huge, caring empathy from her as she and the Soul
engage in conscious communion, and after an almost hysterical Demons’ Chorus
she reassures Gerontius in a barely concealed sense of panic.
The young choral voices sound wonderfully fresh as “Praise
to the Holiest” is gradually introduced, and when the full hymn erupts choral
diction is amazingly clear, and delivered with a perspicacious clarity of line.
After this the atmosphere changes to one of calm, measured
inevitability, Stephany conveying this with quiet conviction, before
Foster-Williams reappears, this time as a genuinely compassionate, beseeching
Angel of the Agony (the world of Parsifal comes very close here).
Spence’s timorous “I go before my judge” leads to a glimpse
of God shattering in this reading (to think Elgar ducked at the prospect of
conveying it until bullied by his publisher), after which he is now strengthened
in “Take me away”, now knowing his salvation awaits him after the lone
night-watches. Stephany’s Angel’s Farewell brings a soothing closure, choristers
hymning quietly in the background as this wonderful, humane performance draws
to its end.
Christopher Morley