Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius - The Music Makers / Gedda, Watts, Lloyd, Baker; Boult
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CD Details
Edition: Music CDFormat: Original recording reissued
CD Release Date: 1999-01-12
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- (Moderato e nobilmente)
- We are the music makers
- With wonderful deathless ditties
- We, in the ages lying
- A breath of our inspiration
- They had no vision amazing
- And therefore to-day is thrilling
- But we, with our dreaming and singing
- For we are afar with the dawning
- Great hail! we cry to the comers
- Part 1. Prelude (Lento, mistico - Moderato - Andantino - Come prima)
- Part 1. Jesu, Maria - I am near to death
- Part 1. Kyrie eleison...Holy Mary, pray for him
- Part 1. Rouse thee, my fainting soul
- Part 1. Be merciful, be gracious
- Part 1. Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus
- Part 1. I can no more
- Part 1. Rescue him, O Lord
- Part 1. Novissima hora est
- Part 1. Proficiscere, anima Christiana
- Part 1. Go in the name of Angels
- Part 2. (Andantino) - I went to sleep
- Part 2. My work is done
- Part 2. All hail! My child
- Part 2. Low-born clods of brute earth
- Part 2. It is the restless panting of their being
- Part 2. The mind bold and independent
- Part 2. I see not those false spirits
- Part 2. Praise to the Holiest
- Part 2. The sound is like the rushing of the wind
- Part 2. Glory to Him
- Part 2. They sing of thy approaching agony
- Part 2. But hark! a grand mysterious harmony
- Part 2. And now the threshold
- Part 2. Praise to the Holiest
- Part 2. Thy judgment now is near
- Part 2. Jesu! by that shuddering dread
- Part 2. Be merciful, be gracious
- Part 2. Praise to His Name!
- Part 2. Take me away
- Part 2. Lord, Thou hast been our refuge
- Part 2. Softly and gently
Music reviews of Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius - The Music Makers / Gedda, Watts, Lloyd, Baker; Boult
Music Review: The best singer of "Gerontius"
Rating: 5 Stars
This is the second recording of this work I have in my possession, the other being the Britten version, and I have also heard the Barbirolli one. This one is undoubtedly my favourite, if not specifically for the interpretation (as in a way I prefer Britten for reasons mentioned below), then certainly for the soloists. Peter Pears has his fans but I am definitely not one of them. His harsh tone and strained high notes are very off-putting. Neither do I think Richard Lewis is ideal for the role of Gerontius, his voice being a little bit too clean and English for this music. Admittedly Elgar was about as English as you could get in terms of his music, but reading about Boults comments on Elgar's intentions, as well as taking into account the Catholic roots of this piece, so far removed from all things Anglican, it is clear that a more operatic tenor is called for. Nicolai Gedda is the perfect choice- a very fine operatic tenor with excellent English. As for the other soloists, Kim Borg on the Barbirolli recording makes a few strange noises with the words, John Shirley-Quirk has a slightly woolly tone, but Robert Lloyd has it all- a fantastic voice and no problems with the language. My only complaint would be that occasionally he disrupts the line of the music too much, punching out certain words for emphasis. The mezzo soloist is less clear cut. Baker is regarded as perhaps the best of them all and this is probably true. Watts is very solid but I was very disappointed at her missing out of the top A, one of the great climaxes of the piece in my opinion. And Minton has a very fine dark voice, but occasionally has a problem with flatness.So overall I would say this is the best recording for the soloists, as I do not like listening to either Lewis or Pears. The interpretation is a matter of taste. My only problem with Boult is that occasionally (as in the end of the first bass solo with the priest and attendants) he tries to draw out the phrases so much that the singers find it hard to sustain, whereas Britten keeps the line sustained to the end of every phrase and beyond, making for more continuity. Also there is a point near the end of the piece where some of the players seem to lose sight of the beat and there is a lack of ensemble. However, I would still go for this one above the others for the overall performance.
Description of Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius - The Music Makers / Gedda, Watts, Lloyd, Baker; Boult
Elgar's Dream of Gerontius is, in effect, a sung tone poem and resides at the core of English choral music; it is the supreme achievement among Elgar's large-scale works. Interestingly, its premiere came in the last months of the 19th century, a time, much like our own, when fluctuating styles and experimentation existed alongside a lingering and powerful devotion to the older, traditional ways. Thus, the release of this classic 1975 recording (intelligently paired with another sumptuous, musically significant choral work, The Music Makers) is not only timely but serves to remind us of how successfully Elgar bridged both Romanticism's dwindling currents and the swelling streams of impressionism and atonality. This performance, featuring the 86-year-old Adrian Boult in total, rock-steady command, shows what magic can happen when conductor and performers are in complete sync, musically and philosophically. The melodies are abundant and beautiful, the choral writing is magnificent, and the sound, especially in Gerontius, is full and vibrant. --David VernierElgar, Sir Edward CDs
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