This is utterly remarkable: Elgar’s familiar but always affecting oratorio on original instruments, the centre of which is the Gabrieli Consort and Players! The instrumenrium is carefully researched: and even includes Elgar’s own trombone!
There is.no loss of power, at all, just gains in the audibility of detail. Even from the string opening with its long, echt-Elgarian lines, the advantages ae there: lines seem more keenly etched, yet the power is there, the individual instrumental timbres distinct:
The chorus is astonishing: the way the phrase droops at “Be merciful, be gracious,” their ability to enter from nowhere is remarkable; their control at all dynamics is stunning (“In the name of Angels and Archangels”) whole as Demons they are ugly incendiary. This is the combined Polish National Youth Choir and Gabrieli Roar. Here’s “Be merciful”:
As Mahan Esfahani’s astonishingly insightful notes point out, “Elgar’s music is nephew to Wagner’s,” and we hear at som emoments an English Lohengrin, perhaps.
This is luxury casting, too, with Nicky Spence as Gerontius, and in fine fettle, his “Sanctis fortis” beautifully strong, his voice complete embracing the required range, every word part of a mellifluous outpouring. This entire passage at “Sanctis fortis” captures a whole world of nuance, from Wagnerian-heroic to the sweetest high pianissimo, while his opening “Jesu Maria, I am close to death” is of unbearable sweetness:
Andrew Foster-Williams, as Priest in Part I, carries both authority and beauty in his weight of tone:
At the start of Part 2 (CD 2), there is an incredible sense of wonder as Gerontius’ soul awakens (“I went to sleep”):
Anna Stéphany is an extraordinarily tender Angel, but one with the ability for drama, too, as the demons make their mark:
The true twin heroes here are Spence and McCreesh; and, of course, Elgar!. McCreesh finds a crushing, “Dies irae”-like drama in the lead-up to Gerontius’ “take me away”:
But it is McCreesh who is the real wonder, steering the whole with a sense of Wagnerian scale and a complete knowledge of the score’s shifting colours, and indeed of the chorus’ shifting aspects, from bliss to demonic energy. The ending is full of soul-uplifting beauty, the angelic sopranos perfectly controlled
A must-have in any collection, surely!
This disc is available at this link. at whopping 3% off. Streaming below.
