Composer: Edward William Elgar
Performer: Arthur Davies, Felicity Palmer, Norman Bailey, Oleg Yanchenko, London Symphony Chorus
Orchestra: USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Evgeny Svetlanov, Richard Hickox
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Melodiya
Catalogue: MEL CD 1002266
Release: 1983/2014
Size: 386 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38
Part I
01. I. Prelude
02. II. Jesu, Maria – I Am Near to Death
03. III. Rouse Thee, My Fainting Soul
04. IV. Sanctus Fortis, Sanctus Deus
05. V. Proficiscere, Anima Christiana
Part II
06. I. I Went to Sleep
07. II. It Is a Member of That Family
08. III. But Hark! Upon My Sense Comes a Fierce Hubbub
09. IV. I See Not Those False Spirits
10. V. But Hark! A Grand Mysterious Harmony
11. VI. Thy Judgment Now Is Near
12. VII. I Go Before My Judge
13. VIII. Softly and Gently, Dearly-Ransomed Soul
Edward Elgar was one of the major representatives of British music from the period of English music renaissance. Continuing the traditions of European, primarily German musical romanticism, he embodied the most distinctive features of national culture in his works. Elgar’s genius manifested itself in a most complete fashion in symphonic and choral genres.
The Dream of Gerontius (1900), often referred to as an oratorio, is Elgar’s largest composition. The poem by Cardinal John Henry Newman, an important figure in the Church of England, thinker and poet, about a journey of a soul after death was a literary foundation of the oratorio. A deeply spiritual and religious content of the oratorio, plenty of dramatic and vivid episodes, a developed vocal and choral texture, and masterful grasp of orchestral colours made it one of the most popular works of British music along with Handel’s Messiah.
Evgeny Svetlanov, who is traditionally considered an unsurpassed performer of Russian symphonic and operatic music, not infrequently made himself known as an outstanding and inspired interpreter of West European music works. Thanks to him, some of them were performed in the former USSR for the first time. That was the case with The Dream of Gerontius, which the conductor heard in England and was amazed by its power and grandeur. It was performed with great success at the Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in 1983 with the participation of well-known British soloists Felicity Palmer, Arthur Davies and Norman Bailey, the London Symphony Chorus conducted by Richard Hickox and the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov.
We present a recording of that performance.