First up was The Kingdom<\/i>, a work new to me, though in recent years it seems to have gained in popularity.<\/p>\n
I think I will always in general prefer earlier Elgar to later works, and so this piece hasn’t overtaken Gerontius<\/i> in my affections. There are many fine passages, but, perhaps inevitably given the libretto, it is episodic. Elgar compensates for this by using leitmotifs, and in particular I spotted fragments of The Spirit of the Lord (the opening of The Apostles<\/i> and often performed separately as a church anthem) all over the place.<\/p>\n
If you don’t already believe that God is an Englishman, The Kingdom<\/i> will do its best to persuade you. To dispel any tendency to stolidity, some of the tempi chosen were very fast. I put more work into this outside rehearsals than into any of the other pieces, and it needed it.<\/p>\n
The reviews focused on 18-year-old Magnus Walker’s standing in as tenor soloist. He did brilliantly, but I’d like to pay tribute to something they haven’t mentioned: the consideration of the other soloists in balancing his voice in the quartets and other ensembles.<\/p>\n
Reviews: First up was The Kingdom, a work new to me, though in recent years it seems to have gained in popularity. I think I will always in general prefer earlier Elgar to later works, and so this piece hasn’t overtaken … Continue reading
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