Munich Philharmonic: ElgarAndrew Manze (conductor)
Based on the poem of the same name by Cardinal John Henry Newman, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius describes the soul’s journey into the afterlife. With a guardian angel watching over it, the soul’s path leads past sardonic demons before ascending to heaven and finally achieving redemption. It is a powerful musical vision reminiscent of Wagner’s Parsifal and on a par with the great late Romantic requiem settings.
Based on the poem of the same name by Cardinal John Henry Newman, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius describes the soul’s journey into the afterlife. With a guardian angel watching over it, the soul’s path leads past sardonic demons before ascending to heaven and finally achieving redemption. It is a powerful musical vision reminiscent of Wagner’s Parsifal and on a par with the great late Romantic requiem settings.
“This is the best of me”, reads Edward Elgar’s footnote after the final bar of his Dream of Gerontius. All the more disappointing was the work’s resounding failure at its inadequately prepared premiere. Today, The Dream of Gerontius is a firm favourite in the British oratorio repertoire; in Germany’s concert halls it remains a yet-to-be-discovered rarity.
Andrew Manze conducts this impressive choral work with the Munich Philharmonic Choir and Beth Taylor, Andrew Staples and Andrew Foster-Williams as the soloists.
Programme
- Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Op 38
With
- Andrew Manze, conductor
- Beth Taylor, mezzo-soprano
- Andrew Staples, tenor
- Andrew Foster-Williams, bass
- Munich Philharmonic Choir
- Andreas Herrmann, rehearsal
