An ideal blend of heart and detail
Andrew Davis (conductor)
Stuart Skelton (tenor), Sarah Connolly (mezzo), David Soar (bass); BBC Symphony Chorus & Orchestra Chandos CHSA5140(2)
Andrew Davis first heard The Dream of Gerontius when he was 14 years old, and this 2014 recording is an eloquent testament to a lifetime spent absorbing and processing this musically and emotionally complex work. Each nuance of Elgar’s score is respected, the playing by the BBC Symphony Orchestra is flawless and Davis evinces as good a grasp of the work’s inner drama as is surely possible.
Elgar made substantial cuts to the poem and his libretto concentrates more on the human experience of Gerontius than on the theological aspects of Newman’s original text. In this respect, Stuart Skelton is the ideal protagonist, perfectly carrying forward the psychological drama which leads Gerontius from his deathbed to Judgement and Purgatory. Where others might approach the part in much the same way as they would a more traditional oratorio, Skelton gives a searing, almost verismo portrait of a man at times frail, at others defiant, confused, awed, scared or at peace. His ‘Sanctus fortis’ is an earnest profession of faith, his ‘Novissima hora est’ is suffused with apprehension and wonderment, and after ‘Take me away’ we witness a man hollowed out by the judgement of God. He is one of only a very few on record who have the extraordinary tonal range needed for this role.
Mezzo Sarah Connolly is pre-eminent as the Angel. Her ruby-red lower register and limpid, warm high notes are used with intelligence and understanding throughout. Like Skelton, she makes sense of the evolving nature of her role: authoritative, reassuring, awe-struck, loving. This is very much a journey undertaken by two beings, not one. David Soar is an authoritative Priest/angel of the Agony and the BBC Symphony Chorus make resoundingly light work of Elgar’s fiendish choral writing.
Stuart Skelton gives a searing, almost verismo portrait of Gerontius
The unsung heroes of this recording, though, are the sound engineers. Elgar’s score is huge and complex, and however fine the performances on earlier recordings are, most suffer, by today’s standards, from inadequate engineering. This recording is one of only a handful in which Elgar’s orchestration and vocal writing is afforded the acoustic space and the clarity to be properly heard and, combined with Davis’s unhurried performance which allows the drama to unfold on its own terms, gives as good a recorded account of this work as is currently available.