Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius & Sea Pictures

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among the best Gerontius performances on record. Davis resists the temptation to make the work sound like a flabby, imitation Parsifal and the results are outstandingly convincing...[Skelton]... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2014, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 29th Sep 2014
Catalogue No: CHSA5140(2)
Label: Chandos
Length: 2 hours 4 minutes

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Elgar: Sea Pictures, Op. 37

Work length21:54

$5.00

$6.50

$8.75

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sir Andrew Davis
Recorded: 3-5 April 2014
Recording Venue: Fairfield Halls, Croydon, United Kingdom

No. 1. Sea Slumber-Song

Track length4:47

$1.00

$1.30

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No. 2. In Haven (Capri)

Track length1:41

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No. 3. Sabbath Morning at Sea

Track length5:36

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No. 4. Where Corals Lie

Track length3:41

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No. 5. The Swimmer

Track length6:09

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Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38

Work length1:42:30

$33.00

$42.90

$57.75

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Stuart Skelton (tenor), David Soar (bass)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus
Sir Andrew Davis
Recorded: 3-5 April 2014
Recording Venue: Fairfield Halls, Croydon, United Kingdom

Part I: Prelude

Track length9:07

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Part I: Jesu, Maria - I am near to death (Gerontius)

Track length3:42

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$1.75

Part I: Kyrie eleison (Chorus)

Track length2:11

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Part I: Rouse thee, my fainting soul (Gerontius)

Track length0:51

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Part I: Be merciful, be gracious (Chorus)

Track length2:48

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Part I: Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus (Gerontius)

Track length5:43

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Part I: I can no more; for now it comes again (Gerontius)

Track length2:06

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Part I: Rescue him, O Lord (Chorus)

Track length2:06

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Part I: Novissima hora est (Gerontius)

Track length1:21

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Part I: Proficiscere, anima Christiana (The Priest)

Track length1:54

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Part I: Go, in the name of Angels (Chorus)

Track length4:40

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Part II: I went to sleep (The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length6:16

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Part II: My work is done (The Angel, The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length2:20

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Part II: It is a member of that family (Soul of Gerontius)

Track length1:42

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Part II: I ever had believed (The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length4:06

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Part II: But hark, upon my sense comes a fierce hubbub (Soul of Gerontius)

Track length0:49

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Part II: Low-born clods of brute earth (Chorus)

Track length2:20

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Part II: The mind bold and independent (Chorus)

Track length2:23

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Part II: I see not those false spirits (The Soul of Gerontius, The Angel)

Track length3:10

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Part II: Praise to the Holiest (Chorus, Angel)

Track length2:59

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Part II: Glory to Him, who evermore by truth and justice reigns (Chorus)

Track length1:18

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Part II: But hark! A grand mysterious harmony (The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length1:17

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Part II: Praise to the Holiest in the height (Chorus)

Track length6:49

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Part II: The judgment now is near (The Angel, The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length3:05

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Part II: Jesu! By that shuddering dread (The Angel of the Agony)

Track length3:53

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Part II: I go before my Judge (The Soul of Gerontius, Chorus)

Track length1:30

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Part II: Praise to His Name! (The Angel)

Track length1:30

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Part II: Take me away, and in the lowest deep there let me be (The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length3:20

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Part II: Lord, Thou hast been our refuge (Chorus)

Track length1:03

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Part II: Softly and gently (The Angel, Chorus)

Track length6:46

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38: Prelude (concert version)

Track length9:25

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

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About

Chandos Records is delighted to present this new recording of Elgar’s choral masterpiece The Dream of Gerontius and the enduringly popular song cycle Sea Pictures. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, a peerless Elgarian who this year was awarded the prestigious Elgar Society Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the composer’s music. In Gerontius the soloists are Stuart Skelton, David Soar and Sarah Connolly, who also sings in Sea Pictures. This recording was made in the days leading up to their triumphant live performance of Gerontius in April of this year in which Skelton was praised as ‘the ideal tenor for the role of Gerontius’, Soar described as ‘an implacable, dark sounding Priest’ and Connolly, ‘a consummately polished Angel’ (The Guardian).

Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius was commissioned in 1900 for that year’s Birmingham Festival.

The score was produced in a hurry but Elgar had long before known the text which the work sets, Cardinal Newman’s religious poem that powerfully recounts the final dream of a dying believer and the journey of his soul through death. The performers struggled with Elgar’s score at the disastrous premier but this did nothing to stop the immediate popularity of The Dream of Gerontius. It is recognised today by many as the greatest choral work by any English composer.

Written not long before Gerontius, Sea Pictures sets a collection of poetry by different authors all on a single theme. Inspired by his love of nature, Elgar’s songs explore the emotional resonances of the sea, from serene still waters to a mighty ocean storm.

Reviews

Christmas 2014

among the best Gerontius performances on record. Davis resists the temptation to make the work sound like a flabby, imitation Parsifal and the results are outstandingly convincing...[Skelton] has the heft and stamina for Gerontius's most dramatic moments. He's too intelligent a singer, however, to belt them out operatically...This Gerontius is a wonderful achievement.

Sarah Connolly’s understanding and delivery of the text is exemplary, her voice firm, consoling and assured – she is quite the equal of Janet Baker...Stuart Skelton is an exceptional Gerontius, vocally and dramatically: no phrase is ever sung without meaning and one senses a hinterland to his performance.

November 2014

[Davis's] patient and scrupulously observant conception of the whole work evinces a selfless authority, wisdom and instinctive ebb and flow...Skelton's stamina, dramatic range and ringing, Vickers-like tone are a tremendous asset...Soar, too, sings with lofty projection and unstinting eloquence...Arguably best of all, though, is Sarah Connolly, who brings a deeply affecting radiance, sense of wonder and intelligence to everything

2nd December 2014

Connolly’s Sea Pictures is very good...the Andrew Davis Gerontius is a reading to cherish. He shapes Elgar’s masterwork with wonderful sensitivity, revelling in the work’s ethereal nods to the hereafter, but grounding the first part in the pain and uncertainty of the death-bed...Skelton is a fantastic Gerontius. He tones down the Heldentenor elements of the voice to stress role's vulnerability.

19th October 2014

Skelton’s bronzed Heldentenor suggests a mature Parsifal, one of Elgar’s inspirations. He is more visceral than the more cerebral British Gerontii, but his thrilling Take Me Away is surely just the Wagnerian sound Elgar wanted. Connolly’s Softly and Gently — and Sea Pictures — rivals Baker’s in beauty of tone.

26th October 2014

Perfect Gerontius tenors are rare. Philip Langridge, who recorded it with Andrew Davis in 1997, was the last. Stuart Skelton, so different in voice colour, fuller and more heroic but similarly human, modest and touching, is every bit as brilliant... A disc of the year.

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