Scott Morrison wrote:

>The performances this week of Elgar's 'Dream of Gerontius', with Sir Colin
>Davis conducting the New York Philharmonic . . .  will be the FIRST EVER
>performance by the NY Phil of Elgar's choral masterpiece!

It is indeed amazing that this work which seems to be pretty well known
in the English-speaking world, or at least known of, is so infrequently
performed even there.  And in Russia, for example, it is only a few years
(though still during the Soviet era) since it received its first-ever
performance.  Performances in other music-loving countries, even those such
as France and Italy with their strong Catholic traditions, are also rare.
I once attended a performance in Turin, where it seemed to me the audience
in the gleaming new computer-controlled Lingotto auditorium was listening
with respect (perhaps for its Catholic spirituality) to music in a deeply
unfamiliar not to say alien genre.  Mind you, speaking of 'masterpieces',
the Italian translation given in the programme notes (it was sung in
English) was something of a masterpiece in itself, especially the Demons'
Chorus ('Low-born clods of brute earth ...  Dispossess'd, aside thrust,
chuck'd down ...').

As with the NY Phil, it often seems to require a British conductor (or
sometimes a British orchestra or choir) to act as a sort of ambassador
for the piece.  This is a great pity, for the British are not necessarily
the best interpreters of this work.  One of the finest interpretations I
have heard is that of the non-British, non-Christian Leonard Slatkin, who
conducted it for the first time anywhere, in London with the Philharmonia
Orchestra and Chorus a few years ago.  Chutzpah? He certainly showed the
Brits how it should be done.  He came to it fresh and untrammelled, and the
result was for me a revelation.

I have never heard it done with completely non-British forces.  Can anyone
recommend such a recording?

And what a pity that, rare as performances of 'Gerontius' are, world-wide,
the other Elgar oratorios are even thinner on the ground.  Even in England.

Alan Moss
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