Elgar's The Black Knight
Elgar's The Black Knight
The Gramophone Choice
Coupled with Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands, Op 27
London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra / Richard Hickox
Chandos CHAN9436 (61' · DDD · T) Buy from Amazon
Elgar completed The Black Knight in 1893 and it provided him with his first big success. The text tells of a sinister, unnamed ‘Prince of mighty sway’, whose appearance at the King’s court during the feast of Pentecost has disastrous consequences. Elgar’s score boasts much attractive invention, some of it strikingly eloquent and prescient of greater offerings to come. The choral writing is always effective, the orchestration already vivid and assured. Richard Hickox’s performance has great bloom and spaciousness. Similarly, in the tuneful, vernally fresh Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands, Hickox and his colleagues respond with commendable spirit and pleasing polish. Typical of Chandos, the recording is bright and clear, tonally beyond reproach and with just the right balance between choir and orchestra.
