Elgar's The Kingdom
Elgar's The Kingdom
The Gramophone Choice
Claire Rutter sop Susan Bickley mez John Hudson ten Iain Paterson bar Hallé Choir and Orchestra / Sir Mark Elder
Halle CDHLD7526 (94’ · DDD · T) Recorded live 2009. Buy from Amazon
Sir Mark Elder’s performance of the complete oratorio evinces a wonderful glow, passion and dedication. Not only does he draw orchestral playing and choral singing of notable adroitness from his massed Hallé forces (the violins perhaps lacking something in sheer opulence), his unerring grasp of the bigger scheme and scrupulous attention to dynamic and textual nuance make for profoundly nourishing results. How astutely, too, Elder taps into the vein of wistful introspection so prevalent here and in the Second Symphony and Violin Concerto to come. Like Sir Adrian Boult before him (who famously declared a preference for The Kingdom even over Gerontius), Elder clearly believes in every note of this noble edifice and his unforced, coherent conception has a thrilling ring of conviction about it.
The soloists comprise a strong team. Iain Paterson is a commandingly articulate St Peter, the ever-versatile Susan Bickley a shiningly powerful Mary Magdalene, and Claire Rutter brings considerable technical acumen and strength of feeling to the Virgin Mary’s towering soliloquy ‘The sun goeth down’ at the end of Part 4 – although she by no means obliterates memories of Margaret Price’s sublime contribution on Boult’s pioneering and, it must be conceded, illimitably compassionate EMI recording (reviewed below). Only the slightly pinched timbre of tenor John Hudson (as St John) will not be to all tastes, yet he sings with devotional fervour none the less. As on Elder’s Götterdämmerung, producer/engineer Steve Portnoi can be proud of the spectacular range, opulence and realism of his efforts.
Additional Recommendation
Coupled with Coronation Ode, Op 44
Margaret Price, Felicity Lott sops Yvonne Minton mez Alfreda Hodgson contr Alexander Young, Richard Morton tens John Shirley-Quirk, Stephen Roberts bars London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult; Cambridge University Musical Society Chorus; Choir of King’s College Cambridge; New Philharmonia Orchestra / Philip Ledger
EMI British Composers 764209-2 (130' · ADD) Buy from Amazon
Boult was a passionate admirer of The Kingdom and, as ever, the unaffected devotion and authority of his advocacy is hard to resist. Boult enjoys a strong team of soloists. The Kingsway Hall production now sounds just a little pale and hard-edged. Where the EMI release really comes up trumps, though, is in the shape of its generous fill-up, Philip Ledger’s superb, swaggering reading of the Coronation Ode. Ultimately, then, a fine mid-price version; but then, the new Elder recording is offered at a very competitive price.
