Barbican, London
Some distinguished Elgarians maintain that The Kingdom is Elgar's choral masterpiece, a finer work even than The Dream of Gerontius. Whether Mark Elder would go that far, I don't know, but there is no doubt that he is doing more than anyone to cement its place in the canon. Two years ago, he conducted the oratorio in Manchester with the Hall�, a performance that subsequently appeared on disc, and he also chose it for his latest guest appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra, a performance of such fierce certainty and architectural coherence that it's hard to imagine anyone making a better case for the score's importance.
The Kingdom was the second part of a trilogy Elgar began with The Apostles but never completed. It deals with the disciples' work for the church in Jerusalem after Christ's death, but offers a series of glosses on the subject rather than a coherent presentation of it. Yet the best of the music is top-drawer Elgar, and with wonderful playing from the LSO, Elder brought that gloriously to life. This is especially true in the choruses, which rival those of Gerontius in breadth and grandeur if not theatrical immediacy, and in the shaping of the network of leitmotifs, many of them carried over from The Apostles, which binds the score together.
The London Symphony Chorus were very confident in their most demanding numbers, such as the chorus that ends the first part and those that ratchet up the excitement towards Peter's great aria in the third. The soloists ? Susan Gritton, Sarah Connolly, Stuart Skelton and Iain Paterson ? were generally first-rate, if slightly less consistent than the LSC. But it was Elder's belief in the work and its enduring worth that shone brightest of all.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/feb/01/the-kingdom-elgar-elder-review
Julie Benz Saira Mohan Brittny Gastineau Ashley Tisdale Rachel Blanchard
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