Barbican Hall, 12 April 2014

Before the start of The Apostles, Helen Petchey, Honorary Secretary of the Elgar Society, presented the Elgar Society Medal to Sir Andrew Davis. This was warmly applauded and recognised his outstanding support of the composer over many years, including his championing of the restored Third Symphony fifteen years ago. In replying to the presentation he hoped that He would continue to be an Apostle for the composer for many years to come.

The Apostles, even more than The Kingdom, has suffered simply because the writing is not Gerontius, and it was a pity in many ways that this performance was following on so closely after last week’s outstanding presentation of Gerontius essentially by the same forces. There was, however, a great deal to enjoy and value here.

Too often The Apostles can take time to catch fire, but there was no problem here with the Prologue breathing the essence of Elgar from the start. The constant shifts of mood in the orchestration were very finely caught, and there was never any sense of triumphalism even in more extrovert passages. A great deal hangs on the humanity of the characters involved, and here Sarah Connolly’s Mary Magdalene and Brindley Sherratt’s Judas were convincing in their psychological shading as much as their more overt emotions. Gerald Finlay and Paul Groves presented less complex characters, but the sense of ordinary men struggling with vast events was always present.

By contrast Nicole Cabell’s angel and Mary seemed to be in a different world, floating above the men and at times removed from them. Jacques Imbrailo brings us a Jesus at once human and yet removed emotionally from the turmoil around him. Elgar does not attempt to investigate Jesus’ mental state or passion, only to see it through the eyes of the Apostles.

The BBC Symphony Chorus has a less demanding task in The Apostles than in Gerontius, often singing in individual sections, but they characterised the different crowds with ease. Orchestral detail was finely controlled and the organ was evident at key points.

Another fine evening. A pity we did not get The Kingdom as well!