{"id":2518,"date":"2015-09-12T17:06:32","date_gmt":"2015-09-12T16:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larkreviews.co.uk\/?p=2518"},"modified":"2015-09-12T17:06:32","modified_gmt":"2015-09-12T16:06:32","slug":"prom-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/?p=2518","title":{"rendered":"PROM 75"},"content":{"rendered":"
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n
Magdalena Kozena, Toby Spence and Roderick Williams\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n
BBC Proms Youth Choir & Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

\"Prom<\/a><\/p>\n

There was a palpable air of excitement in the Hall as a capacity crowd gathered on the penultimate evening of the 121st<\/sup> Season. All the ingredients of this concert promised an evening of music of the highest quality. The audience was not to be disappointed.<\/p>\n

Elgar\u2019s setting of Newman\u2019s words is a masterpiece in itself. The opening orchestral prelude leading into the first part transports the listener into a complex and involving sound world where the orchestra is an important force in its own right, alongside the vocal soloists and chorus. The whole work is charged with emotion. The through-composed structure (breaking only between the two parts) makes for an experience in which there is constant change and interplay between the various forces. It is a striking entry in the catalogue of English choral writing \u2013 highly individual and making a bold statement of the Catholic faith.<\/p>\n

The forces gathered for this particular performance helped to make this an inspiring one. Under Sir Simon\u2019s guidance the Vienna Philharmonic created sublime music from the outset. The vast forces of the orchestra, together with the equally impressive BBC Proms Youth Choir were a delightful combination. Youth and experience combined to great effect. As if this were not enough, the three soloists brought something special to the proceedings. Roderick Williams was impressive as the priest\/ angel of agony. His marvellously rich voice was able to make its way through the orchestral forces at all times. Toby Spence gave a very committed performance, even if, occasionally, his voice was partially eclipsed by the instrumental forces. Likewise, Magdalena Kozena, gave a more gentle performance as the angel, making for some beautifully restrained passages. Unfortunately this resulted in a number of occasions when her delivery was not powerful enough to be heard through the orchestra.<\/p>\n

Despite the grand scale there were many instances of the still small voice<\/i>. Chorus and orchestra were well controlled and focussed, not in a mechanical way, but responding brilliantly to their conductor\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

For much of the evening I was entranced. I have used the word performance<\/i> but I suspect that for many in the audience, and on stage, this was more an act of devotion. A captivating experience.<\/p>\n

Stephen Page<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius\u00a0 Magdalena Kozena, Toby Spence and Roderick Williams\u00a0 BBC Proms Youth Choir & Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle There was a palpable air of excitement in the Hall as a capacity crowd gathered on the penultimate … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2520,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518\/revisions\/2520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}