{"product_id":"sargent-elgar-the-dream-of-gerontius-1945-paco009","title":"SARGENT Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius (1945) - PACO009","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770D90\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770EC0\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770FF0\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eELGAR \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D7722F0\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770D90\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770EC0\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770FF0\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D772E90\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bodysmallarial\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded in 1945\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eDuration:1hr 30:04\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eHeddle Nash, Gladys Ripley, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eDennis Noble, Norman Walker\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eHuddersfield Choral Society\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eLiverpool Philharmonic Orchestra\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eSir Malcolm Sargent, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003econductor\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fBill Rosen's Review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fWith Sargent, who has downplayed and restrained the drama a bit, we are tantalized, interested and ready to go on.\n578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003eWith some rueful glances at the Boult and Barbirolli recordings and even\nat the composer's great partial recording of 1927, I will go out on a\nlimb and say that this is the greatest performance of Elgar's oratorio\nthat I have ever heard. My heart says it and my head cannot but agree.\nLet's see why.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe story of \"The Dream of Gerontius\" is that of a knight who dies\nin fear but in faith in the first act and then in the second act\nexperiences a dreamlike state in which he prepares for judgment with\nother souls in Purgatory and is helped by angels for the trial. Not the\neasiest theme on which to base an 85-minute work. Although Elgar's music\nis splendid, Cardinal Newman's mystical Roman Catholic text provides\nmany opportunities for a risable and sickly Victorian sentimentality and\njust plain boredom as the oratorio procedes. Lots of contrast and\nforward movement are called for. The artistry and sincerity of the tenor\nplaying Gerontius is critical.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe overture is a problem, not\nbecause it is inadequate, but because it is such a great work on its\nown. Like Beethoven's Leonore Overture #3, it already contains within it\nthe essence of the work. After Barbirolli's performance, we have\nalready cried all our tears and are ready to go home. After Boult's, we\nare inspired to join the Christian Knights and replace Gerontius. In\nneither case are we ready to sit and listen to the remainder of the\nwork. With Sargent, who has downplayed and restrained the drama a bit,\nwe are tantalized, interested and ready to go on.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Act 1, there\nare many fine tenors who play Gerontius. God knows that Peter Pears, in\nthe Britten recording, gets the dying part right. Nicolai Gedda in the\nBoult recording gives a performance of consummate taste and elegance.\nRichard Lewis, for Barbirolli, pours out an endless stream of beautiful\ntenor tone. But Heddle Nash, for Sargent in this recording, IS the\nknight in every aspect: manly, reverent, weak, frightened, dying,\ncourageous. He has the head and the heart and the voice; there is no\ncomparison.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAct 2 can have its longeurs. Sargent completely\navoids this by making careful contrasts between the music for Gerontius,\nthe Angel, the Demons and the chorus. He conducts a seemingly\nswift-moving version that is, in reality, only four minutes faster than\nBoult and Barbirolli. The prelude to Act 2, representing the passage\nbetween death and transfiguration, is played with such incandescence.\nThe Angel sung by Gladys Ripley, sounds both rapt and fragile. Perhaps\nMs. Noble does not summon up the glorious tone that Janet Baker does for\nBarbirolli, but she sounds like a supernatural being, not a great\ncontralto singing the role of one. The Huddersfield Choral Society has\nsuch a variety of color, of light and shade between their comforting of\nGerontius in his fear and agony and their martial Roman Catholic\ncertainty of his resurrection that one knows that this music is in their\nblood. I cannot say that it all goes Sargent's way: there are moment's\nin Barbirolli that really grip the heart more; there are moments in\nBoult that inspire one with greater courage and fortitude. But, then at\nthe end of the oratorio, when Heddle Nash, as Gerontius' soul, awaiting\njudgment, but hopeful of redemption, sings:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Take me away, and in the lowest sleep there let me be\u003cbr\u003e And there in hope the lone night watches keep\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe\neffect is so glorious and perfect and such a climax of what Sargent has\nplotted from the beginning that one feels a true culmination, not just\nan ending of the work.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"bodybigblue\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReviewer: Bill Rosen\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PACO009.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eElgar's choral masterpiece in one of its greatest recorded performances\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eI think the Pristine Audio Direct Transfer is absolutely tremendous... \u003cbr\u003e- James Jolly, BBC Radio Three, CD Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003eFive short questions for you, dear visitor: Was \u003cb\u003eElgar\u003c\/b\u003e England's finest composer? Is \u003cem\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Dream of Gerontius\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e his finest work? Was \u003cb\u003eSargent's\u003c\/b\u003e 1945 recording the greatest ever made of this work? Was\u003cb\u003e Heddle Nash\u003c\/b\u003e the finest Gerontius ever? \u003cem\u003eWas this Sargent's finest hour?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003eA\nquick search of the Internet will find you people who'll say yes,\nprobably, or quite possibly as answers to each of these questions, which\nbegs one final question - has this recording ever sounded so good as it\ndoes with this new transcription? I will let you draw your own\nconclusions to that question - try scrolling down and clicking on the\nplay button for a sample from the first Part, as Heddle Nash's Gerontius\nsings \"\u003cem\u003eRouse thee, my fainting soul\u003c\/em\u003e\" and decide for yourself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003eFrom\na restoration point of view I'm particularly pleased with the results\nhere, despite the many hours of work spent fighting the shellac swish\nthat blighted much of the second part of the recording. Sargent's\norchestra is full-bodied, clearly recorded without blasting or being\nshrill, and almost always in perfect balance with the singers. The\nmusic, despite it's origin on 24 sides, should be almost continuous\nthroughout - here HMV cleverly overlapped many of the sides, as if\nanticipating how this could help bring together the recording as a whole\nat some time in the future.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003eIn\ncircumstances like this I find it helpful to take a reference recording\nto ensure accuracy both in side changes and in tonal balance, and for\nthis recording I used Benjamin Britten's renowned 1972 Decca recording,\nwith Peter Pears as Gerontius. It certainly has a lovely sound of its\nown, and of course the recording technology was far superior, but I have\nto agree with Jonathan Woolf about this earlier recording - overall\nit's a total success, with Nash in particular almost born to sing the\nrole.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003eLike\nElgar, I am originally from Worcestershire, and I too spent many hours\nroaming the Malvern Hills, where the composer found such inspiration.\nElgar's music has always run through my veins and been a presence in my\nlife - I hope that this recording can bring some of that magic to you as\nwell.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAndrew Rose\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eELGAR \u003c\/b\u003e The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: x-small;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bodysmallarial\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eHeddle Nash, Gladys Ripley, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e Dennis Noble, Norman Walker\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Huddersfield Choral Society\u003cbr\u003e Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSir Malcolm Sargent, \u003c\/b\u003econductor\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded in April, 1945\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReleased as HMV 78s, C.3435-3446\u003cbr\u003eMatrix numbers: 2ER: 834-857\u003cbr\u003eTakes: All 24 sides first takes except sides 4 \u0026amp; 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