Our first review is in…

Our new recording of The Dream of Gerontius is released in six  short days, on January 30th, and our first review is in! Keep reading to see what John Quinn  has to say about the recording…

Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934)

The Dream of Gerontius, Op 36 (1900)

David Butt Philip (tenor – Gerontius), Karen Cargill (mezzo-soprano – The Angel), Roland Wood (baritone – The Priest/The Angel of the Agony)

Huddersfield Choral Society; RNCM Chamber Choir

Orchestra of Opera North/Martyn Brabbins

Recorded live, 5 April, 2025, Huddersfield Town Hall, UK

Hyperion

I was particularly pleased to receive this recording [Hyperion’s recording of a live concert by HCS] for a number of reasons. One, of course, was the work itself. Another was the involvement in the title role of David Butt Philip. A few years ago, one of the choirs with which I sing put on a performance of Gerontius in which he sang the title role. I was very impressed by his singing then, so I was delighted to find that he is Gerontius on this recording. In addition, I was glad that the recording was made in Huddersfield. I went to school there and have many memories of attending concerts – and taking part in a few – in the grand, Victorian Town Hall. Inside the CD jewel case there is a photograph, presumably taken from the gallery at the back of the hall, showing the performers in rehearsal; that brought back many nostalgic memories.

When I saw the announcement of this new recording, I suspected that it was not entirely coincidental that it was to be released around the time when the Alan Bennett/Nicholas Hytner film The Choral is showing in cinemas. My suspicions were correct; the booklet includes a very interesting and touching essay by Gaynor Haliday about the activities of the Huddersfield Choral Society during the 1914-18 conflict. The Bennett/Hytner film is set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Ramsden in 1916, but the unspoken links to Huddersfield have been widely commented upon, not least because for as long as anyone can remember, the town’s august choral society has been known locally as ‘The Choral’.

…  leaving aside the matter of the film, it is high time that we had another recording of Gerontius from Huddersfield. The Huddersfield Choral Society (HCS) has a long and distinguished association with the work on record, stretching right back to 1945 when the choir – and the Town Hall – were involved in the legendary Heddle Nash/Malcolm Sargent recording, the first complete presentation on record of the work. In 1954 Sargent returned to Huddersfield to record the work again for HMV and in addition Pristine Audio has issued a live 1961 Huddersfield performance, again conducted by Sargent and with the same trio of soloists who sang for him in 1954. The HCS was involved in one more recording, namely Vernon Handley’s 1993 version, but that was an ‘away fixture’ for them; it was recorded in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. All these are discussed in my survey of all the recordings of Gerontius. To the best of my recollection, the choir has not participated in a recording subsequent to 1993; as I said, it’s high time, then, to hear the 2025 vintage of the HCS in this work.

This isn’t the first Elgar recording the HCS has made with Brabbins. They recorded Elgar’s Caractacus together in Huddersfield in 2018, when the Orchestra of Opera North also took part. Roland Wood features on both recordings; he sang the title role in the Caractacus recording. In addition, I’m sure it’s no coincidence that the same producer, Andrew Keener, was responsible for these two recordings.

It’s appropriate, I think, to begin by considering the choral aspects of this recording. Recently, I reviewed a live recording conducted by Edward Gardner. I admired the choral singing, though I expressed a mild reservation when I suggested that it might have been better to have a separate group, possibly a youth choir, as the semi-chorus. No such objection arises here. From the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, the RNCM Chamber Choir travelled across the Pennines to take part in this performance. The semi chorus makes its first appearance immediately after Gerontius’s first solo, singing ‘Kyrie eleison’. Immediately, it’s apparent that this group of young singers – twenty are listed in the booklet – will make a fine contribution to the performance. The sound they produce is clear and fresh; furthermore, they are scrupulously attentive to detail. This first appearance is typical of what they bring to the performance throughout. This, to my mind, is exactly how the semi-chorus should sound in this work; Brabbins’ use of this group of young singers continues the excellent tradition begun by Benjamin Britten in his 1971 Decca recording.

The members of HCS make a good showing as the main chorus. Early on, in Part I, I noticed their careful attention to dynamics in ‘Holy Mary, pray for him’; that’s typical of their observance of dynamics elsewhere. In the same chorus, there’s good clarity between the various parts and that virtue is also on display throughout the performance. In Part II they give a dynamic account of the Demons’ Chorus, though I’d have liked a bit more snarl in their cries of ‘Ha! ha!’. I was especially impressed with the delivery by the female voices (semi-chorus and main chorus) of the extended episode for the Angelicals in the lead-up to ‘Praise to the Holiest’; there’s tonal freshness and fine clarity in these pages and, once again, the care taken over dynamics is very evident. In ‘Praise to the Holiest’ … the attention to detail shown by the Huddersfield singers in the pages following the initial outburst is very impressive – and this episode needs such attention if it’s to succeed. For some reason, the second ’Praise to the Holiest’ acclamation isn’t quite as thrilling as the first one. In the double chorus that follows I don’t think Martyn Brabbins invests the music with quite the same degree of urgency … but the HCS sings well for him. The chorus contribution to the moving Farewell is excellent. All in all, I think the 2025 vintage of the HCS does the Elgar tradition of ‘The Choral’ proud.

Roland Wood is a commanding Priest in Part I. He does the Angel of the Agony solo well, too. My only quibble is that on the rare occasions in both solos when Elgar instructs the singer to sing quietly Wood doesn’t really do that – this is particularly regrettable at the words’ where they shall ever gaze on Thee’ in his second solo. Having said that, Wood is far from alone in this respect; many other singers on record have done the same. Overall, I liked his contribution and the presence he imparts to his performance.

Karen Cargill sings the Angel. … She sings expressively in the extended exchanges with the Soul of Gerontius at the start of Part II; she and David Butt Philip make this a genuine dialogue. A little later, I like the tenderness with which she conveys ‘Yes – for one moment thou shalt see thy Lord’. Here, and at some other places, I wondered if there was a bit too much vibrato in her singing but, even if that’s the case (other listeners may feel differently), Ms Cargill doesn’t compromise clarity. She’s gently eloquent in the Farewell. Occasionally, I thought some of her vowels sounded a bit odd but she takes care over the words and invests them with meaning. In the last analysis, she doesn’t move me as much as some of her distinguished predecessors in the role, but despite that caveat I still found much to admire in her performance.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve heard David Butt Philip in the role of Gerontius once before and my memories of that performance were such that I was eager to hear him again. I was impressed by many facets of his performance. For instance, I admired the resolution he brings to ‘Rouse thee, my fainting soul’. ‘Sanctus fortis’ starts off, as it should, in a forthright fashion; he’s very committed. He communicates the words and music very well indeed, not least in the way he conveys, at ‘I can no more’, that Gerontius has reached the end of his resources. There’s genuine (but controlled) anguish at ‘O Jesu, help’ and the aria culminates in a ringing top B flat. … He is highly convincing in Part II; for instance, in his opening solo, before the appearance of the Angel, his singing is intelligently nuanced and refined. As I’ve already indicated, the dialogue with the Angel is very well done by both soloists. The ‘big moment’ for the tenor in Part II is ‘Take me away’. David Butt Philip delivers the opening phrase in one glorious breath, combining ecstasy and anguish. He sings the pages which follow very well, though I don’t feel that the music quite takes wing; that’s because I think Brabbins’ tempo is just a fraction too cautious and steady. I was very pleased to have this reminder of David Butt Philip’s artistry as Gerontius; I hope I’ll be able to hear him sing the role again before too long.

I’ve mentioned one or two instances where I feel Martyn Brabbins holds the reins just a fraction too tightly for my taste. Something similar happens in the second part of ‘Praise to the Holiest’ – the double-chorus section. Overall, though, I think he’s a perceptive, experienced guide to the oratorio. The Prelude to Part I is expertly shaped and shaded, while in the Prelude to Part II, Brabbins and the string players offer us very tranquil, soft playing with the dynamics scrupulously observed; in these pages they distil a properly otherworldly atmosphere. Brabbins, a highly experienced opera conductor, is ‘with’ his soloists at all times and he clearly animates the chorus.

The Orchestra of Opera North plays very well. The number of string players is a bit smaller than one might expect in a recording of this work (12/9/7/6/4). I suspect it simply wasn’t possible to accommodate a larger body of strings on the platform – the rehearsal photo, which I mentioned, shows a very full stage. I didn’t feel that there was a serious lack of weight in the string choir, although perhaps a touch more firmness in the bass line would have been beneficial here and there. Woodwind and brass acquit themselves very well

Though Hyperion give a very precise recording date they don’t say specifically that this is a live recording. However, HCS have confirmed to me that the recording was made live at a performance on 5 April, 2025. How fittingly close that was to the 80th anniversary of the first Sargent recording which was made in Huddersfield Town Hall between 8 and 12 April 1945. My recollection, albeit from many years ago, is that Huddersfield Town Hall has good acoustics. Producer Andrew Keener and engineer Dave Rowell have recorded the performance very successfully; there’s good clarity and a welcome but not overdone sense of the hall’s acoustic.

The booklet contains two essays. One is a perceptive and enlightening discussion of the work itself by the composer, John Pickard. The other, which I’ve already referenced, is by Gaynor Haliday; it concerns the impact of the so-called Great War on the Huddersfield Choral Society. Not only did the war make it hard for the Society to maintain its musical activities – vital for civilian morale – but also, of course, the choir suffered battlefield losses. Despite all these problems, ‘The Choral’ continued to make music and arguably its finest wartime hour came on 2 November 1917 when it presented a Grand “Elgar” Night. Very fittingly, the last two movements from The Spirit of England were performed, followed by The Dream of Gerontius, a work they’d already given on two prior occasions, in 1905 and 1907. On the podium was the composer himself. In the Bennett/Hytner film, the Ramsden Choral Society earned the fierce disapproval of Elgar for daring to propose mounting a performance of Gerontius on a reduced scale. In real life, however, as Ms Haliday tells us, in 1917 the members of the Huddersfield Choral Society gained the congratulations of the composer for the way they sang his work.

There’s much to admire in this new, live recording. 80 years after they took part in the first complete recording of The Dream of Gerontius, Huddersfield Choral Society has made another notable contribution to the work’s discography.

You can read the full review here: https://musicwebinternational.com/2026/01/elgar-the-dream-of-gerontius-hyperion/