Gedda, Watts, Loyd
Conductor Sir Adrian Boult.
Recorded in London, July 1975
Elgar's friend Jaeger (Enigma 's "Nimrod") asserted that The Dream of Gerontius was not a work that could be appreciated after one hearing. Well said, but the loving dedication of Boult's recording (made in 1975, and the conductor's valedictory choral recording) has tremendously persuasive powers. There was a time when this recording competed with versions led by Malcolm Sargent and John Barbirolli; neither of those seem to be in the catalogue at the moment, and among the "old classics," only Benjamin Britten's version still is around. Boult's soloists are jewels. Gerontius is sung operatically (but with subtlety and grace) by Gedda, whose faint accent provides an unexpected touch of exoticism. Perhaps this recording's finest moment is when Gerontius's soul is granted a lightning-flash glimpse of the Almighty; "Take me away," he exclaims, "and in the lowest deep / There let me be." No one I've heard captures that moment's agony and ecstasy as well as Gedda, and certainly not with such tonal beauty. Watts is a formidable angel, but she shows great compassion. As the Priest (and later, the Angel of the Agony), Robert Lloyd's dark bass scores more points, and his two arias also are highlights of this recording. Boult conducts like a convert, inspiring the choirs and the orchestra to spiritual heights. His conducting is not the most dramatic, but it is the most alluring, "sacred" as it is.
The Dream of Gerontius is not an easy work – it's like Strauss's Death and Transfiguration, but with the scale and flavor of Parsifal – but eventually every devotee of choral music needs to come to term with it. Boult's recording is an excellent opportunity.
1999, Raymond Tuttle.
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