Edward Elgar - The Apostles (Mark Elder)

Information

Composer: Edward Elgar

• The Apostles, Op. 49

Rebecca Evans; Alice Coote

Paul Groves; Jacques Imbrailo

David Kempster; Brindley Sherratt

Hallé Choir, Youth Choir & Orchestra

Mark Elder, conductor

Date: 2012

Label: Hallé Concerts Society

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Review

Sir Mark Elder and his Hallé forces continue to set stellar standards in large-scale Elgar and this new recording of the frequently inspired 1903 oratorio The Apostles fully matches the qualities of their Gramophone Award-winning account of its successor, The Kingdom (12/10). Not only does Elder obtain playing and singing of the utmost accomplishment and sensitivity, his hugely penetrating interpretation evinces an idiomatic pliancy, sure dramatic instinct and iron grip (the magnificent final climax to ‘The Ascension’ has a giant inevitability about it), as well as scrupulous fidelity to both the letter and spirit of the score.

Elder has also gone to considerable lengths to fulfil the composer’s specific request for an ‘Apostolic Choir’, namely a semi-chorus comprising nine male voices to complement the regular soloists assigned the parts of John, Peter and Judas; all are young singers studying either at the RNCM or Manchester University and their contribution is a most eloquent one. Elder’s meticulous preparation for the task in hand extends to his employment of a genuine shofar player in the dawn and sunrise music of ‘The Calling of the Apostles’, where there’s no disputing the frisson of excitement as the ram’s horn cuts through the busy orchestral texture. Alice Coote makes a memorably involving Mary Magdalene while Brindley Sherratt shines in a deeply sympathetic portrayal of Judas. Rebecca Evans sings with affecting tenderness as Mary, Paul Groves proves an authoritative John and Jacques Imbrailo a sweet-toned Jesus. David Kempster is an ardent if not always ideally firm Peter.

Assembled from a much-acclaimed Bridgewater Hall concert and rehearsals last May, Steve Portnoi’s astutely balanced production thrillingly preserves the sense of a bona fide event (not to mention a colossal dynamic range, captured with floorboard-throbbing impact and never a suggestion of strain). A set absolutely not to be missed.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
MusicWeb International  RECORDING OF THE MONTH

https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Oct12/Elgar_Apostles_HLD7534.htm

https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/elgar-apostles-choice-nov-12

https://www.classicalsource.com/cd/mark-elder-conducts-elgars-the-apostles-halle/

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/30/elgar-the-apostles-elder-review

https://www.allmusic.com/album/elgar-the-apostles-mw0002407361

https://www.amazon.com/Apostles-Elgar/dp/B008OHSQ0M

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Edward Elgar (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music and songs. Elgar has been described as the first composer to take the gramophone seriously. Between 1914 and 1925, he conducted a series of acoustic recordings of his own works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Elgar

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Mark Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He studied music at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and later became a protégé of Edward Downes in Australia. From 1979 to 1993, Elder was the music director of English National Opera and and gave the ENO several very successful years of productions. He was appointed music director of the Hallé Orchestra in 1999, and is generally regarded as having restored the orchestra to high musical standards. Elder has recorded for the Hyperion, NMC, Chandos, Opera Rara, and Glyndebourne record labels, as well as for the Hallé Orchestra's own label.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Elder

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