Although Elgar's Gerontius could be an unlikely star of Alan Bennett's The Choral, the work hardly needs a increase in recognition. Gardner's vibrant new recording is one of several released in the last two years, with an additional one due early next year.
Recorded in a live setting at the 2022 BBC Proms, the propulsive performance boasts a great deal going for it. Allan Clayton portrays the feverish essence of the dying man whose each feeling is simultaneously a fear and a intrigue. His valiant voice excites in the great hymn, Holy and Strong, while an emotional handling of text highlights the thought-provoking question and answer session in the second part. Barton's rich mezzo-soprano has a palpable presence as well as offering plentiful resources of comfort. James Platt's rugged bass voice is ideally matched to the angel character.
Edward Gardner is intensely theatrical, expressing the narrative with an nearly opera-like audacity. The LPO plays as if a group of demons was at its back, matched by the joint efforts of the LPO and Hallé choirs. Here and there, the acoustic robs the performance of the final bit of immediacy, but overall it's a excellent accomplishment to rank alongside Nicholas Collon's arresting from Finland account released in recent months.
