The Kingdom, part
of a planned trilogy with The Apostles
and the never completed The Last Judgment;
is often overshadowed by Elgar’s The
Dream of Gerontius. This is a pity because, in many ways, The Kingdom is a very cohesive work that
is so full of beautiful moments. Sir Adrian Boult once recalled a great friend
of Elgar saying to him ‘My dear boy, beside The Kingdom, Gerontius is the work
of a raw amateur.’ A rather strong comment on Gerontius, perhaps, but a valid endorsement of The Kingdom.
Completed in 1906 and first performed at the Birmingham
Festival in October of that year, The
Kingdom is in five parts and tells the biblical account of the events after
the crucifixion of Jesus, with the story of Pentecost, the arrest of Peter, his
release and the final Breaking of the Bread with Elgar’s fine setting of the
Lord’s Prayer. The text was compiled by Elgar assisted by conversations with
his parish priest in Hereford, Canon Dolman.
The Prelude acts as a wonderful introduction, containing so
many of the works main leitmotifs or representative themes, here receiving a
very dynamic opening that contrasted so well with the more reflective moments. The
large forces of these two choirs and the BBC Symphony Orchestra gained so much
from the spacious acoustic of the Royal Albert Hall.
Part I: In the Upper
Room produced some lovely singing from the choirs, so well blended.
Christopher Purves (baritone) as St. Peter brought a performance that was full
of expression, though occasionally a little unsteady. Andrew Staples (tenor) as
St. John was strong and firm. Andrew Davis moulded the music so well, bringing
out some lovely orchestral textures with the Royal Albert Hall organ pointing
up the bass textures.
Erin Wall (soprano) as the Blessed Virgin and Catherine
Wyn-Rogers (contralto) as Mary Magdalene combined so well in Part II: At the
Beautiful Gate with Wall showing a very fine, strong voice and Wyn-Rogers particularly
fine in her richer lower textures.
Andrew Staples proved to be very fine again when he sang ‘When
the great Lord will, we shall be filled with the Spirit of understanding’ in
Part III: Pentecost. Erin Wall really threw herself into the dramatic solo,
when the Holy Spirit descends, ‘and suddenly there came from Heaven a sound as
of the rushing of a mighty wind…’
Christopher Purves brought a great sense of humanity in his
fine solo ‘I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.’; for me one of the
most beautiful melodies in this work, leading to the fine conclusion of Part
III.
When we arrived at Part
IV: The Sign of Healing, Catherine Wyn-Rogers was in fine voice, tender and
expressive and Andrew Staples sang beautifully in ‘Unto you that fear His name’,
full of power and expression. Indeed both Andrew Staples and Christopher Purves
blended wonderfully in the following duet.
In Part V: The Upper Room, Elgar seems to weave so many more
of his leitmotif through the music, gloriously played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Soloists, choirs and orchestra brought a terrific final section, not a climax
but perhaps the most beautiful setting of The Lord’s Prayer to end this great
work.
This was a full blooded performance yet with so many subtle,
beautiful moments from one of our finest conductors of Elgar. This was a terrific
opening concert to the 2014 season of the BBC Proms.
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