United Kingdom Three Choirs Festival 2023 [11] – Elgar: Philippa Boyle (soprano – Virgin Mary), Martha McLorinan (mezzo-soprano – Mary Magdalene), Michael Bell (tenor – St John), John Savournin (bass-baritone – Judas), James Geidt (baritone – St Peter), Dingle Yandell (bass-baritone – Jesus), Three Choirs Festival Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra / Adrian Partington (conductor). Gloucester Cathedral 29.7.2023. (JQ)
Elgar – The Apostles, Op.49 (1903)
It is a myth, long ago dispelled, I hope, that the Three Choirs Festival audience is a conservative one. During the last week they have loyally and appreciatively supported, and in good numbers, several challenging programmes. However, at this final evening concert of the 2023 Festival, they showed what they really like: Gloucester Cathedral was packed for this performance of Elgar’s The Apostles
Elgar composed this oratorio in 1903, conducting the first performance that year as part of the Birmingham Triennial Festival. It was at that same Festival in 1900 that the very unsatisfactory premiere of The Dream of Gerontius had been given. The Apostles, and its successor, The Kingdom (1906) have always been put in the shade by Gerontius. Whilst not seeking to diminish the excellence of Gerontius in any way, ever since I got to know the two later oratorios, initially through Sir Adrian Boult’s fine recordings made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I have felt that this overshadowing is not only unfair but also does Elgar a disservice.
In many ways The Apostles represents a considerable advance on Gerontius. It is true that the later work largely lacks the big set piece vocal solos of Gerontius. However, the choral writing is at least the equal of the material we find in Gerontius, while the orchestration of The Apostles is even more colourful and inventive than what Elgar had achieved in that earlier masterpiece. As examples, I would offer the incident-packed scoring of the ‘In the Tower of Magdala’ episode and even more so the orchestral writing in the ‘Fantasy’ section that follows. Here, the highly inventive scoring rivals Richard Strauss in Salome. There are other touches of brilliance, such as the glittering orchestration that illustrates the chief priests giving Judas thirty pieces of silver. Another example of Elgar’s ability to translate his fertile imagination into orchestral scoring comes early in the work in the scenes ‘In the Mountain – Night’ and ‘The Dawn’. In the former, Elgar’s writing for oboes as if from a distance is so evocative – and came off really well this evening – while his depiction of the dawn extends to the inclusion in the orchestration of a traditional Jewish instrument, the shofar. For a recent performance in Manchester Sir Mark Elder got the Hallé to source a genuine shofar in Cornwall, though I must say that when I listened to the broadcast, I thought the instrument sounded just like a modern trumpet. For tonight’s performance, as he did when he conducted the work at the 2014 Three Choirs Festival, Adrian Partington called on the services of a Jerusalem temple trumpet. This is a long natural trumpet with a curved bell. In 2014 the player was stationed on the tiered seating along with the choir but on this occasion, Partington went further. The trumpeter was positioned on the organ screen, way above the platform. From this vantage point his fanfares rang thrillingly down the nave. To be honest, I thought this was much more exciting that the effect achieved in Manchester
But what really sets The Apostles apart from Gerontius is the sense of drama. Speaking in advance of the aforementioned Manchester performance, Elder commented that The Apostles is the nearest that Elgar came to writing an opera. How right he is! My personal favourite among the Elgar oratorios is The Kingdom but that is, essentially, a series of tableaux. That may account for the tauter structure, as I perceive it, of The Kingdom, but there is no doubt that in The Apostles Elgar, who devised his own libretto from scripture (as he would later do in The Kingdom), is attempting to depict real people and real events. Richard Bratby has written some fine programme notes for the Festival this year but I think tonight’s was the best of them. Rightly, he reminded us of the profound impression made on the schoolboy Elgar when a teacher remarked that the apostles were just ordinary men, plucked from obscurity by Christ to do extraordinary things. So, I go to a performance of The Apostles not only to hear glorious music but also looking keenly for a sense of drama: did I find it tonight?
I made quite extensive notes during the choral/orchestral Prologue, ‘The Spirit of the Lord’; I am glad I did, because when I looked back at the end of the evening, I realised that this opening section had been a microcosm of some of the most important features of the performance. At the beginning of the week, Adrian Partington had served notice of his impressive Elgarian credentials in the Violin Concerto (review); here, on an even bigger canvass, he showed his deep understanding of the composer in spades. He was not afraid to adopt a spacious tempo at times in the Prologue but where Elgar requires it, he moved the music forward with urgency. This flexible and thoroughly idiomatic approach to tempo was a hallmark of his conducting throughout the evening. Just as importantly, the multitude of tempo variations that Elgar builds into the score were all scrupulously and effectively observed. The Philharmonia responded to their conductor alertly and with expertly nuanced playing. We have not heard enough of the Festival Chorus this week. In this Prologue I got a palpable sense that they were eager to demonstrate their worth. The ladies, for example, offered refined singing in the passage beginning ‘To give unto them that mourn’. But when we got to the majestic climax, sonorously underpinned by Jonathan Hope at the organ, and the choir sang ‘So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise…’ it seemed to me that the singers were stating ’this is what we do!’ The choral contributions thereafter stayed at a very high level; a few less than incisive entries by the tenors and basses at some trickly moments in Part II were mere blemishes and could not detract from an overall excellent and highly committed performance by the Festival Chorus.
Elgar used no fewer than six soloists in this work. To be honest, the soloists on this occasion were a mixed bag and, in passing, I wondered how many of them had had previous opportunities to sing their respective roles. When soprano Philippa Boyle put pressure on her voice, an excess of vibrato clouded both words and notes and I longed for the bell-like clarity brought to this role by Sheila Armstrong, who I was lucky enough to hear not only on the Boult recording but also at the first live performance of the work. Martha McLorinan produced some lovely singing in the quieter episodes of her role. However, in the more turbulent passages, such as ‘In the Tower of Magdala’ and the ‘Fantasy’, where Elgar’s orchestration is often very full, she really didn’t have sufficient power to command the stage.
Among the men, James Geidt was a stalwart Peter, though that role is nowhere near as key to the drama as is the case in The Kingdom. I liked the clear ring of tenor Michael Bell, who delivered his passages of narration very successfully. I am sorry to say that Dingle Yandell disappointed me as Jesus. He is a tall man and so has the physical presence for the role; he also has a clear, firm voice which should be ideally suited to the music Elgar wrote for this character. Unfortunately, those attributes can get you only so far. There were occasions when I felt he betrayed a lack of security and I noted at least one occasion when there was a mistimed entry; the situation was quickly saved by the alert conductor. But the most disappointing aspect of Yandell’s performance – and maybe it stemmed from the issues I have just highlighted – was a complete lack of emotional engagement; he just seemed to stand there and sing. I looked in vain for any evidence of compassion at the point where Jesus forgives the sins of Mary Magdalene – I am not sure Yandell even looked at Martha McLorinan, who was standing right next to him. Similarly, when Jesus bids farewell to his disciples and, crucially, sends them out into the world on their mission, Yandell failed to convey any sense that this was the event to which the whole oratorio had been building.
It is very significant that in The Apostles Elgar makes the two ‘outsiders’, Mary Magdalene and Judas, into central figures, giving them by far the most interesting music allotted to any of the soloists. The treatment of Judas is especially interesting in that Elgar refused to portray him simply as a weak, venal traitor. Instead, Elgar was persuaded by the theory that Judas was a misguided zealot who thought that handing Jesus over to the chief priests would give him the opportunity to reveal his redemptive glory. Thus, Judas comes to realise, too late, that by his actions he has betrayed not only Jesus but also himself. Judas dominates the ‘Without the Temple’ scene with his long aria of remorse. Ideally, I think, one needs a singer with a bigger, more black-toned voice than John Savournin possesses; I think of Clive Bayley in the recent Elder broadcast performance or Clifford Grant on the Boult recording. That said, I thought Savournin gave an excellent account of this extended solo. His singing, qua singing, was very fine and, crucially, his character identification was extremely convincing. To me, he conveyed very successfully both the anguish of Judas as he realises how gravely he has miscalculated and then the character’s complete despair. This was the best solo contribution of the evening.
But the evening really belonged to the Festival Chorus and the Philharmonia. During the course of the week, we have heard a good deal of excellent playing from several orchestras but I think the contribution of the Philharmonia tonight was the best and most polished of all. I have already referred to Elgar’s inventive orchestration; all of that was done full justice tonight. Under the expert guidance of Adrian Partington, the Philharmonia provided numerous examples of sensitive, refined playing – the shading of the Prologue to Part II was just one case in point. Yet, when the occasion demanded it, they turned on all the sonorous power at their disposal: the way the sound welled up – from the choir as well as from the orchestra – at ‘Proclaim unto them’ towards the end of Part I was an overwhelming moment. I was pleased too that there were very few occasions when the orchestral sound overpowered the singers; it happened occasionally because Elgar’s scoring can be very full, but it was an achievement on the part of the orchestra, operating in this acoustic, that such instances were rare. Here we had an orchestra at the top of their collective game and that was a major factor in the success of the performance.
The choral contribution was very fine. The Festival Chorus had clearly been thoroughly prepared and they sang with complete commitment; this, after all, is music that they have in their blood. I have had the good fortune to sing in this work on a few occasions so I could tell how attentive the singers were to matters of detail, especially dynamics. I also know how tricky some of the choral writing is. Apart from a handful of small imperfections in Part II, it seemed to me that the choir was on top of the score. And though the big moments were impressively done, I appreciated the sensitivity that was often displayed – I think, for example, of the lovely, light singing of the ladies near the end of Part II (‘Why seek ye the living among the dead?’) It would be wrong not to mention also the ethereal semi-chorus (members of the Festival Youth Choir?) who sang so well towards the end of the work.
The performance achieved the heights that it did thanks to the conducting of Adrian Partington. He clearly loves the score and knows it intimately. He brought to this performance all the light and shade that was needed and also the drama for which, as I said earlier, I was looking. His attention to detail in order to get the performance right was palpable. I have already referenced the use of the Jerusalem temple trumpet. The other inspired decision was to use, as he did in 2014, a group of nine tenors and basses – cathedral lay clerks, I believe – to sing some small passages in the score where usually the tenors and basses of the chorus join with the three soloists who sing the named roles of apostles. This combination of 12 voices created a numerically correct group of apostles – 11 after the demise of Judas. It sounds like a small thing but it really makes a difference. Elgar himself set the precedent, I believe, when he conducted the work in the 1920s. So far as I know, Partington and Mark Elder are the only conductors who have followed the composer’s lead, certainly in modern times. Partington was masterly in his control of the score, negotiating the many tricky passages safely and inspiring his performers to give a memorable, dramatic account of Elgar’s opera manqué.
As the Ascension scene, with its pounding percussion triplets, resounded thrillingly through Gloucester Cathedral, followed by the serene, glowing conclusion of the oratorio, I am not ashamed to admit that my eyes were moist. I admired greatly the recent Hallé performance conducted by Elder when I heard it on the radio, but I can say honestly that this performance moved me more. Perhaps in part that is because I was physically present tonight, but I think there was more to it than that. This performance of The Apostles was a richly rewarding end to the Three Choirs Festival 2023.
This was the tenth concert that I have reviewed at this year’s Three Choirs Festival. I have enjoyed much of what I have heard and there has been the welcome opportunity to hear for the first time a good number of pieces which were previously unknown to me, nine in all, ranging across 300 years from 1720 to the present day, including several premieres. In addition, I have experienced live for the first time a number of pieces that I knew previously only thorough broadcasts or recordings. The Three Choirs Festival has maintained its reputation for interesting programme planning. I feel that the Festival Chorus has been underrepresented but I am glad to see that this will be rectified somewhat at the 2024 Festival. That will be at Worcester and Artistic Director Samuel Hudson has announced a tempting set of headline programmes. The Festival will run from 27 July to 3 August 2024 and full details will be announced on the Festival website next Spring. I am already looking forward to another musical feast,
John Quinn