The Dream of Gerontius

Usher Hall 2/3/25

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth conductor

Huddersfield Choral Society, Gregory Batsleer chorus master

RCS Chamber Choir, Andrew Nunn chorus master

Brenden Patrick Gunnell tenor – Gerontius

Beth Taylor mezzo-soprano – Angel

Neal Davies bass – Priest and Angel of the Agony

There are times in a musician’s life when all the stars align and something wonderful happens, an event which will stay with you for the rest of your life.  I remember Mahler’s 2nd Symphony in August 1973 in the Usher Hall, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Around the same time, in the same hall, I heard Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Daniel Barenboim perform Schubert’s Winterreise. Ten years later, I was at Wembley Stadium to see the reunion concert of Simon and Garfunkel. In summer 2001, I was part of a ‘Marriage of Figaro’ at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, singing Dr Bartolo, in a production by Sir Richard Eyre, conducted by Marc Minkowski, which was as perfect a performance of that opera as one could imagine.

On Sunday 2nd March, at the Usher Hall, I was present at the first performance in Edinburgh by Beth Taylor, of the Angel in Elgar’s ‘The Dream of Gerontius’, and I have no doubt that this event will go down as a historic milestone.

As readers may know, I have been singing intermittently with Beth since we performed together in a Mozart Requiem with John Butt in Glasgow Cathedral in 2019, and I have been monitoring her rise to stardom ever since. Debuts around Europe and further afield have been ever increasing,  in more and more prestigious venues, like Glyndebourne, Amsterdam, Berlin, Montreal, Carnegie Hall, New York and the Salzburg Festival. Scotland is often/always very slow in acknowledging its own stars, but from the reaction today in Edinburgh, we can now say that Beth Taylor is one of our very brightest! More of Beth later.

 I must admit that I have an ambivalent relationship with ‘The Dream of Gerontius’. I first sang the bass solos over 30 years ago, didn’t find them ideal for my voice, and was generally uncomfortable with the heavy Anglo-Catholic atmosphere of the whole piece. As the child of an elder in the Church of Scotland, and an atheist since my teens, the preparation of the deceased soul of Gerontius for judgement and Purgatory and beyond, aided by an Angel, described in high Victorian English poetry by John Henry Newman, was decidedly not to my taste! Coupled with lashings of Pomp and Circumstance at school music lessons, my first reaction was to run in the opposite direction. This was not an anti-English reaction. I love almost all the music of Vaughan Williams, that quintessential Englishman, but Elgar I just hated.

Slowly over the years, I discovered the symphonies, the Enigma Variations and the cello concerto, and I was able to see another side of this enigmatic composer. The big revelation was his oratorio, ‘The Apostles’, which I sang in Canterbury Cathedral in 1991. This was like English Wagner, lush, thrilling and inspiring, and, in the role of Judas, I discovered a fabulous bass part, ideal for my voice. I have sung ‘The Apostles’ a few more times since then, and have thoroughly enjoyed it, but still squirmed at the thought of ‘Gerontius’. So when I saw that the BBCSSO was performing the piece in the Usher Hall, with my friend, Beth, as the Angel, I decided I had to bite the bullet, and give it another go!

I have mentioned before that I think the BBC orchestra should perform more frequently in Edinburgh, and, certainly on this showing, with a decent audience on a Sunday afternoon, its management should seriously consider this.

The same forces had appeared in Paisley Abbey earlier in the week, although reports suggest that that was a less suitable venue in terms of balance. The Usher Hall is absolutely perfect for works such as ‘Gerontius’, and the BBC had assembled a dream team of soloists and choir for the occasion. The world famous Huddersfield Choral Society (Chorus Master – Gregory Batsleer) formed the bulk of the choral contribution, while the Chamber Choir of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, trained by Andrew Nunn, provided the fresh voices of the semi-chorus.

The solo trio was well-nigh perfect. Neal Davies possesses just the right voice for the tricky dual roles of Priest and Angel of the Agony, his healthy baritone providing stentorian presence for the Priest while his lower register brought warmth to the angel who pleads with Jesus for all tormented souls. I still find this section distasteful, but Mr Davies sang with beauty and aplomb!

As Gerontius himself, we heard the American-British tenor, Brenden Patrick Gunnell, and he was immensely impressive. Singing largely from memory, and able to switch from floaty head voice to full throated heroic tenor, Mr Gunnell was something of a revelation. Not for him the gentle croonings of English cathedral tradition, but rather a voice which sings Siegmund, Peter Grimes and Lohengrin. It was with some sense of pride that I realised that Mr Gunnell’s vocal coach was Anthony Roden, my own personal voice guru. He has been well-taught.

As the Angel who assists the soul of Gerontius in glimpsing the presence of God, Beth Taylor demonstrated why she is one of the most sought-after mezzos in the world today. With total control over her voice, from Kathleen Ferrier-like contralto sonority to thrilling top notes, Beth has now added, over the last few years, a physical presence which dominates the stage, and a range of interpretive skills which allow her to delve into the deeper recesses of the music she sings. She has recently added Mahler’s ‘Das Lied von der Erde’ to her repertoire, and I look forward to hearing that soon.

 The continuing excellence of the three Scottish orchestras (RSNO, SCO and BBCSSO is a modern phenomenon of which we can be very proud, and the playing in ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ was exemplary, under the watchful and considered direction of the BBCSSO’s Chief Conductor, Ryan Wigglesworth. A musicologist and a composer in his own right, Mr Wigglesworth proved an unfussy and elegant conductor of a tricky piece, with well-judged tempi and a good awareness of balance. In retrospect, the observation that I didn’t actually watch him at any point on the podium is testament to the fact that his persona is not that of a showman, and yet this was the most satisfactory ‘Gerontius’ that I have heard.

I have been listening to Elgar’s ‘The Apostles’ this morning, and I remain convinced that that work is his masterpiece, but I am glad that much of my prejudice against ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ has abated, and I shall forever be grateful that I have heard Beth Taylor singing in it!