While The Dream of Gerontius could be an unlikely focus of Alan Bennett's The Choral, the masterpiece hardly requires a popularity boost. Gardner's lively new album stands as among several issued in the past 24 months, with another expected in January.
Recorded live at the BBC Proms in 2022, this energetic performance has a great deal going for it. Allan Clayton captures the febrile nature of the protagonist near death whose each feeling is both a terror and a intrigue. Clayton's valiant tone excites in the magnificent prayer, Holy and Strong, while an emotional handling of text highlights the thought-provoking question and answer section in Part Two. Barton's luxurious mezzo-soprano possesses a tangible presence as well as offering ample reserves of comfort. Platt's rugged bass is ideally matched to the Angel of the Agony.
Gardner is highly dramatic, expressing the narrative with an nearly opera-like boldness. The London Philharmonic performs as if a group of evil spirits was at its heels, paralleled by the combined efforts of the LPO and Hallé choruses. Here and there, the acoustic deprives the performance of the final ounce of immediacy, but overall it's a excellent accomplishment to rank with Nicholas Collon's gripping Finnish version issued in recent months.
