While Elgar's Gerontius could be an unlikely star of Alan Bennett's The Choral, the work hardly requires a popularity boost. Gardner's lively latest album is among several issued in the past 24 months, with another expected early next year.
Captured live at the 2022 BBC Proms, this energetic performance boasts a great deal in its favor. Allan Clayton portrays the febrile essence of the dying man whose every sensation is both a terror and a intrigue. Clayton's valiant tone thrills in the magnificent prayer, Sanctus Fortis, while an emotional handling of lyrics illuminates the philosophical dialogue section in the second part. Jamie Barton's luxurious mezzo-soprano possesses a palpable immediacy as well as providing ample reserves of solace. James Platt's rugged bass voice is ideally matched to the Angel of the Agony.
Gardner is intensely theatrical, conveying the narrative with an almost operatic audacity. The LPO plays as if a group of evil spirits was at its back, matched by the joint efforts of the LPO and Hallé choirs. Here and there, the sound environment robs the recording of the final ounce of immediacy, but all in all it's a fine accomplishment to rank alongside Collon's arresting from Finland account released in recent months.
