Inspirational performance of Gerontius in Stowe Chapel

Aylesbury Choral Society brought their 70th anniversary season to a fitting conclusion on May 10 with a memorable performance of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius in Stowe School Chapel, a beautiful and appropriate setting for such an intensely religious work.

Under their inspirational conductor, James Burton, the choir sang with great conviction and assurance, negotiating even the difficult fugal passages with commendable ease and accuracy.

They were ably supported by Stowe School Semi Chorus, which looked as well as sounded angelic in the appropriate parts. The orchestra was the accomplished Oxford Philomusica.

The tenor soloist, William Kendall, in the key role of the dying man in Part I and his soul in Part 2, has a pleasing lyrical voice but at times seemed to lack the intensity of expression that the work demands.

Both the bass Timothy Mirfin and the mezzo soprano Marie Elliott (a late replacement for the indisposed Alexandra Gibson) sang their roles powerfully and expressively.

James Burton controlled the massed forces of choir, soloists, semi-chorus and orchestra superbly, even holding the audience in his thrall for a prolonged moment of silence before allowing the waves of well-deserved applause to break out.

The choir and orchestra will be repeating the performance, with the Oxford Schola Cantorum providing the semi-chorus, in the Oxford Sheldonian on October 31.

The more ample acoustic of the Sheldonian should match more closely the cathedral acoustic for which Elgar wrote. It promises to be a stunning performance, one not to be missed.

Charles Vincent


James Burton, the Society and the Oxford Philomusica in rehearsal at Stowe

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