John Findon (Gerontius),Christine Rice (Angel), Roderick Williams (Priest/Angel of the Agony)

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Music Centre Choir, Cambridge University Symphony Chorus, Dominante Choir, Helsinki Chamber Choir, Alumni of the Choir of Clare College Cambridge, Nicholas Collon

“This is the best of me” wrote Edward Elgar in 1900 at the end of the manuscript of The Dream of Gerontius. This impressive and modern new recording of Elgar’s magnum opus by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Nicholas Collon features alongside mezzo-soprano Christine Rice, tenor John Findon and baritone Roderick Williams, singers from five different choirs: Helsinki Music Centre Choir, Cambridge University Symphony Chorus, Dominante, Helsinki Chamber Choir and Alumni of the Choir of Clare College Cambridge. The Dream of Gerontius is a setting of extracts from the visionary poem of the same title by John Henry Newman (1801–90), a leading theologian and academic at Oxford University, as well as a priest. Newman was made a Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879, beatified in 2010 by Benedict XIV and canonised by Pope Francis nine years later. Although Elgar’s brilliant The Dream of Gerontius did not prove an untrammelled success at its premiere in October 1900, the critics and many professional musicians heard enough to realise that it was a work of genius. Eventually, The Dream of Gerontius ascended to its rightful place as a major work of European art and one of the greatest works written by Elgar.