Dream of Gerontius

[liadnan]

I hadn't managed to make it to any Proms since the first night until today, due to pressures of work, which is mildly irritating. Particularly since that entailed missing Mondays Die Walküre, which those who were there have gleefully told me was the best concert performance they've ever heard. And I rolled up somewhat late today, not really expecting to make it in, but was pleasantly surprised to find a fairly short queue. The Dream of Gerontius usually draws a bigger crowd.

Not a blowout performance by any means (nowhere near equal to Sir Col. last time it was on), but pretty good I thought. Hallé under Mark Elder, Hallé Choir and Youth Choir with the London Philharmonic Choir as well -pretty staggering choral forces for the work- and Alice Coote all impressive, Paul Groves and Matthew Best less so. But, despite the libretto, which isn't actually Newman's finest writing by a very long way, it's a work that would have to be done particularly badly for me not to feel cheerful at the end.