Upcoming Musical Event in DC
I don’t often recommend musical events to you but Teresa pointed out to me something in today’s paper that I feel you all might find enjoyable and inspiring.
Nov. 3rd at 2pm at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Edward Elgar’s “The Dream of Gerontius”
Chorale Arts Society, Norman Scribner conducting
www.choralarts.org
This is an Oratorio based on the text poem written by John Cardinal Newman.
The chorus, soloists and orchestra should be wonderful (I’ve heard the tenor
on a Robert Shaw recording and he’s magnificent.)
The work is outstanding in several ways:
The text is truly Catholic in how it communicates the passing of a soul from death to judgement.
The work is some of Elgar’s best work and is highly regarded as his best Oratorio.
The work is groundbreaking in terms of the setting of the text in Elgar’s time (it was somewhat frowned upon by the English because of how “Catholic” it is.
Finally – the work is just complicated & obscure enough that it’s notperformed in public very often.
Tickets are $16 to $48.
Here’s some related links:
The Elgar Society has a great deal of info on the work here.