Paul McCreesh's 'must-have recording' of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius is the recipient of the 2025 BBC Music Magazine Choral award!
In a published review for the magazine, critic Terry Blain wrote:
"As conductor, McCreesh is both unobtrusive and highly effective, unfussily setting appropriate tempos and masterfully binding his large forces together in a common purpose. Above all, though, he takes Gerontius seriously as music drama. Elgar himself disliked it being described as an ‘oratorio’, and large sections of McCreesh’s performance feel more like an extended operatic scena, entirely stripped of sanctimony or a trumped-up aura of religiosity. The cumulative impact is all the more moving for that. . . This is unquestionably a great recording of Gerontius, one that every Elgarian should have, and ranks high among the many important projects Gabrieli has so far undertaken in its four decades of existence."
This represents yet another award for the recording which has previously received a Gramophone Award and was named Limelight Magazine's Vocal Recording of the Year.
