The following recollections of singing in the Russian premiere of The Dream of Gerontius come from Clive Marks, who took part in the performance conducted by Yevgeny Svetlanov and issued on this Melodiya recording. Clive was a full-time member of the London Symphony Chorus between 1982 and 1985 and then continued with the Chorus as an extra member until 2008. We’re most grateful to him for agreeing that his recollections could be published on MusicWeb
“At the first rehearsal, Svetlanov started with the Prelude and the choir were stunned with the attention to detail which the orchestra was observing. As soon as Svetlanov stopped to make some comment to the orchestra, the whole chorus burst into applause and that set the tone of respect for the rest of the week. As this was the Russian premiere of Elgar's masterpiece, the sound of this music would have been unusual to a Russian ear but Svetlanov's slow tempo throughout the Prelude would have allowed the audience time to become accustomed to this new style of music. Even during breaks in six hours of daily rehearsal, the sections of the orchestra would disappear to work on exacting Elgar's detailed markings. With such dedication by the orchestra, we had to do our best to surpass their efforts. As you stated, we were ambassadors for British musicianship.
When it came to the performance, the stage setting was unusual for us. The orchestra was assembled on stage and the leader had been applauded to his position. The hall then fell into silence for our arrival on stage. The first member of the choir to step on stage happened to be me, as I was in the middle of the back row, and the audience continued applauding until we were all on stage. No pressure to do anything but give the performance of our lives!
When it came to the ascending chords, just before "Take me away", I caught sight of a lady sitting about ten rows back. Now, bear in mind that there had been State-atheism for almost 70 years; the programme notes had removed any mention of God, a particularly clever piece of editorial control, and there was no libretto in the programme. As the chords progressed, I watched that lady's face contort (even now, this is making my throat tighten) until that great crashing chord caused her eyes to burst with tears. The power of Elgar's music had defeated the ideological efforts of communism. WOW!
The next night we did the second performance to equal acclaim and then the following night we gave the Russian premieres of Brucker's E-Minor Mass and Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, conducted by Richard Hickox. We had to encore the Belshazzar and the ovation for it lasted 23 minutes. I think that the audience liked it. After that, we all went out for one heck of a party with the orchestra, with much vodka being shared, resulting in about two hours of sleep before we had to head home.
So there you are with a bit of an insight to the events around that Gerontius recording. I have never been able to listen to it all the way through as it is far too emotional for me. Perhaps I should try again, when I am home alone.”
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