Kidderminster Dream of Gerontius review
TEARS STILL IN THE EYES AFTER KIDDERMINSTER'S GERONTIUS
DREAM OF GERONTIUS
Kidderminster Choral Society at Kidderminster Town Hall *****
My eyes are still moist after one of the most moving of the many performances of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius I have heard over half a century.
Perhaps Kidderminster Choral Society were on their toes because of their close links with the composer all those decades ago, but I don't think so. They were on their mettle because conductor Geoffrey Weaver always prepares them assiduously so that on concert night his assured, persuasive conducting can bring forth the fruits of thorough rehearsal.
Diction, as always, was clear, and there was an intelligently nuanced response to St John Henry Newman's deeply spiritual text. Harmonies were confidently shaped even when unaccompanied, and if there was the occasional stray thinness of tone (I was aware of at least one chorus member doggedly holding their score too high in front of their