The Closing Concert of the 2022 Festival featured one of the great choral masterpieces by Elgar. The performers were difficult to beat in the present day. Sir Andrew Davis resumed his regular Festival association with the RSNO which has embraced Humperdinck, Stravinsky and Massenet as well as Wagner and Elgar. He is now one of the greatest living interpreters of Elgar's music and this Dream of Gerontius was hard to fault.
The Edinburgh Festival Chorus, under the direction of Aidan Oliver, no doubt enjoyed themselves resuming after the enforced Covid gap. The demonic elements of the piece seemed particularly enthusiastic. It was also good to see the veteran Christopher Bell on hand to steer the National Youth Choir. The orchestra produced some wonderfully subtle sounds.
The title role was taken by Andrew Staples, whose development in recent years makes him one of the leading performers of this repertoire. The voice is unfailingly sweet-toned and yet has now gained substantially in power.
Karen Cargill and Iain Paterson are arguably the two leading Scottish singers of the present day and it was wonderful to see them together briefly at home rather than at the world's great opera houses. If her Angel took a few phrases to warm up, with unexpected vibrato, she quickly settled to produce her usual wonderful silky tone. Paterson was just as good in his two brief opportunities.
This was the ideal vehicle to bring Fergus Linehan's final Festival to a close.
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