Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players, David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom (2025)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:29:22 minutes | 1,60 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Signum Records
Recorded in the recently restored 1875 Victorian Theatre at Alexandra Palace, Crouch End Festival Chorus and David Temple present Elgar’s The Kingdom. Joined by London Mozart Players the soloists include Francesca Chiejina, Dame Sarah Connolly Benjamin Hulett and Ashley Riches. Arguably Elgar’s least well-known choral work, The Kingdom is a mixture of gentle conversational sections and astonishing dramatic passages, and David Temple believes it is the quality of the orchestral writing that elevates it to justifiably sit alongside Elgar’s other notable works. “I am so taken with it… It is a gem from the first note to the last, and my desire to share this as widely as possible is reinforced by the present recording…One thing that cannot happen in a concert performance is ‘repeated listening’. A recording, by contrast, holds an open invitation at the end… to return to the beginning! This drip-feed allows the music to be deeply absorbed, and it is this which I believe will enable The Kingdom’s true quality to be more widely appreciated” – David Temple.
Tracklist:
1. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: Prelude (08:33)
2. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: I. In the Upper Room: “Seek first the Kingdom of God” (08:06)
3. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: I. In the Upper Room: “Men and brethren” (08:26)
4. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: II. At the Beautiful Gate: The Morn of Pentecost: “The singers are before the altar” (05:27)
5. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: III. Pentecost: In the Upper Room: In Solomon’s Porch: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come” (04:43)
6. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: III. Pentecost: In the Upper Room: In Solomon’s Porch: “And suddenly there came from heaven” (05:35)
7. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: III. Pentecost: In the Upper Room: In Solomon’s Porch: “Ye men of Judea” (13:26)
8. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: IV. The Sign of Healing: At the Beautiful Gate: “Then they that gladly received his word” (09:09)
9. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: IV. The Sign of Healing: The Arrest: “And as they spake” (08:22)
10. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: V. The Upper Room: In Fellowship, The Breaking of Bread, The Prayers: “The Voice of Joy” (08:44)
11. Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple – Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: V. The Upper Room: In Fellowship, The Breaking of Bread, The Prayers: “Give thanks first for the Cup” (08:47)