The Kingdom, Three Choirs Festival

World-class singers and orchestra make most of Elgar's flawed oratorio

by Stephen WalshSunday, 08 August 2010

Gloucester Cathedral, stage for Elgar's 'The Kingdom': 'glorious orchestral sonorities echoing round the huge Norman columns'

The Three Choirs Festival is with us again, for the 283rd year – almost as many, it seems, as The Mousetrap: this year we are in Gloucester. Nowadays, though, this great festival is no longer imprisoned, Barchester-like, in the cathedral close, but ranges all over Gloucester city and Gloucestershire, with concerts also in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Highnam and Painswick; and its repertoire is likewise much broader than of yore, with plenty of new music, young artists, children’s concerts, and even, quaintly, a pipe and tabor workshop, to go with the familiar Elgar, Finzi, Vaughan Williams and Holst, the organ recitals and the vicarage tea parties, the coach trips and the memorial talks.

Should one praise a singer’s smile? Williams manages to look as if the audience contains only his best friends

Explore topics

Share this article

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Classical music

Widmann, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - razor-sharp attack in adrenalin charges A great conductor continues his scorching survey of British symphonies with a hard-hitter

Nakariakov, SCO, Emelyanychev, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh review - a frenzied feast of contemporary classics 'New Dimensions' concerts continue to flourish

Biss, BBCSO, Hrůša, Barbican review - electrifying Shostakovich at a crucial time The Royal Opera's next music director achieves blazing results in a rich programme

BBC Singers, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Kings Place review - on the way to heaven via King's Cross Intimate settings for a musical journey towards bliss

Classical CDs: Mandolins, trumpets and hot soup French chamber music, Viennese waltzes and a disc of viola duets

RAM Song Circle, Wigmore Hall review - excellent young musicians lift the spirits Royal Academy singers revel in merry monks, mourning mothers and morose musings

Gigashvili, Hallé, Cox, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - beauty and style from a winning pianist Music and ‘noise’ come together as new music meets Mozart and Tchaikovsky

Giltburg, Pavel Haas Quartet, Wigmore Hall review - into the labyrinth of a Martinů masterpiece Fierce Czech first half followed by more storm but also balm in Brahms

Tiffin Youth Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Jurowski, RFH review - perfect detachment suits public statements Poised Haydn and John Adams in a surprising sequence

Celtic Connections: Orchestral Qawwali Project, GRIT Orchestra review - two concerts showcasing the cross-genre power of an orchestra Orchestral music imagined in many ways in Glasgow's global music festival

Sun Rings, Sacconi Quartet, Festival Voices, Kings Place review - lift-off for an exhilarating voyage into the unknown A suitably radiant interpretation of a Terry Riley epic

Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Dudamel, Barbican review - an epic journey from gossamer-like intimacy to apocalyptic rage An orchestra on top form in Mahler's Third Symphony despite swirling controversies

Follow @theartsdesk