Elgar: The Kingdom
A stunning range of soloists and two of the UK’s leading choirs perform Elgar’s sublime oratorio.
Crouch End Festival Chorus joins Hertfordshire Chorus and four world-class soloists to perform one of Elgar’s great choral works, The Kingdom, in a concert to celebrate its landmark recording.
In 1906, following the success of The Dream of Gerontius and The Apostles, the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival commissioned Elgar to write a third large oratorio for its festival that year.
Conceived as part of a trilogy of oratorios, The Kingdom continues the narrative started in The Apostles. Elgar focuses on the lives of Jesus’ disciples and the Holy Women, in particular on Peter, John, the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene in the days surrounding the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and on the work of the early church community. The followers of Jesus are portrayed as down-to-earth ordinary men and women who encounter extraordinary events.
The Kingdom is considered by some to be Elgar’s greatest choral work. A mixture of gentle conversational sections and astonishingly dramatic choral passages, The Kingdom also features some of Elgar’s finest orchestral writing. Three of the soloists from Crouch End Festival Chorus’ recording of The Kingdom will join the choirs in this concert, which includes the hauntingly beautiful soprano solo, ‘The sun goeth down’.
Performers
London Orchestra da Camera
David Temple conductor
Francesca Chiejina soprano
Dame Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Hulett tenor
Ashley Riches bass
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Hertfordshire Chorus
Repertoire
Elgar: The Kingdom
Need to know
Please note that there is no interval during this performance
You can buy an exclusive box package for this event. More details of our Royal Festival Hall exclusive box package.
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
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Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
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On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.