Elgar/ Birsan/ Banks/ Opie/ Bergen Philharm - King Olaf

After having recorded Elgar's the Dream of Gerontius ('Recording of the Month' in BBC Music), Sir Andrew Davis turns to two of the composer's most popular early choral works: Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf and the Banner of Saint George. The recording, made soon after a successful performance, features the same 'excellent Bergen Philharmonic' and 'outstanding' vocal forces: The 'imposing' baritone Alan Opie, the 'high, incisive tenor' Barry Banks, singing 'fearlessly in some quite challenging passages', and the American soprano Emily Birsan, who sang 'with radiant delicacy' (The Daily Telegraph). These two works shaped Elgar's later reputation as a leading orchestrator and most popular British composer of his time.