Tenor Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono balanced expressiveness and clarity with ever-confident projection as Gerontius in Auckland Choral's performance of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius. Photo / Bruce Crossnan
Auckland Choral’s inspired and inspiring The Dream of Gerontius must be a high point of its 169 years of providing much-valued sustenance to our city’s musical life.
Elgar’s oratorio, historically important for rescuing British choral music from its Victorian slump, is a work of immense spiritual profundity, drawing on
a Cardinal Newman poem to explore issues of life, death and what comes after.
Significantly, the composer wrote at the end of his manuscript, “This is the best of me,” proud that he had “made my own atmosphere and stuck to it”.
On Sunday night, Uwe Grodd set the atmosphere with seasoned skill, conducting an augmented Pipers Sinfonia through the rich textures and subtle inflections of Elgar’s 12-minute Prelude.
This, in turn, was the perfect introduction for Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono as Gerontius, displaying the artistry that has won the young tenor a slew of prizes, nationally and internationally. Balancing expressiveness and clarity, with ever-confident projection, he portrayed the shifting emotions and unswerving faith of a dying man.
