BBC Magazine's Recording of the Year is The Hallé Orchestra's The Apostles by Elgar

The Hallé Orchestra and conductor Sir Mark Elder's "magnificent" (Financial Times) new recording of Elgar's oratorio The Apostles, a retelling of Christ's Passion from the viewpoint of His followers, arrives at last in North America, following a cluster of superlative reviews in the UK. The Sunday Telegraph declares it a performance of "such insight, splendour and breadth of interpretive vision that one can't imagine it being surpassed" while Gramophone insists, "a set absolutely not to be missed." The live performance, recorded in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall in 2012, appears on the orchestra's own Hallé label on 2 CDs, available now from Allegro Classical.

Conductor Mark Elder conducts the Hallé Orchestra and Hallé Choir and Youth Choir, adding an extra all-male semi-chorus to create an on-stage group of 12 apostles, here a group of students from the Royal Northern College of Music. "All six of the soloists," says International Record Review, "are outstanding," including soprano Rebecca Evans, doubling as the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, mezzo-soprano Alice Coote as Mary Magdalene, and tenor Paul Groves as John.

First performed in 1903, The Apostles is a massive work of over two hours in length. While the work itself, first intended to be part of a trilogy, has had an uneven history, its glorious choral writing-notably the music depicting Christ's Ascension to heaven-is thought to be some of the most poignant ever written. The new recording also features a musician performing on a shofar-an ancient Hebrew instrument made of ram's horn-a rarity in modern performances of this work.

Now in its 155th season, the Hallé ranks among the UK's top symphonic ensembles, with a distinguished history of acclaimed performances around the world. Sir Mark Elder, Music Director of the Hallé since September 2000, has worked with many of the world's leading symphony orchestras and is a previous Music Director of English National Opera and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Hallé has released a number of award-winning recordings on their own label, including music by Wagner, Vaughn Williams, and Debussy.

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