Performers Berlin-bound for dream performance

10:24am Thursday 8th May 2008

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ELGAR'S Dream of Gerontius oratorio is one of the most popular in the classical repertoire.

Salisbury Musical Society has joined forces with the Berlin Philharmonischer Choir for two performances, the first to be performed in Berlin this Sunday, and the second performance in Salisbury Cathedral on Saturday, May 17.

More than 100 members of SMS will travel to Berlin to sing and 90 members of the German choir will travel to Salisbury the following weekend.

The society has performed with the choir before, with a series of four performances of Verdi's Requiem in 2000, and for the Salisbury performance will be accompanied by the Chelsea Opera Group Orchestra under the baton of David Halls.

Soloists Jane Irwin (mezzo-soprano), Peter Auty (tenor) and Paul Whelan (bass) will sing in both concerts.

Elgar composed The Dream of Gerontius in 1900 to a text from the poem by Cardinal Newman. It relates the journey of a man's soul from his deathbed to his judgement before God.

Tickets for the musical society's concert are available from Salisbury Playhouse box office.

• Salisbury artist Veronika Jackson is a former member of Salisbury Musical Society and has sung the oratorio many times.

She has used her love of Elgar's work to create a series of imaginative paintings based on the oratorio.

She said: "I love the music so much it inspired me to do this series of paintings which are purely from my imagination, my own interpretation of the work."

Veronika created the series of paintings in the 1990s and received a commendation from the Elgar Society in 1999, following an exhibition in Salisbury Cathedral, for which she is extremely proud.

Her exhibition is at Sarum College in the Cathedral Close and runs throughout May.