BBC Music Magazine
March 2019
Choral & Song Choice

Natalya Romaniw, Eleanor Dennis, Kitty Whately, Robert Murray, Ben McAteer, Neal Davies; Kinder Children's Choir, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Concert Orchestra, John Andrews

Commissioned for and first produced at the Birmingham Musical Festival of 1873, The Light of the World is Arthur Sullivan’s great oratorio on the life of Christ. Although regularly performed during the composer’s lifetime, changing fashions gradually condemned the work to obscurity. Occasional revivals have failed to make the case for it, primarily because it was not understood that The Light of the World is essentially a dramatic work, rather than a purely religious one. When Dutton Epoch and the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society came to record the work, this new understanding enabled a completely different approach to be taken – the result is a vibrant performance by the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by John Andrews.

"This performance is close to ideal. All the soloists make their mark, and conductor John Andrews does an excellent job, bringing constant motion to the score and drawing refined playing from the BBC Concert Orchestra and articulate singing from the BBC Symphony Chorus and the Kinder Children’s Choir." - BBC Music Magazine, March 2019.