Ronald Corp: New London Orchestra - Sullivan: The Prodigal Son

In many ways a �missing link� between Mendelssohn�s Elijah and Elgar�s The Dream of Gerontius, The Prodigal Son, one of just two oratorios by Sir Arthur Sullivan, was a staple in the choral repertory from its first performance at the Three Choirs Festival of 1869 until the First World War put an end to a world�musical or otherwise�where innocence was acceptable. A relatively early work, the oratorio tells the story�from the Gospel of Saint Luke�in a style that is at once endearing and dramatic.Commissioned in anticipatory thanksgiving for the conclusion of hostilities, the Boer War Te Deum�Sullivan�s last completed work�had to wait two years for the outbreak of peace to allow its posthumous performance, and what a �crowd-pleaser� it turned out to be: as Sullivan�s own hymn tune �Onward, Christian soldiers� rang out, the columnist of The Daily Telegraph reported how the Te Deum was �brought up from exquisite tenderness to a pitch of dignity and strength��praise indeed justified for a work which enthralls singer and listener alike.While some may consider Sullivan �without the WSG� on a level with a Chinese takeaway �without the MSG�, Hyperion�s pioneering recordings continue to go some way to prove the worth of his �solo� compositions. Ronald Corp and his New London Orchestra have also recorded Sullivan�s epic secular cantata The Golden Legend to critical acclaim.