Nos Sul / Sunday 8 Mehefin / June 2024
The Dream of Gerontius
Edward Elgar
Ar 8 Mehefin 2025 bydd Cantorion Menai yn perfformio campwaith anhygoel Elgar, The Dream of Gerontius. Ai oratorio ynteu opera ydyw? Nid ydyw'r naill na’r llall, ond myfyrdod drwy gyfansoddi ynghylch breuddwydion a gobeithion dyn wrth iddo ddynesu at ei daith derfynol i gwrdd â’i Greawdwr. Daw ei gyfeillion ynghyd, a hefyd yr angylion, ac er bod digon i ddychryn dyn ar y daith, ceir yma dawelwch ysbrydol a gobaith.
Gwyn Hughes Jones fydd yn canu rhan Gerontius gan ddychwelyd adre i Fôn o’i yrfa nodedig fel tenor operatig. Bydd Leah-Marian Jones, o Gaerfyrddin, hithau’n enwog ar lwyfannau opera ledled y byd ac am ei haml ymddangosiadau ar y teledu, yn canu rhan yr Angel. Cenir rhan yr offeiriad gan David Kempster, y canwr bas-bariton gwych o’r Waun sydd hefyd yn hen gyfarwydd â pherfformio mewn operâu ledled y byd a hefyd canu i gynulleidfaoedd yng Nghymru a beirniadu yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol.
Ochr yn ochr â’r unawdwyr o fri bydd y Liverpool Welsh Choral yn ymuno â Chantorion Menai gan greu côr o oddeutu 150 o gantorion. Bydd Prifysgol Bangor yn bartner pwysig yn hyn oll. Yn Neuadd Prichard Jones y cynhelir y cyngerdd gydag ieuenctid Cerddorfa Symffoni Prifysgol Bangor yn gwneud cyfraniad unigryw i gerddoriaeth Elgar.
On June 8, 2025, Cantorion Menai will perform Elgar’s extraordinary masterpiece, The Dream of Gerontius. Is is an oratorio, is it an opera? It is neither, but rather a through-composed meditation on a man’s dreams and hopes as he approaches his final journey to meet his Maker. His friends are gathered, as are the angels, and although there are frights along the way, the journey is full of peace and hope.
Gerontius is sung by Gwyn Hughes Jones, who returns home (he is an Anglesey boy) from a glittering international career as an operatic tenor. The Angel is sung by Leah-Marian Jones, from Carmarthen, well known on opera stages around the world and from her very many television appearances. The Priest is performed by David Kempster, the fine bass-baritone from Chirk, himself no stranger to opera productions all over the world, and to audiences in Wales as an adjudicator at the National Eisteddfod.
Alongside this glittering cast of soloists Cantorion Menai is joined by the Liverpool Welsh Choral and the Choir of Bangor Cathedral, making a choir of around 150 singers. Bangor University is an important partner, and the Dream of Gerontius will be staged at the Prichard Jones Hall with the young people of the Bangor University Symphony Orchestra making their own unique contribution to Elgar’s music.
