A maestro returns with Elgar's gentle giant

Ben Heppner (left), the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus perform "The Dream of Gerontius," conducted by Sir Colin Davis, Thursday at Symphony Hall. (michael j. lutch)

Reprinted from late editions of yesterday's Globe.

People still talk about Sir Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony Orchestra's performances of Elgar's choral masterpiece "The Dream of Gerontius" - in 1982. Anyone wondering what the fuss was about should make haste to Symphony Hall this weekend, as Davis has returned to the podium with this endearingly grand oratorio, a work that tells of one man's final moments on earth and his soul's journey to purgatory. Thursday night, Davis led the BSO, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and an impressive slate of soloists, in a noble and moving performance, one that did justice to the work's grand scale but also to the serene and tender humanity at its core.

Elgar completed "Gerontius" in 1899, when his fame was just beginning to spread. It is a piece whose massive proportions are belied by its remarkable fluidity. With a text adapted from John Henry Newman's poem of the same name, the work begins with an expansive Prelude that pans majestically across the landscape of the entire oratorio. We then meet Gerontius on his deathbed and hear his anguished final prayers and supplications; we follow him on his journey, guided by a priest and an immense chorus of assistants. Part II opens in a calm sea of muted strings, quite literally otherworldly in tone. Gerontius's soul, led by an angel, gets a harrowing glimpse of its maker. The soul then craves the refuge of purgatory, and the work culminates with the angel's achingly beautiful song of consolation and farewell.

Thursday night Ben Heppner sang the challenging role of Gerontius with both subtlety and power. Elgar wanted his title character to be not a pious martyr but "a man like us," attached to the pleasures of the world but also yearning for redemption. Heppner's performance captured this tension, and though he was not overall in flawless voice, he came through when it mattered. And one had to admire his very first entrance. With a single line, "Jesu, Maria - I am near to death, And Thou art calling me," he telegraphed both the fragility and weariness of a dying man as well as the crazed desperation of a soul clinging resolutely to life.

But for me, Sarah Connolly's singing was the welcome surprise of the evening. In her BSO subscription debut, this British mezzo was utterly captivating as the Angel, singing with a slightly veiled yet glowing voice, full of deeply felt expression. In the work's final pages, she brought Gerontius's soul to rest with all the gentleness and warmth you could ask for.

Gerald Finley was pure-toned and eloquent in the work's smaller solo roles, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus sang gloriously. For his part, Davis feels this music deeply and, as an octogenarian, he has spoken of the personal resonance of its themes. That did not however translate into a sentimental or melodramatic account. Davis gives the musicians room to play, and Thursday night in Symphony Hall, the music unfolded with an unforced grace and a kind of Wagnerian sweep. Climaxes blazed brilliantly along the way, but the most memorable moments came in the touching peacefulness of the work's resolution.

Jeremy Eichler can be reached at jeichler@globe.com.