"The Dream of Gerontius,'' a deeply felt meditation on death and the afterlife written in 1900 by English composer Edward Elgar, is a big, demanding work for orchestra, chorus and three vocal soloists. Popular in the United Kingdom, it's done more rarely in the United States, and only by orchestras with sufficient musical resources to do it right. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra presented memorable performances of the work in 2002 conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
Over the weekend, it was the Grant Park Orchestra's turn, and a finely tuned turn it was. At the Saturday night performance led by principal conductor Carlos Kalmar, the orchestra, chorus and soloists --mezzo-soprano Allyson …
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