I don't take them seriously and I don't want to spend $10K to find out what they mean. But it's interesting to observe the conflicting opinions on the subject of dacs, both sides being equally opinionated.
There will be conflicting opinions about these topics even after the cows have come back home. If the scientific/objective side of this debate won, audio business would be about selling plastic $19.99 DACs like bread at Walmart, because that's all you need for transparent sound. A lot of people want to make audio much more interesting, profitable and sexier than that. Hence this debate.
Your Elgar recommendation, on the other hand, I take seriously because I know you are knowledgeable about classical music.
Thanks, but please don't overestimate my expertise.
Finland is known for the quality of it's music education.
On higher level of education Finland does well. On lower levels Sweden is your country (explaining their insane success in pop music rivaling USA and UK). Mind you I learned almost nothing about music in school. I think the worst teachers I had were music teachers. I wasn't interested of music until high-school (Acid House of 1988 did it for me) and I was 25 when I got interested of classical music, but once I did, I went to town with it.
For long I understand hardly anything about music theory, but since 2018 I have been studying it myself.
I think that's the reason Finland has fostered so many great composers.
Finns are well educated and that has its effect on how much Finn's are willing to support arts with their taxes. Jorma Panula mentored many conductors.
What recordings of the Oratorios would you recommend? My knowledge of Elgar is limited to the cello concerto and the Sea Pictures.
If you want to explore Elgar deeper, you may want to continue from the
Cello Concerto and
Sea Pictures to something easier before jumping to the massive Oratorios. The obvious next step is
Enigma Variations, Op. 36. I can recommend
this Opus Arte DVD with BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sir Andrew Davis.
If you some day feel you are ready for hardcore Elgar, the recordings I recommend for
The Apostles and
The Kingdom are the ones on EMI with Sir Adrian Boult. Those are old analog recordings from 1969 and 1974. There is some hiss. There isn't digital clarity, but there is warm analog sound and Boult's brilliant understanding of Elgar's music. However, you may want to try more accessible
The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38 before these much more challenging works, that can sound boring if you don't understand or appreciate Elgar's musical language really well.
Only a small percentage of people into classical music are fanatically into Elgar and for most he is just a British composer of jingoistic marches and a decent Cello Concerto. I happen to be an Elgarian and it was easy for me to fall in love with his music once I heard the Enigma Variations on radio (December 1996), but most people into classical music struggle with what they call "meandering" and "overblown" music. Just warning you before you decide to dedicate you life to this composer. That said,
Cello Concerto and
Sea Pictures don't give you the full picture (the
Cello Concerto is imo overvalued compared to many other works).
Enigma Variations and the
Violin Concerto are accessible works giving a good picture of what Elgar's music is about. If those works make you electrified, you know you are an Elgarian. If not then maybe you are a fan of Mahler or Sibelius instead...