Sir Mark Elder on building an edifice of Elgar

The Music Director of the Hallé is honoured for his recording of Elgar's The Apostles.

The British conductor Sir Mark Elder has taken the top prize in the Choral category at the 2013 Gramophone Awards.

Sir Mark, who is the Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, won the award for their recording of Elgar's oratorio The Apostles.

It follows recordings the Hallé have made of Elgar's two other great oratorios, The Dream of Gerontius and The Kingdom - and like those, it was based upon a performance given at the Bridgewater Hall.

Speaking backstage at the Awards ceremony at LSO St. Luke's in London, Sir Mark told Classic FM's Jamie Crick, that The Apostles is 'the last brick in an edifice that we've been building for years. I just felt the time was right to record it.'

Sir Mark described The Apostles as the nearest thing Elgar wrote to an opera.