Mendelssohn: Elias

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

ELIAS. Oratorio based on the Old testament for solo voices, chorus & orchestra

GENIA KÜHMEIER The widow, an angel
ANN HALLENBERG The angel, Queen Jezebel
LOTHAR ODINIUS Ahab, Obadja
MICHAEL NAGY Elias

BALTHASAR NEUMANN CHOIR & SOLOISTS
BALTHASAR NEUMANN ENSEMBLE
THOMAS HENGELBROCK

“Even the Overture conjures up the atmosphere in which the People has turned its back on God: bleak and almost gruff string sonorities describe the aridity of the land and the despair of its inhabitants following a prolonged drought. It is hard to imagine a more eloquent, more dramatic or more thrilling account of the score than this, and the fact that there are times when it sounds like Bach may be taken as a compliment. Chorus and orchestra both react with remarkable agility and with a beguiling range of colours. To these may be added a team of soloists that leaves nothing to be desired. Towering above them is Michael Nagy as an Elijah both human and authoritarian and one, moreover, whose every word is intelligible. No less magnificent are those passages such as the famous Angels’ Trio, “Hebe deine Augen auf” (“Lift thine eyes to the mountains”), that are cast from members of the choir. Anyone looking for an outstanding Elijah need look no further.”
STUTTGARTER NACHRICHTEN

Publication: 2016