Mendelssohn’s Elijah promises excitement and drama
The Bach Festival Society celebrates the 200th anniversary year of Mendelssohn’s birth with presentations of his choral masterwork Elijah on Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m. This dynamic piece of music tells the story of the Old Testament prophet Elijah, with solo voices playing individual characters and the choir acting in various group roles. The work will be performed by the renowned Bach Festival Choir and vocal soloists, accompanied by the Bach Festival Orchestra under the direction of John V. Sinclair.
Mendelssohn is responsible for bringing Bach’s music back into prominence in the 1800s. As we are approaching the celebration of our 75th Anniversary Festival in February, we felt it was appropriate to start our season with a work that has such a strong connection to J.S. Bach himself,? says Artistic Director and Conductor John V. Sinclair. He continues, ‘Elijah is one of the greatest choral masterpieces of all time, telling one of the most powerful stories of all time.’ Elijah premiered in 1846 in Birmingham, England, to great acclaim and has remained immensely popular ever since. Though Mendelssohn was German, the oratorio was written and performed in English.
The lead role of the prophet Elijah will be sung by baritone Richard Zeller. Mr. Zeller is renowned for his oratorio and opera engagements and is a regular at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The quartet is rounded out with Bach Festival favorite tenor Robert Bracey, mezzo-soprano Cherry Duke, and Central Florida newcomer soprano Julia Foster. Dr. Foster is the recently appointed Professor of Voice at Rollins College and brings a beautiful new voice to our ensemble.
Tenor choir member John Niss says of performing this work, ‘The sheer variety of musical forms and styles in this work make it a blast to sing. Where else does a chorister have the opportunity to be a Baal-worshiping fanatic in one movement and an angel of the Lord soon after? If the audience has a fraction of the enjoyment that I expect to have performing, this will be memorable indeed.’
