Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Oratorio Elijah

Editorial Reviews
From the Artist
The monastery Maulbronn, the concert place of this recording, is the most beautiful among the older monasteries in Germany. Maulbronns history begins with the year 1147. It's on the UNESCO list as a world heritage since 1993.

About the Artist
Peter Lika (Elijah), who began his singing career as a boy soloist with the Regensburger Domspatzen, is considered one of the leading basses in the concert and opera repertoire. His unmistakable timbre is paired with delicately balanced dramatic expressive power, which makes him a natural soloist for roles such as that of Elijah. It is not surprising, therefore, that conductors like Masur, Schreier, Rilling, Gardiner, Marriner, Norrington, Celibidache and Herreweghe have appreciated working with... read more

Album Description
A concert-recording from the minster at abbey Maulbronn performed by Peter Lika (bass, Elijah), Heidi Elisabeth Meier, Jolantha Michalska-Taliaferro, Hans Peter Blochwitz, The Kantorei Maulbronn and members of the SWR-symphony-orchestra. Conductor: Juergen Budday. Mendelssohn’s Elijah, one of the most important oratorios of the nineteenth century, premiered in Birmingham in 1846 and was emphatically celebrated both by the public and the press. According to a contemporary review, Mendelssohn turned music "into a grand sacred service". Elijah is a biblical figure, and consequently the libretto is composed entirely from biblical texts. The oratorio lacks a continuous plot. Rather, important excerpts from the life of the prophet are strung together like snapshots, some of which are highly dramatic. The prophet’s ascension into heaven concludes a series of powerful, dramatic and pathetic circumstances, effectively depicted by Mendelssohn music. The oratorio ends both with a somewhat mystical reference to the Messiah as the figure who truly consummates faith and the divine work, as well as a vision of divine grandeur. Despite the lack of a continuous plot, Mendelssohn manages to create gripping, dramatic episodes. The chorus plays a special! , important role. It sustains the action over long segments, taking the part of the people or of Baal’s priests; elsewhere, it slips into the role of the community of the faithful ("Blessed is he who fears the Lord" or "He who persists until the end") and comments on the events. Mendelssohn, with the help of the minister Julius Schubring, essentially took the entire text from 1 Kings 17-19 and 2 Kings 1-2. Mendelssohn wrote Schubring on 2 November 1838, with regard to the character Elijah: "For Elijah I had in mind a proper prophet through and through, of the sort we could use again today: strong, zealous, as well as angry, furious and grim, in opposition to the rabble of the court and of the people, in opposition to nearly the whole world, and yet borne as if by angels’ wings." Seen in this way, the prophet Elijah, and hence Mendelssohn’s oratorio, is once again extremely relevant for us today.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Oratorio Elijah

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Oratorio Elijah, Music, Kantorei Maulbronn, SWR Symphony-Orchestra, Maulbronn Monastery Edition, Felix Mendelssohn, Juergen Budday, Peter Lika, Heidi Elisabeth Meier, Jolantha Michalska-Taliaferro, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Classical, Orchestral & Symphonic

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Mendelssohn: Elijah (complete oratorio) - Orchestra & Chorus of the Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon - Michel Corboz Manufacturer: Erato ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B00008FN3S Release Date: 1990-10-25

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Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Oratorio Elijah Manufacturer: K&K Verlagsanstalt ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B0001AW0I4 Release Date: 2004-01-13

Tracks:

1. Einleitung
2. Ouverture
3. No. 1 ~ Chor
4. No. 2 ~ Duett mit Chor
5. No.3 ~ Rezitativ (Obadjah)
6. No. 4 ~ Arie (Obadjah)
7. No. 5 ~ Chor
8. No. 6 ~ Rezitativ (Ein Engel)
9. No.7 ~ Doppel-Quartett (Die Engel)
10. No. 8 ~ Rezitativ, Arie und Duett
11. No. 9 ~ Chor
12. No. 10 ~ Rezitativ (Elias)
13. No. 11 ~ Chor
14. No. 12 ~ Rezitativ (Elias)
15. No. 13 ~ Rezitativ (Elias)
16. No. 14 ~ Arie (Elias)
17. No. 15 ~ Solo - Quartett
18. No. 16 ~ Rezitativ (Elias)
19. No. 17 ~ Arie (Elias)
20. No. 18 ~ Arioso (Alt Solo)
21. No. 19 ~ Rezitativ (Obadjah)
22. No. 20 ~ Chor

Tracks:

1. No. 21 ~ Arie (Sopran Solo)
2. No. 22 ~ Chor
3. No. 23 ~ Rezitativ und Chor
4. No. 24 ~ Chor
5. No. 25 ~ Rezitativ (Obadjah)
6. No. 26 ~ Arie (Elias)
7. No. 27 ~ Rezitativ (Tenor Solo)
8. No. 28 ~ Terzett (Die Engel)
9. No. 29 ~ Chor
10. No. 30 ~ Rezitativ (Der Engel)
11. No. 31 ~ Der Engel
12. No. 32 ~ Chor
13. No. 33 ~ Elias
14. No. 34 ~ Chor
15. No. 35 ~ Solo-Quartett mit Chor
16. No. 36 ~ Chor-Rezitativ
17. No. 37 ~ Arioso (Elias)
18. No. 38 ~ Chor
19. No. 39 ~ Arie (Tenor Solo)
20. No. 40 ~ Sopran (Solo)
21. No. 41 ~ Chor
22. Quartett
23. No. 42 ~ Chor

Album Description

Track Listings:

1. For Lovers Only: The Romantic Pavarotti (Includes Bonus CD)
2. Gautier De Coincy: Les Miracles de Nostre-Dame
3. Grace Notes
4. Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Selections from the definitive collection [Sampler]
5. Guitarist John Williams
6. Horatiu Radulescu: Piano Concerto "The Quest"
7. Hummel, Schubert, Schumann: Piano Quintets
8. In Bleak Mid-Winter: Soft Sounds of Christmas
9. Iris [EP]
10. Korngold: String Sextet; Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht

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