MENDELSSOHN Elijah, Op.70

Jennifer Barrington - Soprano

Helen Medlyn -  Mezzo-soprano

Martin Thomas Buckingham - Tenor

Martin Snell -  Bass

Auckland Choral

Pipers Sinfonia

Uwe Grodd - Conductor

Mendelssohn’s Elijah has been described as ‘more of an opera than an oratorio’. Intensely theatrical, it calls for a substantial orchestra, a large line-up of soloists, and a chorus that has both power and sensitivity.

The work was a smash hit at its first performance in 1846 before 2,000 people in Birmingham’s Town Hall — a building whose interior is very similar in size and layout to the Auckland Town Hall.

Be prepared for the widest range of musical emotions, from the thrilling, ceremonial battle of ‘Baal We Cry to Thee’ to the soft, three-part gem of ‘Lift thine Eyes’. Elijah is nothing less than the lifetime journey of a soul.

 

…To top it all, Grodd and his choristers were invincible here, from the Handelian grandeur of the opening chorus to the dramatic momentum of the closing hymn of praise.

Auckland Choral's Messiah provided a much-loved finale to the city's musical year and this week's performance earned cheers and standing ovations from an almost capacity audience

– NZ Herald