concert review | Mendelssohn’s “Elias” in the Berlin Philharmonie: Divine threats in vocal perfection
concert review | Mendelssohn’s “Elias” in the Berlin Philharmonie
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Divine threats in vocal perfection
Fri 01/13/23 | 08:59 am | from
Felix Mendelsohn published the Old Testament story of the prophet Elijah in 1845 as an oratorio. Elias’ mission is fiery, he fights for true faith – feelings that the Berliner Philharmoniker convey convincingly. By Hans Ackerman
The oratorio “Elias” by Felix Mendelssohn is on the program for three consecutive evenings in the Berlin Philharmonie. The texts of the arias, recitatives and choruses deal with true and false belief. If you replace “belief” with “belief” or “worldview,” you get a probably modern story.
With a powerful voice, the Christian Gerhaher bar gives the role of “Elias” the divine threat on Thursday evening: “There will be neither dew nor rain”, but years of drought if you don’t let go of Baal and the idols. There is definitely no help to be expected from false prophets – and in fact: only the One, the Almighty, will make it rain again at the end of the first part. “Thank you, God, you water the thirsty land,” sings the choir. Before that, blood flows from self-inflicted wounds. “Shout louder, he doesn’t hear you, just cut yourselves with knives,” booms Elias, who wants to appeal to the people’s conscience in this way.
Vocally perfect, impressively brilliant
Because for Elias there can only be one God, one belief, one truth, one conviction. Emerging self-doubts about the rocky path, however, call the all-too-fundamentalist dogma into question. Only in old age – in the second part of the oratorio – does the religious zealot and thundering prophet become a truly enlightened Christ. A human transformation that the singer Christian Gerhaher embodies in the role of “Elias” in an extremely credible way.
With a dark and dramatic overture, Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic make the hall tremble at the beginning. After that, the chief conductor puts his orchestra entirely at the service of the voices that need to be accompanied. Excellent soloists, including the French soprano Elsa Dreisig, the alto Wiebke Lehmkuhl, the tenor Daniel Behle and the outstanding Christian Gerhaher – who, as the evening progressed, increasingly became a “living” Elias, initially angry and grim, later refined and enlightened. The performance of the Rundfunkchor Berlin is grandiose, showing impressive brilliance, tonal unity and vocal perfection on this evening.
World premiere in Birmingham
For “Elias” Mendelssohn wrote in 1845 with Old Testament text adaptations by the pastor Julius Schubring from Dessau. For the world premiere, however, the texts first had to be translated into English. Because the premiere took place in 1846 in Birmingham, England. The prophet was called “Elijah” and the famous trio “Lift your eyes up” – which is sung by an “extra trio” directly under the mighty organ of the Philharmonie – became the acclaimed concerts in Birmingham and London “Raise your eyes” popular in the English-speaking world. Before his early death in 1847, Mendelssohn presumably never saw a performance in German.
First highlight of the new concert season
With its overwhelmingly romantic undertone, Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” has become the most-performed oratorio of the 19th century after its successes in Birmingham and London – where even Queen Victoria sat in the audience. A work that deals with faith and conviction, but also with self-doubt and great loneliness – and that is probably why it is being rediscovered everywhere in our 21st century in concert and scenic performances. In January, Kirill Petrenko created the first highlight of the new year’s concert season with “Elias” in the Berlin Philharmonic.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, January 13, 2023, 6:00 a.m