Mendelssohn’s Elijah

Mendelssohn Elijah, Op. 70 (sung in English)

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha soprano
Angharad Lyddon mezzo-soprano
Adam Gilbert tenor
Sir Bryn Terfel bass-baritone

Crouch End Festival Chorus
Marios Papadopoulos conductor

Premiered in Birmingham, a German oratorio with a Christian soul composed by a practicing Lutheran from a famously Jewish family, Elijah is the consummate work of bridge-building, understanding and reconciliation. ‘I was able to sway at will the enormous mass of orchestra, choir and organ’ wrote Mendelssohn from the West Midlands back to Leipzig as he reported on preparations for the oratorio examining the Old Testament figure of Elijah, a ground-shaking and inspiring monument to the nobility of faith. Sir Bryn Terfel is Elijah in this performance at the Sheldonian Theatre uniting soloists, the Crouch End Festival Chorus and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.