As one of the final presentations of the 2024 Endler Concert Series, Johan de Villiers conducts two performances of Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah, on Saturday November 16 and Sunday November 17, at 3pm.
Brittany Smith (soprano), Minette du Toit-Pearce (mezzo), Siphe Mdena (tenor) and Conroy Scott (baritone) perform as soloists, with the latter in the title role of Elijah, for which he won the trophy for the best performer in vocal classical music was awarded.
The choir of more than 100 singers mostly consists of ex-members of the Liberta Choir, but also supplemented by a number of talented choir singers from the Western Cape.
The orchestra consists of 45 professional instrumentalists, with concertmaster Petri Salonen, and the organ accompaniment is overseen by Zorada Temmingh.
The first performance of Elijah, conducted by Mendelssohn himself, took place on 26 August 1846 in Birmingham, England, and was a resounding success.
Mendelssohn’s ingenious musical portrayal of excerpts from the life of the prophet Elijah, with texts directly from the two Kings’ biblical books, maintains to this day the undeniable status as one of the most loved and most performed oratorios.
After a seamless fusion of high drama interspersed with lovely lyrical moments, the oratorio is finally concluded on a high by the powerful closing chorus with the prophetic Isaiah text “And then shall your light break forth”.
Tickets at R 320 each, are available at Webtickets.
