FULL ELIAS or ELIJAH (Mendelssohn) Seoul 2023 Ji-hye Son, Su-yeon Jeong, Guk Yun-jong, Heung-woo Park
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Elijah aka Elias
- Composer: Mendelssohn Felix
- Libretto: based on Bible texts
- Venue & Opera Company: Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, South Korea
- Recorded: September 26, 2023
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Ji-hye Son, Su-yeon Jeong, Guk Yun-jong, Heung-woo Park
- Conductor: Park Chi-yong
- Orchestra: Gunpo Prime Philharmonic Orchestra
- Chorus: Seoul Motet Choir
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Seoul Motet Chorus
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
The second performance of the Seoul Motet Choir’s Masterpiece Series commemorating its 35th anniversary is an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn. will be held at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on September 26 , 2023 at 7:30 pm .
Mendelssohn’s ‘Elijah’ is called one of the world’s three greatest oratorios, along with Handel’s ‘Messiah’ and Haydn’s ‘Creation’ Mendelssohn established the framework of the modern orchestra while serving as the chief conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig in 1835 at the age of 26 , and simultaneously created and established the form of the title symphony of the Romantic era .
Mendelssohn worked on the lyrics of Elijah with the help of Julius Schubring, a theologian and pastor . The two wrote lyrics based on the German Old Testament translated by Martin Luther .It was titled in German . Later translated into English by Willam Bartholomew.It had an English title , and was premiered at the Birmingham Music Festival in England in 1846 . the German version. After Mendelssohn’s death, it was premiered at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on February 23 , 1848 , Mendelssohn’s birthday, conducted by Niels Wilhelm Gade . The Seoul Motet Choir’s <Elijah> will be presented in a German version .
Mendelssohn’s consists of a total of 42 songs , with 20 songs in part 1 and 22 songs in part 2 . This contains the story of Elijah, the prophet who appears in 1 Kings 17-19 and 2 Kings 1-2, from the confrontation between God and the idols of the royal family of Israel to Elijah ‘s ascension from Mount Horeb . Part 1 of Mendelssohn’s <Elijah> unfolds a fierce confrontation between Elijah, the prophet of God, against the idol Baal and the priests of Asherah . Later, in Part 2 , the queen tries to incite the people to kill Elijah . While fleeing into the wilderness to escape from her queen , he hears the voice of God on Mount Horeb and ascends to heaven in a chariot of fire .
Prophet Elijah, who became a tool to show God’s omnipotence, participated with passion during God’s work , but also prayed to God with resentment during difficult times . Mendelssohn expressed Elijah’s complex state of mind and the confrontation between Elijah and the priests in a detailed and dramatic way through his music . We hope that the audience will feel the delicate emotions and beautiful melodies that Mendelssohn sought to express through the second performance of the Seoul Motet Choir’s Masterpiece Series commemorating its 35th anniversary .