Search - Felix [1] Mendelssohn, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig :: Mendelssohn: Elias

This is undoubtedly the most successful oratorio composed since Handel's Messiah, and for a long time in mid-19th-century England, where Mendelssohn had conducted the first performances, it was even more popular than Messiah. It has lost some of that popularity, along with the oratorio form generally, in our less reverent time, but opera-lovers can appreciate the dramatic treatment of the life of the prophet--summoning the people to righteousness, performing miracles, struggling against idol-worshippers, confronting the wicked queen Jezebel, and finally rising to heaven in a fiery chariot. This recording has not been properly appreciated in English-speaking countries, probably because it uses a German text rather than the familiar English, and Philips does not help by its failure to provide a text or translation. But the performance is very dramatic; the singing is generally excellent, particularly from Ameling and Schreier (Adam has a few small problems); and the price is attractive. --Joe McLellan