Ensemble Pygmalion | Mendelssohn

A solemn evocation of the destiny of the prophet Elijah, this oratorio with its operatic richness, with which Raphaël Pichon and his Ensemble are already familiar, is proof in itself that Mendelssohn, in the Romantic age, took up the torch passed by Handel and Bach with superb skill. Berlioz himself was speechless at the premiere!

With his majestic oratorio Elijah, composed in 1846, Mendelssohn, an immense pianist, composer and conductor, took over from the great Baroque masters and above all from Bach, whose St Matthew Passion he had 'resurrected' some fifteen years earlier. Premiered in England under the title Elijah at the Birmingham Music Festival, the work was later translated into German and, along with Paulus, became the prototype of the Romantic oratorio. The grandson of Moses Mendelssohn, the "Jewish Luther" who converted to Protestantism, Felix Mendelssohn magnifies a destiny recounted in the Book of Kings: that of Elijah, the fierce guardian of the faith of the Hebrews in the face of the idolatrous paganism of the priests of Baal. Majestic, giving pride of place to the choir, itself supported by a large orchestra, the score immediately drew the admiration of Berlioz, who spoke of its "indescribable harmonic sumptuousness". Religious hieraticism, however, is constantly combined with a dramatic sense taken from opera: between fervent prayers, exalted arias, imperious recitatives and choral explosions, Mendelssohn handles the art of contrast like no other.