Elijah

If the recently renovated Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House was a racing car, then this concert was the fullest of full throttle runs around the racetrack.

Almost 400 singers in the stalls, the organ in full flight, an orchestra of more than 60 on the stage with soloists dotted around them.

The schoolboy Charlie Swan, with a sweet solo, sang from up in the clouds next to the organist and other singers popped up in the audience,  making it a 360-degree aural extravaganza.

When the whole choir joined in – the waves of sound crashed down in spectacular fashion like a big wave at the beach – thrilling the audience.

Mendelssohn’s Elijah debuted at a festival in 1846 which also included Handel’s Messiah, an oratorio which it is compared to.

Whilst there is not a Hallelujah Chorus in Elijah, it is a rich, beautiful and complex piece of music.

Under the baton of Brett Weymark, the choir, orchestra and soloists were well marshalled.

With the current troubles in the middle-east the concert was an oasis of biblical nostalgia.

The oratorio is drawn from several chapters of the Old Testament about the prophet Elijah, and his warnings against idolatry to the misbehaving children of Israel -  and his eventual ascension to heaven in a fiery chariot.

The soloists led by Bass baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Elijah,  the soprano Celeste Lazarenko,  mezzo-soprano Sian Sharp, and tenor Andrew Goodwin were impressive.

Rhodes was placed behind the orchestra on a raised platform - which was dramatically forceful as a prophet speaking down to the children of Israel, but meant musically that he had to sing over the top of the orchestra in front of him. His charisma deserved to be front and centre.

The piece is in English but not all the lyrics were easily able to be deciphered. I could understand the occasional phrase such as “Hear Oh Israel” and  “Ëlijah” and “Angels”.

A concert-goer sitting next to me had carefully read the synopsis and listened to a pre-concert lecture but was also still a little lost.

The addition of sub-titles would have been of assistance in understanding the narrative.

Any gaps were forgiven when the choir rose and their chorus sunk into your bones as the beautiful music reverberated around the Concert Hall.

David Spicer

Photographer: Keith Saunders