Mendelssohn - Elijah
Baritone: Andrew Rupp
Soprano: Hannah McKay*
Mezzo-Soprano: Julia Merino
Tenor: Harun Tekin
*Mariana Fernandes was indisposed
Chameleon Arts Orchestra
Mendelssohn: Elijah
Perhaps the most familiar image associated with the Old Testament story of the life of Elijah is of the prophet ascending into heaven on a fiery chariot. This after his retreat into the desert as a result of his persecution by Queen Jezebel when he dared to call out the 'false gods' followed by Jezebel's husband King Ahab. But more relevant to our own times is the story of a brave man unafraid to 'speak truth to power' regardless of the consequences for him personally.
Mendelssohn's oratorio brilliantly captures the dramatic contrast between Elijah the saviour of the people of Israel, and Elijah the outcast: 'a prophet without honour in his own land'. It is a magnicent piece of music with superb roles for soloists, choir, and orchestra, and has rightly become a key part of the choral repertoire.
Ahead of the concert we recorded a couple of podcast interviews, the first with our baritone soloist Andrew Rupp:
And the second with our Josephine Baker Trust soloists Mariana Fernandes, Julia Merino and Harun Tekin from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama:
We also made a YouTube 'Short', featuring an extract of Andrew Rupp singing "For the Mountains Shall Depart" from 'Elijah'.
There was a retiring collection for local charity Step By Step, which supports young people who are going through hard times, including homelessness,
Reviews
Waverley Singers enchant audience in Mendelssohn choral performance
The following review by Roy Rashbrook appeared online in the Farnham Herald on 27 March 2025.
In 1846, the premiere of Elijah featured a choir of 271 and ten soloists. With only just over 1/3rd of this number, Waverley Singers nevertheless delivered an utterly convincing performance as part of their 70th anniversary season - a testament to their enthusiasm, dedication and stamina. Any choir of this size will struggle to balance against a full symphony orchestra in the relatively compact space of St. Andrew’s Church - even Mendelssohn himself had to place his choir in front of the instrumentalists. However, Waverley Singers responded with tip-top choral blend, singing with evident joy and purpose, their words reaching right to the back of the church. This really excellent choir’s discipline and dexterity during louder sections more than made up for the very occasional lapse in intonation elsewhere.
The team of four excellent soloists would have graced any international opera stage, each presenting several dramatic personae (even the warm yet commanding voice of Andrew Rupp in the title role retreating into the ensemble for the final quartet). This required great flexibility, most notably from tenor Harun Tekin, whose biting outrage as Ahab contrasted so effectively with his otherwise devout, legato music.
Also consistently impressive was the burnished bronze of Julia Merino’s mezzo, though her characterisation was not always quite as effective. However, the highlight was the peerlessly radiant, impassioned singing of last minute replacement soprano Hannah McKay, who sang almost entirely from memory, wielding her musical score more as a theatrical prop than as a source of reference. A name to watch.
One of the central themes of Elijah is that great power can reside in “a still small voice”. For evidence of this, one need look no further than Richard Pearce’s calmly authoritative conducting, drawing out another strong performance with his sensitively accommodating and engagingly encouraging direction.
Gallery
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