Prepare yourself to be hurled into a drama of Biblical proportions. The Santa Clarita Master Chorale at the College of the Canyons Center will perform Elijah, by Felix Mendelssohn, for the Performing Arts, Sunday, March 18, 2007, at 3:30 p.m. A pre-concert lecture by Artistic Director Allan Robert Petker will be at 2:30 p.m. Felix Mendelssohn was hailed as a second Mozart for his musical gifts. Like Mozart, he also died young, at the age of 38. He wrote and premiered Elijah in 1846, shortly before his death for an audience of two thousand.
It was an unprecedented success. Four choruses and four arias were encored and the applause evidently bordered on the hysterical.
This splendid oratorio unfolds in a series of solo and choral passages filled with compelling drama and rich musical symbolism, ranging from plaintive and sublime, to rugged and stormy. It is a struggle between a King of Israel, the seductress Jezebel, and a prophet, Elijah, who spurns Jezebel’s Gods during a brutal showdown. In response to this spitfire prophet’s actions and utterances, Jezebel retaliates by hunting him down, bent on his destruction. And he ran.
Forsaken, afraid and depressed, Elijah wanted to die. But God steps in with a spectacular display of windstorm, earthquake and fire. This majestic scene is painted with sudden crescendos and equally sudden pianissimos, climaxing with tones of ineffable sweetness, declaring God speaking in a still, small voice. When Elijah’s work is done, a chariot of fire appears and Elijah is swept up to heaven.
The primary role of Elijah will be sung by Bradley Ellingboe whose booming bass-baritone voice perfectly exemplifies this role. Aficionados will recall his magnificent singing during the Chorale’s Messiah performance in March 2005. The other soloists are Caroline McKenzie, soprano; Tracy Van Fleet, mezzo-soprano, and Steve Amerson, tenor.
Tickets range from $14 to $26 and may be purchased by calling 661-254-8886 or by mail at P.O. Box 800459, Santa Clarita, 91380-0459. Order forms can be obtained at www.scmasterchorale.org. The COC Performing Arts Center is located at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Valencia.