Libby Crabtree - Mendelssohn - Elijah / Terfel, Fleming, Bardon, Ainsley, Fulgoni, Paul Daniel at Music Hills.com

Music CD 1

Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: As God The Lord Of Israel Liveth (Introduction) (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: Overture
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 1 - Help, Lord! Wilt Thou Quite Destroy Us?
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 2 - Lord, Bow Thine Ear To Our Prayer!
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 3 - Ye People, Rend Your Hearts And Not Your Garments (Obadiah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 4 - 'If With All Your Hearts Ye Truly Seek Me...' (Obadiah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 5 - Yet Doth The Lord See It Not
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 6 - Elijah! Get Thee Hence, Elijah! (An Angel)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 7 - For He Shall Give His Angels Charge Over Thee
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 8 - What Have I To Do With Thee, O Man Of God? (The Widow, Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 9 - Blessed Are The Men Who Fear Him
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 10 - As God The Lord Of Sabaoth Liveth (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 11 - Baal, We Cry To Thee
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 12 - Call Him Louder, For He Is A God! (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 13 - Call Him Louder! He Heareth Not (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 14 - Lord God Of Abraham, Isaac, And Israel (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 15 - Cast Thy Burden Upon The Lord
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 16 - O Thou, Who Makest Thine Angels Spirits (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 17 - Is Not His Word Like A Fire (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 18 - Woe, Woe Unto Them Who Forsake Him! (Contralto I)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 19 - O Man Of God, Help Thy People! (Obadiah, Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 20 - Thanks Be To God! He Laveth The Thirsty Land

Music CD 2

Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 21 - Hear Ye, Israel (Soprano I)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 22 - 'Be Not Afraid' Saith God The Lord
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 23 - The Lord Hath Exalted Thee From Among The People (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 24 - Woe To Him! He Shall Perish
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 25 - Man Of God, Now Let My Words Be Precious In Thy Sight (Obadiah, Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 26 - It Is Enough! O Lord, Now Take Away My Life (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 27 - See, Now He Sleepeth Beneath A Juniper Tree (Tenor I)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 28 - Lift Thine Eyes To The Mountains
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 29 - He, Watching Over Israel
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 30 - Arise, Elijah, For Thou Hast A Long Journey Before Thee (Elijah, An Angel)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 31 - Oh Rest In The Lord (An Angel)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 32 - He That Shall Endure To The End, Shall Be Saved
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 33 - Night Falleth Round Me, O Lord! (Elijah, An Angel)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 34 - Behold, God The Lord Passed By!
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 35 - Above Him Stood The Seraphim - Holy Is The God The Lord Sabaoth (Contralto I)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 36 - Go, Return Upon Thy Way! (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 37 - For The Mountains Shall Depart (Elijah)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 38 - Then Did Elijah The Prophet Break Forth Like A Fire
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 39 - Then Shall The Righteous Shine Forth (Tenor I)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 40 - Behold, God Hath Sent Elijah The Prophet (Soprano I)
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 41 - But The Lord From The North Hath Raised One - Oh Come Everyone That Thirsteth
Elijah: Oratorio, Op.70: No. 41 - And Then Shall Your Light Break Forth

Music reviews of Mendelssohn - Elijah / Terfel, Fleming, Bardon, Ainsley, Fulgoni, Paul Daniel

Music Review: A Dramatically Intense, Moving "Elijah"
Rating: 4 Stars

The passion, conviction and tenderness of Elijah comes out in brilliant relief as Terfel negotiates the virtuoso music of Part 1. Mendelssohn makes some serious dramatic and vocal demands: Elijah must be strong and tender as he heals the Widow's son; cruel and righteous as he confronts Ahab and the people of Israel to destroy the myth of Baal; gentle as he calls upon the lord to "shew these people that Thou art Lord God"; and, finally, after his prayers are answered, triumphant in the aria "Is Not His Word Like a Fire?" What's most astonishing is not only does Terfel deliver, but that he makes the drama so real -- he engages the music and the text head-on and, in so doing, engages the listener. This is what musical drama is all about.

Contralto Patricia Bardon and tenor John Mark Ainsley produce good performances, but don't pack the punch of Terfel or Fleming -- Ainsley's Obediah in Part 1 ("If with all your hearts ...") is a little strained at the top, and Bardon's "Oh Rest in the Lord" is a little too thickly nasal to seem truly angelic or comforting. The greatest disappointment was Libby Crabtree's singing in the duet "Lord, Bow Thine Ear to Our Prayer," and in other small ensemble settings (the Trio "Lift Thine Eyes to the Mountains" and double quartet "For He shall give His Angels charge over thee," among others). Her tinnyness and exaggeration of diphthongs cuts harshly against Fleming's mellifluous singing, enough to be a real distraction.

Still, it's not nearly enough to seriously hurt this fine recording. It's very clear that Conductor Paul Daniel had a strong vision for the work, and his understanding of its great depth and passion is evident immediately in the overture. The brass are used to their full effect as punctuation marks, leading us, moment by tense moment, to the glorious ocean's-wave ebb and flow of the strings rising and falling in scales, *finally*, to the choral climax "Help, Lord!" What's truly impressive is that Daniel sustains this pitch through to the joyful end, making this an "Elijah" that laveth the thirsty ear.

(Coda: By the way, whether or not the work is in the original key, it hardly matters -- this is a performance of real substance -- a keeper.)

Mendelssohn - Elijah / Terfel, Fleming, Bardon, Ainsley, Fulgoni, Paul Daniel