D. Kern Holoman Conducts Mendelssohn's Oratorio "Elijah"
Under the direction of D. Kern Holoman, the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra
and the University and Alumni Choruses present Felix Mendelssohn's
celebrated oratorio "Elijah" at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, in Jackson
Hall of the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.
The concert commemorates the bicentennial of Mendelssohn's birth on
February 3, 1809. The performance is dedicated to the memory of Beta
Popper (1912–2008) and recognizes her very generous bequest
establishing the Jan and Beta Popper Fund at UC Davis.
Soloists
include baritone Eugene Brancoveanu, a former Adler Fellow at the San
Francisco Opera and Tony Award recipient, in the title role of Elijah.
Joseph Palarca, tenor, is a graduate of the UC Davis Department of
Music presently appearing in New York. Robin Fisher, well known to
Sacramento opera and choral audiences and a professor of music at
Sacramento State University, sings the lyric coloratura soprano role,
and mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook joins the UCDSO following her recent
appearance in the premiere role of Arlene Kamen in "The Bonesetter's
Daughter" with the San Francisco Opera.
Based on the account of the prophet Elijah's life in 1 Kings and
sung in English, Mendelssohn's oratorio "Elijah" (1846, revised 1847)
was premiered in Birmingham, England, shortly before his death. In it,
Mendelssohn turned from his earlier model of Bach's Passions to the
London-based Handel, who was more familiar to English audiences;
because of this acceptance, "Elijah" became, according to Mendelssohn
scholar Jeffrey Sposato, part of the "triumvirate (along with Handel's
'Messiah' and Haydn's 'Creation') that was programmed regularly at
British music festivals for decades to come."
Mendelssohn allows the Old Testament characters to propel the drama
as the prophet's life events are told: his miraculous revival of the
widow's son, confrontation with the Baal worshippers, lifting of the
drought, confrontation with Ahab and Jezebel, flight to the wilderness,
encounter with the Lord, journey to Mt. Horeb, and ascension to heaven
in a flaming chariot. In a Handelian gesture, the chorus is given an
early, dramatic role in the overture with cries of "Help, Lord"
following the prophet's initial announcement of the coming drought. Mendelssohn was hailed by Schumann as "a prophet of a glorious future"
and was admired by Berlioz as "one of those pure souls such as are very
rarely found." "Elijah" is considered his most cohesive large-scale
composition.
Tickets are $10/14/16 for adults and $5/7/8 for students and
children. Purchase tickets online at MondaviArts.org, through the
Mondavi Center ticket office at 530-754-ARTS (2787) or 866-754-ARTS (toll-free), or at the door. Accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request.
For complete event information, to receive a Department of Music
season brochure, or to join the department mailing list, call
530-752-0948 or visit music.ucdavis.edu/events.
• University Choruses/UCDSO: "Elijah"
• Sun., March 8, 8 p.m.
• Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center
• $10/14/16 adults; $5/7/8 students, children
• 530-754-ARTS (2787), 866-754-ARTS (toll-free); MondaviArts.org