Elijah Program 2021

THE BENDAT FAMILY FOUNDATION PRESENTS

WESF1486 9/2019

ELIJAH THE BENDAT FAMILY FOUNDATION PRESENTS

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSIC.

ELIJAH CAST CHANGE Mr Lachlann Lawton will sing the role of Elijah in this evening’s performance.

Composer Felix Mendelssohn Librettist Julius Schubring Conductor Christopher van Tuinen Director Margrete Helgeby Chaney based on a concept by Patrick Nolan Lighting Designer Mark Howett Soprano Lisa Harper-Brown Mezzo soprano Chelsea Kluga Tenor Paul O’Neill Elijah Lachlann Lawton Featuring UWA Symphonic Chorus and WAO Chorus Featuring UWA Symphony Orchestra Repetiteur Adrian Soares Production Manager Mandy Farmer Stage Manager Karen Farmer Assistant Stage Manager Jacinta Wajon Assistant Stage Manager Erryn Hanson Assistant Stage Manager Rose Liggins Head Electrician Sean McKernan Lighting Truss and Audio Visual PAV Events Lighting Hire Frontier Lighting Seating and Staging Statewide Staging Head of Wardrobe Sue Kerr Head of Hair/Wigs Virginia Hawdon Head of Make Up Sharon Kyrwood English Text William Bartholomew Surtitle Operator Allison Fyfe University Theatres David Hobbs at University Theatres John Carter This season of Elijah is supported by

Elijah rehearsal. Christopher van Tuinen with UWA Symphony Orchestra, Photo courtesy of the University of Western Australia.

Conductor’s Notes

The divide between the sacred and the secular is harder to fathom today than it was for audiences in Mendelssohn’s time.

The crowd at the 1846 premiere (sadly just a year before his death in 1847, aged 38) would have been well versed in their prophets and old testament story lines.

Many would have felt comfortable, indeed virtuous, in going to see a performance of Elijah or Handel’s Messiah and yet would never lower themselves to the pagan stylings of Alcina or the masonic glories and frippery of Mozart’s The Magic Flute which is a shame because the composers themselves had no problem jumping the fence. In the case of opera, the borrowings from church music are too many to be listed. Just come to a performance of WAO’s Cav/Pag in July and you’ll see what I mean. The setting of dramatic moral conflicts to music remains hard for opera librettists and composers to resist.

So why stage a great oratorio like Elijah?

For me the answer lies in the dramatic potential of the story and music, that this oratorio is really an opera in disguise, and needs some of the old varnish stripped away to reveal the vibrant colours, humanistic connection and emotional rawness at it’s centre.

This treatment was borne from a frustration at the number of performances of these oratorios I’ve been to without feeling connected to the story and music, and the idea was born a number of years ago that marrying the enthusiasm of UWA orchestra and chorus with the experience of WAO soloists, creative and production teams, using the architecture of Winthrop Hall and drawing the audience up close, could achieve a unique experience and one that takes us to the heart of Mendelssohn’s music and this ancient story.

Of course, that was the idea, and it’s taken the creative brains of Patrick Nolan, Margrete Helgeby Chaney and Mark Howett to nourish and make whole.

They are an extraordinarily talented team and have found all the corners of this project. To Mandy Farmer and our WAO production team, who always respond to ideas and make the remarkable happen we owe our thanks and admiration as we do, of course, to the cast, orchestra and chorus.

The story of Elijah is universal and embraces all levels of experience and ambition. We hope this project has done that same.

Christopher van Tuinen Conductor

Vice Regal Patron’s Message

Executive Director’s Message

As Vice Regal Patron of West Australian Opera I welcome you to this production.

We are grateful and appreciative to the Bendat Family Foundation who are presenting this work.

Elijah was originally scheduled to be presented in 2020 but like everything was cancelled under COVID19. I am delighted to see it presented in 2021 in a collaboration with the University of Western Australia Conservatorium of Music which brings together over 150 student and professional performers.

West Australian Opera continues to contribute to the next generation of the arts in Western Australia through the development of young people through tertiary partnerships such as this on with the university and with young singers, conductors and artists through the Wesfarmers Arts Young Artist Program.

I join the company in acknowledging the support of both State and Federal governments, Principal Partner Wesfarmers Arts, the Bendat Family Foundation, private donors and corporate supporters.

The Honourable Kim Beazley AC Governor of Western Australia Vice Regal Patron West Australian Opera

We are proud that Mendelssohn’s Elijah has enabled opportunities to ignite imaginations and harness the next generation of Western Australian talent. West Australian Opera is proud to work with the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Western Australia to collaborate on this work.

Under the baton of Christopher van Tuinen Western Australian artists Lisa Harper-Brown, Wesfarmers Arts Young Artist Chelsea Kluga, Paul O’Neill and James Clayton will be accompanied by the UWA Symphony Orchestra, UWA Symphonic Choir and members of the WAO Chorus.

This production has been directed by Margarete Helgeby Chaney based on a concept by Patrick Nolan. Our beautiful performance venue, Winthrop Hall, has been transformed into our Elijah theatre by Mandy Farmer and her team working with Mark Howett, Sean McKernan and Sue Kerr.

Thank you for supporting West Australian Opera as we continue to work in this new world with hope, passion and purpose. We are proud to bring artists and audiences together to share the joy of music.

Carolyn Chard AM Executive Director West Australian Opera

Chairman’s Message

I am proud that West Australian Opera is performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah presented by the Bendat Family Foundation and in association with the University of Western Australia Conservatorium of Music in the historic Winthrop Hall.

This Old Testament story of the prophet Elijah is performed as a sacred oratorio. Based on a concept by Patrick Nolan this work is brought to life by Margrete Helgeby Chaney.

The University of Western Australia’s Symphonic Chorus and UWA Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christopher van Tuinen will collaborate with over 150 student performers and West Australian Opera singers.

We recognise, acknowledge and thank Principal Partner Wesfarmers Arts for their longstanding relationship and the Bendat Family Foundation as presenting partner of Elijah. We thank Major Partners Lotterywest, Healthway, Minderoo Foundation and the City of Perth for their valued contribution. We are grateful for the continued support of the Federal Government through the Australia Council and the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

Thank you to all our staff, donors, patrons and stakeholders. Your invaluable support plays an important role for West Australian Opera particularly during these challenging times and I am thrilled to welcome you to live performance.

Andrew Pascoe Chairman West Australian Opera

Conservatorium of Music Message

The opportunity for university students to work alongside industry professionals in a company as acclaimed as the West Australian Opera does not come along often. We are delighted to be able to engage in this kind of industry level education. When it also involved mounting a work such as Mendelssohn’s dramatic oratorio, we embraced the opportunity with both arms.

This is a unique combination. Elijah is an operatic vision of the Old Testament - a romantic work that involves a large orchestra and chorus, and soloists of finesse. Staged in the cathedral-esque Winthrop Hall, the beauty and drama of this work can truly shine.

University students - professional-in-waiting musicians - learn so much by working alongside the principals of West Australian Opera under the direction of their Artistic Director. We are proud of our tradition in producing some of Australia’s leading performers, and excited that this production allows us to once more put performance at the centre of our curriculum. It is these performances, and our relationship with West Australian Opera and other professional companies, that will smooth the transition from university student to professional artist.

Professor Alan Lourens Head, Conservatorium of Music University of Western Australia

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Christopher van Tuinen

Margrete Helgeby Chaney Director

Mark Howett

Christopher graduated with a B.Mus from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2001. In 2005 he completed a Masters in Conducting at the VCA. Experienced in both vocal and instrumental music he was awarded the John Williams Conducting Scholarship for 2004-5. He also holds a B.A. from the University of Queensland, an LLB from Q.U.T. and an A.Mus.A from the AMEB. He has been nominated by the Musical Theatre Guild for Best Music Direction and received a Green Room Award nomination in the ‘Best Conductor’ category.

Current Chair, and a founding board member of Co3 Australia, West Australia’s contemporary dance company, Margrete enjoyed a long career as a dancer in companies within Australia and abroad, including Rambert Dance, WA Ballet and the Chrissie Parrott Dance Company, and as an independent artist. She is a graduate of WAAPA.

Mark Howett, originally from Busselton Western Australia and is proud to stand on Noongar Boodjar. He went on work experience as a 15-yearold in 1979 to the National Theatre, Perth, with dreams of becoming an actor. After two weeks, he joined the theatre family working as a lighting technician. He was later awarded a scholarship by the Department of Culture and the Arts to study Theatre Design, specialising in Lighting Design under the tutelage of Jennifer Tipton at the School of Drama, Yale University.

Conductor

During 2008 and 2009 he was a member of the Young Artists program as a Conductor with Opera Australia. In 2007 Chris was appointed as the inaugural Conducting Fellowship at the Australian Ballet. He has worked with the WASO, Orchestra Victoria, AOBO and the QSO. His previous roles include WA State Manager for Musica Viva, Classical Music Program Manager for Perth Festival, Chorus Director for WASO, Conductor of UWACS, Musical Director of Fremantle Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of Lost & Found Opera.

Chris is currently the Artistic Director of West Australian Opera.

Throughout her career she also held teaching positions at WAAPA, founded the dance project ‘loaded’ with Stefan Karlsson which gained national acclaim, and expanded into administration, advocacy, and project management within the Arts sector. She holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees and recently completed her MBA at UWA. In 2005, she was awarded “Most Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer” by the Australian Dance Awards.

Her previous engagements with opera have included roles as Assistant Director at Opera Queensland, State Opera of South Australia and West Australian Opera and Director at West Australian Opera.

Lighting Designer

Mark is a multi-Greenroom and Helpmann Award winner who has worked not only as a lighting designer but a video and set designer for international productions in theatre, film, dance and opera. Over the past 10 years, he has focused his energy into directing more film and theatre. In 2016 he was appointed as Artistic Director of Ochre Contemporary Dance Company, Perth.

Mark was Coordinator of Lighting Course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University from 1996 to 2000.

He continues to teach at Edith Cowan University. He was also the artistic director for Ochre Contemporary Dance Co from 2016 to 2019.

Winthrop Hall interior. Photo courtesy of the University of Western Australia.

Lisa Harper-Brown

Chelsea Kluga

Lisa is a graduate of the University Of Western Australia and was a member the WA Opera’s Young Artist Program. She has studied at the Britten-Pears School and with Janice Chapman, Dame Joan Sutherland and legendary New York vocal coach, Marlena Malas.

Chelsea Kluga recently performed the role of the Chief Counsellor/ Death in the West Australian Opera production of The Nightingale.

Currently in her second year as a Wesfarmer’s Arts Young Artist, Chelsea made her professional debut with West Australian Opera playing the Woodpecker in The Cunning Little Vixen. She has been a featured performer with the company for the Opera in the Park Gala and Opera in Katanning as well as being a member of the mezzo chorus. She has performed as a soloist for the UWA choral society and with Freeze Frame Opera.

Soprano

Lisa’s past roles for WA Opera include First Lady, the title role in Alcina, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Venus in Orpheus In The Underworld, Frasquita in Carmen and Annina in La Traviata.

As a contracted artist for Opera Australia her roles included Pamina and First Lady in The Magic Flute, Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Elsa in Lohengrin, Diana in Orpheus In The Underworld, Belinda in Dido & Aeneas and multiple seasons of Countess Almaviva in The Marriage Of Figaro.

Other operatic appearances include Musetta in La Boheme for Opera Qld, Ortlinde in Die Walküre for State Opera Of South Australia, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for Opera NZ and First Lady in The Magic Flute for Hamburg State Opera.

Concert appearances include Knoxville: Summer Of 1915 with the MSO and Symphony Under The Stars with the SSO, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater for the Perth International Festival, Carmina Burana with the WASO and a number of recordings of the art song repertoire of contemporary Australia and New Zealand composers.

Mezzo soprano

She completed her Masters of Music at Mannes School of Music in New York. Prior to this, she was a graduate of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts where she studied both voice and clarinet.

She is a recipient of the Dame Joan Sutherland Fund from the American Australian Association, a joint recipient of the Bendat Scholarship and was awarded the V.H Cooper prize from the University of Western Australia.

Paul O’Neill

James Clayton

Adrian Soares

Australian tenor Paul O’Neill has forged a compelling international career performing throughout Europe and Australasia. His 2021 engagements include Alfredo (La traviata) for Opera Australia, Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana) and Canio (Pagliacci) for West Australian Opera, and concert appearances with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

Praised for his vocal phrasing and colour, James is one the most versatile singers to emerge from Australia in recent years.

Adrian Soares completed his piano studies at UWA with First Class Honours in 2019. While at UWA, he was awarded the prestigious Tunley Music Scholarship, and was a recipient of the VOSE Memorial Concerto Prize, Waveney Wansborough Memorial Prize and Flora Bunning Chamber Music Prize. Adrian has also performed with WASO as a casual and as a soloist performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G.

Tenor

Most recently, Paul sang Don José in Carmen for West Australian Opera, Rodolfo (La bohème) and Narraboth (Salome) for Opera Australia, the title role in Faust for Theater Münster, Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) throughout China and Cavaradossi (Tosca) in both Perth and Magdeburg.

He has sung Don José at the Glyndebourne Festival; Laca in Jenůfa for Opéra de Lille; Rodolfo for Halle Opera and West Australian Opera; Elvino (La sonnambula) and Laca with Graz Opera.

Other roles include: The Duke (Rigoletto) with Opera Holland Park, Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, Staatstheater Karlsruhe and Staatstheater Mainz; Turriddu, Cavaradossi, and Carlo VII (Giovanna d´Arco) for Theater Bielefeld; Jason (Médée) for Theater Bielefeld and Staatstheater Mainz and The Italian Tenor (Der Rosenkavalier) for Berlin Staatsoper.

Elijah

His 2018/2019 performances included Marcello (La bohème), Escamillo (Carmen), Leporello (Don Giovanni), The Forrester (The Cunning Little Vixen), Germont (La traviata), Judge Turpin (Sweeney Todd) and the title role in Macbeth in West Australian Opera, The Forrester in Adelaide and Peter (Hansel and Gretel) in Melbourne.

James made his Opera Australia debut as Baron Douphol in La traviata – in Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour – and his Japanese debut as Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte for Biwako Hall.

He has also enjoyed considerable success on the concert platform with performances of Handel’s Messiah and Le damnation du Faust (New Zealand Symphony Orchestra), Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra), Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Verdi’s Requiem (West Australian Symphony Orchestra) and Orff’s Carmina Burana (Orchestra Wellington).

Repetiteur

He works as both piano teacher and accompanist for Iona Presentation College and Mercedes College, whilst also working as a freelance pianist for many ensembles and soloists in Perth, including WA Youth Orchestra, Fremantle Women’s Choir, Irwin Street Collective, and Perth Symphony Orchestra.

Adrian was recently awarded the Lady Callaway Award from the Australian Society of Music Education in recognition for outstanding service as an accompanist in the field of music education.

Adrian is a current member of the Wesfarmers Young Artist Program at West Australian Opera as a repetiteur, and the Graduate Artist Program at St Georges College as a collaborative pianist.

Elijah rehearsal with UWA Symphonic Chorus and UWA Symphony Orchestra, Photo courtesy of the University of Western Australia.

WEST AUSTRALIAN OPERA CHORUS SOPRANO

Chelsea Burns Brianna Louwen

MEZZO SOPRANO Ruth Burke Morgan Halket Jillian Halleron

TENOR

Tom Buckmaster Joshua Mitting Tim Schoenmakers

BASS

Matthew Dixon Lachlann Lawton

UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA SYMPHONIC CHORUS Director Andrew Foote Rehearsal pianists Gladys Chua/Adam Pinto

SOPRANO *

* * * * *

Ashlei Andrijich Elyse Belford-Thomas Iona Braham Nancy Cao Siying Chen Isabella Cisse Caitlin Collom Georgia Crowe Yamuna Daw Gabriela Golestani Rosalyn Haensel Liane Lim Rachael Liu Samantha Mayes Abbie Radford Rosa Rahmani Aimee Ryan Ciara Sadler Kalea Stanger Phoebe Tait Rosemary Tingley Pia von Perger

ALTO

Amy ‘t Hart Tina Algeri Adele Cole Dominique Douglas-Smith Isabella Finucane Tiffany Gwak Bridget Hutchinson * Claire Lane Natasha Lie Mustafa Muhiyddin Abdi * Cassandra Palermo Lara Pollard Phornchita Sullivan Teagan Trinh * Martina Veneracion Joy Wu

Ahab Wilson Kang Youth Abbie Radford

TENOR

* Wilson Kang

BASS

Nathan ‘t Hart Alief Scott * Tom Allan Percy Baker Brendan Boyle Oliver Broun Janice Cheng Alexis Chin Ruben Davies Nicholas Featherstone Joseph Francis Jacob Gosper Thomas Grice Callum Griffiths Jude Holland Xavier Jarvis Elijah Juhas Nicholas Kyriakacis William Leyland Fletcher Markham Joshua McDermott Ansel Ng Boyd Peters Julian Rodriguez Liam Russell Ben Samuels Dylan To Julius Yu

* Semi-chorus

SYNOPSIS

Part I

1 Kings 17, 18 Elijah tells of several key incidents in the life of the 9th century BCE prophet. The action starts

immediately as Elijah announces the curse, vividly painted by a series of descending tritones.

Then a turbulent orchestral overture depicts this tragedy. In the ensuing chorus (“Help Lord!”) the people beg again and again for God’s help. The soprano and alto soloists sing a plaintive melody, “Zion spreadeth her hands for aid,” in alternation with the chorus’s plea “Lord, bow Thine ear to our prayer.” After a recitative, then an aria (“If with all your hearts”), sung by Elijah’s friend, Obadiah.

The next scene begins with a restatement of the declamatory music of the introduction. Elijah stands accused of causing Israel’s troubles. He responds that the people have brought their problems upon themselves by worshipping false gods. Elijah challenges the priests of the god Baal to a duel of the Gods, in which each is to prepare a sacrifice and pray to their respective deities to ignite the fire beneath it. The Baalists go first (“Baal, we cry to thee”). Baal’s failure to respond is depicted by dramatic silences. Elijah mockingly demands that the priests pray louder. The chorus again implores their god (“Hear and answer Baal”), but still there is no answer. When Baal fails to light the fire, Elijah exhorts the people of Israel to turn their prayers to the one true God: “Draw near, all ye people, come to me!” In response, God sends fire (“The fire descends from heaven!” ) to consume the sacrifice, and the scene ends with Elijah ordering the priests of Baal slain.

An alto reproaches those who have forsaken God: “Woe unto them who forsake Him!” Elijah turns away from the bloodbath to join the people in praying to God to end the drought: “Open the heavens and send us relief.” Three times he sends a youth to see if rain clouds have appeared. Three times there are none. Finally the child sees a little cloud in the distance—the rains have come at last.

Elijah rehearsal with UWA Symphonic Chorus and UWA Symphony Orchestra. Photo courtesy of the University of Western Australia.

Part II

1 Kings 19; 2 Kings 1, 2

Part II opens with a soprano aria of comfort and dignity, “Hear ye, Israel!” This is followed by the chorus expressing similar sentiments, “Be not afraid.” The story continues when Elijah appears before King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Elijah accuses the king of having angered God by worshiping Baal. The queen in turn accuses Elijah of treachery against the people of Israel and of trying to usurp King Ahab’s power. With mounting fury Queen Jezebel tells the people that Elijah must perish because he destroyed the priests of Baal. The mob goes after Elijah: “Woe to him!”

The prophet’s friend Obadiah tells him to flee for his life. Elijah goes into the wilderness, where he longs for death. The aria “It is enough,” a direct reference to “Es ist vollbracht” from Bach’s St. John Passion. The prophet’s anger at the people of Israel flares up, but his despair returns. An unaccompanied chorus of women portrays angels comforting the prophet, “Lift thine eyes,” followed by the full chorus, “He watching over Israel.”

An angel (alto) summons Elijah to arise and journey 40 days to Mount Horeb, where the Lord will reveal himself. In the emotional climax of the oratorio, Elijah cries out that all of his efforts have been in vain. He has failed to make the people of Israel accept God. Elijah’s faith falters, as he asks God why He created His own adversaries and hardened their hearts against Him. The angel returns to comfort Elijah, telling him again and again in a beautiful aria, “O rest in the Lord,” to wait for God and not be concerned with evildoers. The final time, the alto lingers on the word “wait,” thus symbolically indicating that Elijah’s one remaining task is his hardest: to be patient. The chorus sings a chorale stating the lesson Elijah must learn: “He that shall endure to the end shall be saved.”

The appearance of the Lord (“Behold God the Lord passed by”) is heralded with music that vividly depicts first a tempest, then an earthquake, and finally fire—in none of which can God be found.

Rather, He is in a “still, small voice” accompanied by string arpeggios. A chorus of angels sings of the holiness of God and directs Elijah to “Go, return upon thy way.” Elijah accepts God. He has waited for the Lord and receives his peace: “Thy kindness shall not depart from me, neither shall the covenant of Thy peace be removed.” The chorus then sings of Elijah’s ascent into heaven.

Here ends the story of Elijah. Mendelssohn had originally intended to bring the oratorio to a close here as well, but Schubring convinced him to add an aria, “Then shall the righteous shine forth,” a recitative, and three choruses that do not bear directly on the personality of Elijah. The last of these, “And then shall your light break forth,” which glorifies God, is a brilliant fugue that forms a powerful conclusion to this massive work.

Winthrop Hall interior. Photo courtesy of the University of Western Australia.

UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FLUTE

Dominique Rees Peyton Hawkins

OBOE

Esther Lee Emma Bond

CLARINET Clare Waters Alex Wallace

BASSOON

Bailey Ireland Merina Chen

HORN

Jacob Fenchel Emma John Khye Cash Cameron Gregory

TRUMPET

Samantha Marley Joseph Shore

TROMBONE

Jeremy Alderson Emma Nicholas Oliver Stark

TIMPANI

Claire Orman

VIOLIN 1

Shannon Rhodes Winston ‘T Hart Lisa Smith Ryan Lee Karen Matoba Ben Caulfield Alice Clark Fynn Evans-Ocharern

VIOLIN 2

Helena O’sullivan Nicole Smith Brodey Alers Gretel Smith Stephanie Yap Daniel Corvaia Alyssa Zhao Ganloch Wong Edward Charles

CELLO

Tiffany Lee Emma Hadi Max Wung Callum Vukovich Aerin Chai Grace Cornforth Elena Wittkuhn Ulani Ho Leitham Brown Sophie Beaton

DOUBLE BASS

Charlotte Greenway Chenelle Theaart Jasmine Farghaly

VIOLA

Abigail Chong Aaron Dungey Monica Bathgate Eloise Creek

Concertmaster Principal

Elijah rehearsal with UWA Symphonic Chorus and UWA Symphony Orchestra. Photo courtesy of the University of Western Australia.

In dramatic terms Elijah consists of individual tableaux rather than a continuous narrative line. One such episode begins with the fruitless invocation of Baal by his priests: “Baal, give us answers” which is repeated with added intensity by the choral entries and then followed with a general pause, thus accentuating their sense of abandonment.

This stands in marked contrast to Elijah’s simple prayer “Lord God of Abraham” and the wonderment of the people at the descending fire from Heaven.

THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH OVER THE FORCES OF EVIL Mendelssohn’s ever-popular sacred oratorio, Elijah, can also be performed as an opera, as it has similar narrative, dramatic and musical elements. The text/libretto is based primarily on the two books of Kings as well as other parts of the Old Testament. It contains all the Biblical dramatic elements of fire and brimstone, as well as challenging roles for the soloists, chorus and orchestral forces.

The success of his first oratorio, Paul, in Germany 1836, encouraged Mendelssohn to write another work based on a Biblical figure.

Thus, ten years later Elijah, in an English translation by William Bartholemew, was successfully premiered at the Birmingham Music Festival on 25th August 1846.

Despite its enthusiastic reception, the ever self-critical composer set about some serious revisions. This revised version was premiered in Leipzig on 2nd April, 1847. Since then, the revised Elijah has been performed in both English and German worldwide. Tonight, in Winthrop Hall, Mendelssohn’s Elijah will be sung in English with surtitles.

The composer was determined that only scriptural passages would be set and clearly defined the dramatic nature of the text, stating: “It seems to me that the dramatic element must predominate, the people must be introduced speaking and acting as living persons….all should come across to us through the mouths and manner of the participants.”

Baritone James Clayton is performing the demanding role of Elijah, with soprano Lisa Harper-Brown, mezzo soprano Chelsea Kluga, and tenor Paul O’Neill singing supporting roles and UWA student, tenor Wilson Kang as Ahab. Treble Abigail (Abbie) Radford portrays the youth sent by Elijah to stand on a height to search the horizon for rain. Three times the replies are negative until suddenly a small cloud rises and darkens the sky. “Thanks be to God! He laveth the thirsty land!” sings the chorus jubilantly.

Throughout the work, water and fire are metaphors for faith. In the introductory recitative Elijah forecasts years of drought as God’s punishment. After episodes involving the priests of Baal and Queen Jezabel (who are justly punished for their sins), Elijah ascends to Heaven in a chariot of fire. In the penultimate quartet, faith is restored amongst the people: ‘O come everyone that thirsteth/O come to the waters; O come unto Him/O hear, and your souls shall live for ever!’

In the finale the full chorus sings of universal jubilation and praise: “Lord, our Creator, how excellent Thy Name is in all the nations/Thou fillest heaven with Thy glory. Amen.”

Annie Patrick May 2021

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L-R UWA Students Oliver Stark (Trombone), Isabella Cisse (Soprano), Elena Wittkuhn (Cello) . Photo courtesy of the University of Western Australia.

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Chairman Andrew Pascoe Deputy Chair Catherine Ferrari Christiaan Heyning Darren Lewsen Ingrid O’Brien Jan Stewart Janet Barnes Anthony Gianotti

Executive Director Carolyn Chard AM Artistic Director Christopher van Tuinen Production Manager Mandy Farmer Artistic Administrator Kate Larkins Accountant Debbie Byrnes Education Manager Terasa Letizia Development Manager Coralie Bishop Development Coordinator Catherine Noonan Marketing Manager Danielle Barlow Acting Marketing Manager Alison Rodrigues Marketing Coordinator Holly Langford-Smith Media Coordinator Daniele Foti-Cuzzola CRM Coordinator Rachel Sait Financial Accountant Trish Wyn-Jones Music Librarian Allison Fyfe

VICE REGAL PATRON The Honourable Kim Beazley AC, Governor of Western Australia PATRON Dr Jack Bendat AM CitWA HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS Dario Amara Julie Bishop Richard Bonynge AC CBE Terry Bowen Frank Cooper AO Erich Fraunschiel Colin Goddard Francis Landels Bruce Martin AM Margaret McManus Dr Richard Mills AM Annie Patrick Marilyn Phillips Vincent A Warrener AM KHS

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TERTIARY EDUCATION PARTNER

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

WEST AUSTRALIAN OPERA West Australian Opera acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.