Elijah,
     by Felix Mendelssohn

January 29, 2003

The Oratorio Society will present Mendelssohn's Elijah on Sunday, February 16 at 3:30 at Old Cabell Hall on the Grounds of the University of Virginia. The concert will feature Alvy Powell as Elijah, along with Danielle Talamantes, soprano, Bailey Whiteman, mezzo, Robert Petillo, tenor, and Elizabeth Clifton as the Youth. The chorus, conducted by L. Thomas Vining, will be joined for this performance by members of the Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra.

Ticket holders are invited to a free pre-concert lecture by Martin Picker, a renowned authority on Renaissance music and retired professor of Musicology at Rutgers University, in Room 112 of Old Cabell Hall at 2:30PM.

Mendelssohn's Oratorio Elijah, his last major work, was first performed at the Birmingham (England) Music Festival in 1846. Mendelssohn had made many concert trips to England, where he was extremely popular, and the premiere performance of Elijah brought wild acclaim to the composer. "Never was there a more complete triumph - never a more thorough and speedy recognition of a great work of art," declared The Times in 1846. So rapturous was the reception of Mendelssohn's Elijah at its first performance that no fewer than eight of its items (four arias and four choruses) had to be encored!

Despite fluctuations in fashion it remains as popular with choirs and audiences today as it ever was, second only in popularity to Handel's incomparable Messiah. Elijah owes much of its popularity to the fact that it is the most genuinely dramatic work of its genre. "The personages should act and speak as if they were living beings - for Heaven's sake let them not be a musical picture, but a real world, such as you find in every chapter of the Old Testament" instructed Mendelssohn. The oratorio draws largely from the Biblical account of Elijah in the Book of Kings. In Elijah Mendelssohn created a vivid portrayal of the Biblical prophet and of the conflict between the followers of Jehovah and those of the pagan deity Baal. Mendelssohn once wrote that he "imagined Elijah as a real prophet through and through, of the kind we could really do with today: strong, zealous and, yes, even bad-tempered, angry and brooding - in contrast to the riff-raff, whether of the court or of the people, and indeed in contrast to almost the whole world - and yet borne aloft as if on angel's wings."

Alvy Powell, bass-baritone, has the title role of Elijah in this performance. Mr Powell recently performed the role of Porgy in the New York City Opera production of Porgy and Bess, which was broadcast on PBS's "Live from Lincoln Center" and nominated for an Emmy Award for "Best Classical Music Production." Before achieving his success in the role of Porgy, Mr. Powell received personal coaching and insight from Todd Duncan. Since that time he has performed the role of Porgy over 1100 times with companies such as La Scala, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Cape Town Opera in South Africa, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Described as "the ultimate Porgy," he is sought by opera companies worldwide. Theatermania.com declares, "Powell displays a huge, round, ringing, gorgeous baritone that withstands comparison to such legendary interpreters of Porgy as Todd Duncan, Lawrence Winters, and William Warfield. As if singing of this quality wasn't enough to ask of any human being, Powell also acts the role with power and nuance."

Mr. Powell's other operatic roles include Balthazar in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors for BBC Films, Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro, Timur in Turandot, and Sharpless in Madame Butterfly. Mr. Powell has been bass soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the Rome Opera, which was sponsored by the Vatican, and Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Rossini's Stabat Mater at the Kennedy Center. In Sunday's performance Mr. Powell will perform the title role of Elijah. Mr. Powell is back for a second appearance with The Oratorio Society, having performed the role of Porgy in their 1991 performance America Sings.

Robert Petillo, a member of The United States Army Chorus, is very active as a tenor soloist on the east coast with groups such as the Raleigh Oratorio Society and the Virginia Symphony and early music groups in Charlottesville and Williamsburg. His portrayals of the Evangelist in the Bach Passions are particularly well known and have garnered lavish praise from critics.

Danielle Talamantes, soprano, will be remembered by Charlottesville audiences for her performances in Mozart's Requiem and Haydn's Mass in Time of War with The Oratorio Society in May of 2002.

Bailey Whiteman, mezzo soprano, sings regularly with the Washington Bach Consort and Master Chorale of Washington and has performed oratorio and opera roles throughout the United States.

L. Thomas Vining, now in his third year conducting The Oratorio Society, brings a rich background and varied experience to the group. Having studied formally at Westminster Choir College and the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Mr Vining went on to perform as a tenor soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra and others. He later pursued his dream of conducting by studying with Leonard Bernstein, Robert Shaw, Sir Malcolm Sargeant and Leopold Stokowski. Currently, Mr. Vining resides in Northern Virginia where he is Music Director at Vienna Presbyterian Church.

The Oratorio Society was founded in 1968, and since then this talented group has performed a wide range of choral masterworks including Haydn's Creation, Brahms' German Requiem, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and Mozart's Requiem, all to high acclaim from appreciative Charlottesville audiences. The Oratorio Society has been accompanied by musicians from as far away as the Juilliard School in New York and has engaged soloists from the national and international stage. The Oratorio Society's 2002-03 season will conclude with Verdi's Requiem on May 25, 2003. Tickets for Elijah are $17.50 and $15 and may be purchased at Greenberry's, New Dominion Book Store and Mincer's, as well as on line at www.oratorio-va.com For more information call The Oratorio Society at 434-996-3610.

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For additional information:

Elijah:
http://www.friendsofhcs.freeserve.co.uk/elijah.html
http://www.coker.edu/Elijah/mendelssohns.htm
http://www.custelec.force9.co.uk/fcs/elijah.htm

Alvy Powell: [bio attached]
http://www.arts4all.com/newsletter/mfw.asp?mfwid=90
http://www.theatermania.com/news/reviews/index.cfm?story=344&cid=1

Robert Petillo:
http://www.robertpetillo.com/
http://www.nvrs.org/RobertPetillo.htm [with photo]

Danielle Talamantes: [bio attached]

Bailey Whiteman: [bio attached]

The Oratorio Society of Charlottesville-Albemarle:
http://monticello.avenue.org/Arts/Oratorio/ [with photo]

For photos of soloists contact Katy Sinclair at 971-3738 or katyssinclair@hotmail.com