Elijah

Usher Hall 24/8/25

RSNO

Edinburgh Festival Chorus

Soloists

A MIGHTY AND WONDROUS ELIJAH BRINGS THE EIF 2025 TO A WORTHY CLOSE

I always loved the chance to sing the role of Elijah in Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio, ‘Elijah,’ during my career as a professional singer, and it was wonderful to be able to sit back and listen to a performance as good as that which brought the Edinburgh International Festival to a close on Sunday evening, 24th August. With our marvellous Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus (on their 60th anniversary), conducted by Principal Conductor, Thomas Søndergård, and with a world class quartet of soloists, backed up by an excellent quartet of singers from the ‘Rising Stars of Voice’, specially selected for this Festival, all the ingredients were there for a spectacular final concert, and the packed Usher Hall was not disappointed!

Mendelssohn was commissioned by the Birmingham Festival to write an oratorio for the 1846 Festival, and, having composed the work in two parallel versions in English and German, the World Premiere took place in Birmingham Town Hall, in English, conducted by the composer, on 26th August 1846, just a year before his untimely death from a stroke.

The instant success of the work has seen it become a much loved feature of hundreds of choral societies down through the years, but the chance to hear it in the best possible circumstances tonight was a particular privilege.

It’s a piece which relies, in particular, upon the voice and personality of the baritone who sings Elijah, and here we were very lucky to have Christopher Maltman as the Old Testament Prophet. I was very impressed by Mr Maltman’s Don Alfonso in ‘Cosí fan Tutte’ last year at the EIF, and I was expecting great things from his Elijah, but his performance surpassed even my expectations. The role needs firmness and amplitude of voice, as well as a large tranche of interpretative subtlety, and a very good technique, as it takes the singer on a long journey over a huge vocal range. Mr Maltman rose to these challenges wonderfully, with a keen sense of theatre and a voice which has developed into a quite magnificent instrument. I must say that the role is a fantastic gift to any singer who enjoys the prospect of a long evening as the star attraction. I used to adore singing the role, and it was very clear that Mr Maltman felt likewise. The roar of appreciation as he took a solo bow at the end demonstrated that the Usher Hall audience was of the same opinion!

The other three soloists get excellent opportunities to shine as well. The American tenor, Ben Bliss, a new name to me, was exceptional. Mendelssohn keeps giving the tenor short lyrical arias to comment on the action, and he rarely gets much opportunity to establish a strong presence. This means that each time he sings, it’s a big moment, and Mr Bliss took those chances with aplomb. It’s a rich, smooth, easy lyric tenor, never sounding stressed at any point, and with a thrilling edge to his voice which I want to hear again. It was no surprise to read that he has already established himself as a top Mozart tenor in North America, has had a success as Tom Rakewell in Paris, and that he will soon sing the Duke in Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’ in Toronto.

The slightly lighter but no less classy voice of the Norwegian soprano, Mari Eriksmoen, was heard to great advantage in her two big scenes, firstly as the Widow asking Elijah to revive her child, and later singing the great aria, Hear ye, Israel. Her singing was impassioned and very moving, and had no problem filling the vast spaces of the Usher Hall.

She was well contrasted with the luscious mezzo of Karen Cargill, whose beautiful rendition of the great aria, ‘Woe unto them that forsake him’, was one of the highlights of the evening. In Part 2, her assumption of the ghastly role of Jezebel was brilliantly malignant, and her clear diction as she laid into Elijah was exemplary. We are indeed fortunate at the moment to have some of the finest mezzo-sopranos in the world all coming from Scotland, with Ms Cargill as the vanguard and the younger Beth Taylor, Catriona Morison and Catherine Backhouse taking on her mantle. Hail Caledonia!

In the smaller parts and the semi-chorus, we were privileged to hear four of the Rising Stars of Voice, selected for this Festival, Emily Christina Loftus (soprano), Nancy Holt (mezzo-soprano), James McIntyre (tenor) and Peter Edge (baritone).

‘Elijah’ is a great piece for chorus, and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus (directed by James Grossmith) was absolutely fabulous. We are used by now to the excellence of the Festival Chorus, but the combination of this being their 60th anniversary and a fantastic choral work like ‘Elijah’ just points out how good they are. Can I refer you elsewhere on the EMR website to the interview I did with James Grossmith before the Festival began, where you can find out more about the chorus and their director.

Having reviewed most of the RSNO Usher Hall concerts last season, it was a delight to welcome them back to the Hall for this final concert. They were in terrific form, and clearly relished the chance to play Mendelssohn’s highly emotive music. We often forget the fact that, since he died at the age of only 38, his music was only just reaching some sort of maturity in 1847, only twenty or so years after Beethoven and Schubert died, and long before the great high Romantic works of Wagner, Brahms, Strauss and Bruckner. One can imagine that his style had a long way to go, before being cut off in relative youth.

The grand chordal brass music of Elijah, the restless worrying of the lonely widow, the savage irony of the music for the followers of Baal, all this hints to me that Mendelssohn was developing as a composer in many different ways, which would have been fascinating to hear if he had lived. The score certainly gave the RSNO a chance to shine in all departments, and the orchestration offered exciting challenges to all the players. I must particularly commend the beautiful solo cello playing of Pei-Jee Ng in Elijah’s great aria, ‘It is enough’.

As ever, the commanding conducting of Thomas Søndergård held the whole concert together, and both his attention to detail and the broad sweep of his gestures are a joy to watch. We are lucky to have him here in Scotland!

And so, the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival has come to an end. Underfunded and affected by financial restraints, Nicola Benedetti and her team deserve great praise for putting on such a splendid festival in straitened times. Everything I have attended has been of a very high standard indeed, truly international in scope and artistry, and we can only hope that next year’s funding will be much more generous.

I’ll be writing a short summary of ‘My Festival’ in the coming days, as will some of my colleagues at the EMR, and we can examine there the successes, and minor failings too, of this year’s Arts Extravaganza!

 photo credit: Andrew Perry eif