Orpheus Choir Takes to Stage with Mendelssohn Masterpiece

Orpheus Choir Takes to Stage with Mendelssohn Masterpiece

Wellington’s Orpheus Choir welcomes its new music director, Brent Stewart, with a spectacular staged performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah.

And like the life of the Old Testament prophet it depicts, it’s a baptism of fire for the man in charge.

“Elijah certainly bit off more than he could chew, and this is by far the biggest and most complex engagement of my conducting career. I’m in charge now whereas last year I was just helping out in a caretaker role,” Stewart said.

Elijah was a hit for Mendelssohn right from its first performance at the 1846 Birmingham Festival. Modelled on the oratorios of Mendelssohn’s baroque predecessors Bach and Handel, it depicts episodes in the prophet’s life, as he takes on false gods, is exiled in the desert and ascends to heaven in a whirlwind of fire.

Brent Stewart may feel he’s in a similar position, managing not just the choir and soloists, but also conducting Orchestra Wellington, however he won’t be giving up his day job as head of music at Wellington East Girls’ College.

Stewart says he can juggle both roles, and with a record last year of rehearsing Orpheus in its triumphant performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Handel’s Messiah while leading his college choir to acclaim overseas, he’s off to a good start.

The New York trained theatre director Frances Moore, comes direct from the Auckland Festival to stage the oratorio at the Michael Fowler Centre. 1993 New Zealand Song Quest winner Martin Snell sings the title role with support from Lisa Harper-Brown (soprano), Maaike Christie-Beekman (alto), James Young (tenor), and soloists from the New Zealand School of Music Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music.

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