Mendelssohn: Elijah – oratorio

Live audio broadcast on Hungarian Classical Music Radio Channel: Bartók Rádió
For live online audio broadcast click here: https://mediaklikk.hu/bartok-radio-elo

Time: 29 January, 2024 (Monday) 7.35 pm (CET)
Müpa Budapest, Hungary

Conductor: György Vashegyi
Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Choir (Chief Conductor: Zoltán Pad)
Julian Orlishausen (bariton) – title role
Katalin Szutrély (soprano), Dalma Krajnyák (alto), Zoltán Megyesi (tenor)

One intermission (after movement 20)
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Elijah (German: Elias) is an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartoldy, depicting events in the life of the Prophet Elias as told in the books 1-2 Kings of the Old Testament. Mendelssohn uses biblical episodes relating to Elijah, which in the original, 1 Kings 17:19 and 2 Kings 2:1, are narrated in rather laconic form, to produce intensely dramatic scenes, while adding several related biblical texts, mostly taken from the Old Testament.
Among the episodes is the resurrection of a dead youth. A dramatic episode is the contest of the gods, in which Jehovah consumes an offered sacrifice in a column of fire, while a sequence of increasingly frantic prayers by the prophets of the god Baal failed. Part I is concluded by the bringing of rain to parched Israel through Elijah’s prayers. Part II depicts the persecution of Elijah by Queen Jezebel, his retirement to the desert, his vision of God appearing, his return to his work, and his ascension on a fiery chariot into heaven. The work ends with prophecies and praise.

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Julian Benjamin Orlishausen sings the title role of Elijah. He received his basic musical training at the famous Windsbach Boys’ Choir. He supplemented his singing studies at the Würzburg University of Music with Prof. Endrik Wottrich by taking numerous master classes with Cheryl Studer, Francisco Araiza, Grace Bumbry, Michael Volle and Edda Moser, a.o.
His debut at the Leipzig Opera was quickly followed by engagements at the Staatstheater Kassel, the Theater Chemnitz, the Wiener Volksoper and the Staatsoper Stuttgart, where he sung roles such as Dr. Falke in „Die Fledermaus“, Marcello in „La Bohème“ and Sharpless in „Madame Butterfly“ by Puccini, Sid in „Albert Herring“ by Britten, as Graf in „Der Wildschütz“ and Zar in „Zar und Zimmermann“ by Lortzing. Julian soon became a regular guest at many festivals such as the International Gluck Festival in Nuremberg, the Handel Festival in Halle, the Seefestspiele Mörbisch, the Opernfestspiele Heidenheim, the Tiroler Festspiele Erl and the Opera Festival Lyon.
In addition to the opera, the young artist’s work is characterized by a lively concert activity. Besides recitals with the renowned pianist Gerold Huber, concerts have already taken him to many of the most important concert halls, including the Philharmonie Bamberg, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Philharmonie am Gasteig and the Herkulessaal Munich, the Meistersingerhalle Nuremberg, the Konzerthaus and the Philharmonie Berlin, as well as the Gewandhaus Leipzig. He works regularly as solist with the Dresdner Kreuzchor and the Windsbach Boys´ Choir as well as with orchestras such as the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Dresden Philharmonic, the State Opera Orchestra Stuttgart, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Chamber Virtuosos, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the German Symphony Orchestra (DSO) Berlin under conductors such as Ulf Schirmer, Philippe Auguin, Lothar Koenigs, Michael Sanderling, Daniel Klajner, Giuseppe Finzi, Rudolf Bibl, Dimitri Jurowski, Markus Bosch, Alfred Eschwé, and Gustav Kuhn.
Highlights of his recent performances include an overwhelming success with Gustav Mahler’s “Songs of a Journeyman” at the Stuttgart State Opera and his debuts both at the Leipzig Opera, as the Father in “Hansel and Gretel” by Humperdinck and 1.Nazarener in ” Salome” by Richard Strauss, as well as at the Opéra National de Lyon as TschangLing in Zemlinsky’s “DerKreidekreis”. In 2019 he celebrated an highly acclaimed success at the Tyrolean Festival Erl as Ratefreund in the ORF broadcasted production of Braunfels “Die Vögel” under the baton of Lothar Zagrosek and made his debut at the Transsiberian Festival Novosibirsk as Wolfram in “Tannhäuser”.
In 2022 Julian returned to the Opéra National de Lyon with a new production of Franz Schreker’s opera “Irrelohe” directed by David Bösch and conducted by Bernhard Kontarsky and was celebrated by the international press for his interpretation of “Peter”. He performed in concerts at the Liederhalle Stuttgart, the Konzerthaus Berlin and Freiburg and the Philharmonie Köln and made his US debut in Minneapolis with Mahler’s 8th Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä. This concert recently has been released on CD by the renowned label BIS Records.
In 23/24 Julian will perform in concerts at the Gewandhaus Leipzig with the MDR Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Cohen, in Yerevan with the Armenian National Orchestra and Jessica Cottis, at the Konzerthaus Berlin with the Kreuzchor Dresden and at the Opera de Lyon as Geisterbote in a new production of ” The Woman Without a Shadow” by Strauss conducted by Daniele Rustioni.
Julian is a member of the ensemble of the Staatstheater Darmstadt and has performed there, among others, as Renato in “Maskenball” and Germont in “La Traviata”, as Don Giovanni, as Heerrufer in “Lohengrin” by Wagner, Marcello in “La Bohčme”, as Enrico in “Lucia di Lammermoor”, as Belcore in Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” and as Orest in Strauss’ “Elektra”.