After the performance at the Lucerne Festival, the MCO will take the oratorio Elijah on a short tour to Bremen and Stockholm. The MCO has been a regular guest at the Musikfest Bremen since 2006; its most recent visit there was two years ago with Janine Jansen and Antonello Manacorda. Between 21 August and 11 September, the festival presents a diverse programme featuring big-name classical music stars as well as (for now) lesser-known young artists.
The Elijah ensemble certainly belongs to the first category. Thomas Quasthoff will sing the title role, supported by Bernarda Fink, Julia Kleiter and Michael Schade. The Swedish Radio Choir, one of the most renowned choirs in the world, will complete the ensemble. Sacred music occupies a large part of Thomas Quasthoff’s repertoire, and Elijah is known as his signature role. The part demands more than exceptional technique. Emotional peaks and valleys and ruptures in the portrayal of the prophet result in an unusually (for an oratorio) multi-faceted character. Mendelssohn’s Elijah is a fighter and a skeptic, a doubter and a God-fearing man – no human emotion is foreign to his temperament. With Thomas Quasthoff, the role has found one of the most expressive singers of our time.
Michael Schade, known for a wide array of recordings of Passions and oratorios (one of which has received a Grammy) will sing the tenor part.
The Argentinean singer Bernarda Fink, who will sing the alto part, is known for her diction and clarity of interpretation, which lend her roles an especial aura of authenticity. This is her first collaboration with the MCO.
Soprano Julia Kleiter, in contrast, has already performed with the MCO in several opera projects: she sang in The Magic Flute under Claudio Abbado in 2005 and in Fidelio in 2008, and she sang the role of Ännchen in Weber’s Freischütz under Thomas Hengelbrock at the Konzerthaus Dortmund and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in 2009.
The MCO has a similarly long-standing relationship with the Swedish Radio Choir. Among the most important joint projects with the choir are Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Daniel Harding and Mozart’s Requiem with Claudio Abbado in Turin.
Principal Conductor Daniel Harding has a close relationship with Bremen: he was Musical Director of the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen from 1999 to 2003, and made his first Bremen appearance with the MCO in 2006 with the last three Mozart symphonies.
The MCO performed a concert version of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Thomas Quasthoff at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in the 2010/11 season, as well as a gala concert with classical Lieder and jazz standards in the Philharmonie Essen.
This concert is part of a tour which will take the MCO from Lucerne (22 August) to Bremen (24 August) and finally to Stockholm (26 August). More information about programmes and venues can be found on each calendar detail page.
22 AUG 2010 / SUN 18:30 / Elias, LUCERNE FESTIVAL>> MORE 26 AUG 2010 / THU 19:30 / Elias, BALTIC SEA FESTIVAL STOCKHOLM >> MORE 18 DEC 2010 / SAT 20:00 / Thomas Quasthoff & Friends, PHILHARMONIE ESSEN >> MORE 18 JUL 2011 / MON 20:00 / Don Giovanni, FESTSPIELHAUS BADEN-BADEN >> MORE
