|: Mendelssohn :| Christus, Lauda Sion

Stuttgarter Kantorei, Stiftsphilharmonie Stuttgart / Kay Johannsen

Fanie Antonelou soprano
Seda Amir-Karayan alto
Philipp Nicklaus tenor
Eric Ander bass
Hans Porten bass

Stuttgarter Kantorei, Stiftsphilharmonie Stuttgart
Kay Johannsen Conductor

|The Birth of Christ - The Passion of Christ from the unfinished oratorio Christus op. 97 - Lauda Sion op. 73
Steven J. Heelein in vobis ... spes IV (Triptychon) for voices and instruments (premiere), 1st prize in the composition competition Werkstatt |:Mendelssohn:| of the Stiftsmusik Stuttgart

The oratorio Christus was to comprise three parts, "Earth, Hell and Heaven". But Mendelssohn died too early. Even the fragment gives an idea of how grandiose the whole work could have been. The half-hour, little-known Lauda Sion, commissioned by the Bishop of Liège, was also composed in the last year of his life. The world premiere of a work by Steven J. Heelein (*1984), which deals with the mystery of Christian hope, is interwoven into these late works. Heelein describes the perspective of his piece as "looking longingly towards heaven - searching silently, questioning eternity". As if looking into the resurrection that Mendelssohn was no longer able to set to music.