Elijah by Mendelssohn, Noiztik (2022/2023), Zuzendaria Anthony Pilavachi,, Zuzendaria Thomas Bönisch, Staatstheater, Oldenburg, Germany

"I thought Elijah would be a prophet that we could use again today," wrote Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in 1838. His observation is more relevant today than ever: In a world shattered by war, corruption and the climate crisis, it is needed people who stand for the truth. But are they heard? This does not seem to be the case with the prophet Elijah: he relentlessly warns people who have lost faith of the consequences of his apostasy. But nobody really wants to take his warnings seriously – not even when a drought he predicted shook the people. Thus the prophet fights for the truth and against a world corrupted by power. Mendelssohn's "spiritual opera" is one of the greatest masterpieces of choral literature: powerful in sound and full of drama, lyricism and intimacy. Director Anthony Pilavachi places the prophet in today's world and lets him fight against an abysmal, post-truth society that absolutely doesn't want to hear his message.