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This
is the story of a love affair between Mendelssohn and the citizens of
Birmingham. Mendelssohn’s oratorio, “Elijah”, was first
performed at the Birmingham Town Hall in 1846 and was an outstanding
success, matched only by the attraction of the man, himself. Glimpses
behind the scenes, eye-witness accounts by those involved, testify to
deafening applause and encore after encore. They tell of things long
forgotten; an averted strike, brimming crowds and traffic near “chaos”
as spectator and concert goer vied to stake his claim along the route.
But, sadly, fervour can dim and when Mendelssohn returned with his revised
score the following year, his welcome was less than he deserved.
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