Mendelssohn - "It is enough" from "Elijah" - Fischer-Dieskau

"Elijah" is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament.

In the aria "It is enough", Elijah, in despair at his failure to convert the people, movingly begs for his life to be taken from him.




It is enough! O Lord, now take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers! I desire to live no longer: now let me die, for my days are but vanity.

I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts, for the children of Israel have broken Thy covenant, and thrown down Thine altars, and slain all Thy prophets, slain them with the sword. And I, even I only am left: and they seek my life to take it away! It is enough! O Lord, now take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers. Now let me die, Lord, take away my life.




Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos cond.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Classical
• oratorio
• Felix
• Mendelssohn
• Elijah
• Fischer-Dieskau
• Frühbeck
• de
• Burgos

[redbrian3655]

Wow... as many times as I have heard this done, THIS is without a doubt the most chilling and passionate of all the performances. Do you have this complete "Elijah" and can you upload it! Thanks, BRIAN

[FiDiTanzer528]

@redbrian3655

I do have the complete performance but I won't be uploading it, sorry. It's available on a 2 CD set from EMI Classics for under $10 or it can be downloaded at Amazon. The performance is conducted by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos.

[YooToobCanSuckIt]

Outstanding. When was this recorded?

[FiDiTanzer528]

@YooToobCanSuckIt

1968

[mxgirl918]

all i can say is WOW

good job to whoever did this slide show. thanks for the subtitles!

[FiDiTanzer528]

Thank you!

[riago7]

Exceptional!

[ShoeQueen61]

I'm a BIG fan of [Classic] R&B... Old School Rap... Gospel and Frank Sinatra :-) But there is NOTHING like classical music!!! It is truly the voice of heaven...

[spiko252]

Wow. Beautiful piece. I think I like his interpretation better than Bryn Terfel's, and that's saying a lot from me.

[ednacarroll9]

Baha's take nite of the date...

[countrypastor]

@MrBillhively well I did it while I was a Church Music Student and the organist was also a student. So it wasn't "our" organist. She was good though yes. The text is included in the lectionary I know, most congregations don't have the stomach for something this serious but in formal churches of course it could work.

[MrBillhively]

@countrypastor

The aria text, 1 Kings 19:4-14, appears in part on two Sundays in the three-year Revised Common Lectionary: Lectionary 19A [vv.4-18] and 19B [vv. 9-18] (both for Aug. 7-13: I'm singing it Sunday), and in Lectionary 12C [vv.1-4 (5-7) 8-15a] for June 19-25 in the semicontinuous lectionary. This is a moderately difficult accompaniment to adapt to the organ; you are blessed with an accomplished organist, and your congregation is blessed with a singing pastor.

[TheVaughan5]

This recording was made after a live performance in London in 1968 which I attended but unfortunately I was a bit too young to fully appreciate so my recollection is not too good but listening now I feel it's probably still the best performance yet recorded.

[AgnesRegina]

One of the best baritones ever, singing one of the most beautiful baritone arias ever. Thank you for posting!!

[utcaveman]

exceptional

[legendarypwnerv2]

awwwww. Someone missed the like button.