Sunday, December 27 at 5 pm, we enjoyed the very beautiful oratorio (with a larger choir, orchestra and soloists) of St. Paul by Mendelssohn. The concert took place in the culture Casino of Berne. Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer was conducting the Berne Bach Choir and the orchestra of Europa. Outstanding was the soprano Anne-Florence Marbot.
The oratorio recounts the story of how Saul was persecuting the first Christians. He then encountered the risen Christ and experienced a radical conversion. From then on he was called Paul. The oratorio goes on to tell how Paul became the first Christian missionary.
In 1836 the German Jewish Felix Mendelssohn wrote this marvellous oratorio of St. Paul. His music is very much influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach. Mendelssohn’s more conservative music style set him apart from contemporaries such as Liszt, Wagner or Berlioz.
