Florian Helgath with Mendelssohn's "Paulus"
Florian Helgath with Mendelssohn's "Paulus"
Florian Helgath Leitung
Christina Landshamer Sopran
Anke Vondung Alt
Werner Güra Tenor
Michael Volle Bass
Zürcher Sing-Akademie
Kurzeinführung
18. Dec 2025, 19.00 Uhr
Konzertfoyer
As artistic director of the Zürcher Singakademie, Florian Helgath has already been involved in many successful performances. He is now conducting the orchestra for the first time in Mendelssohn's "St Paul". The oratorio tells the story of the apostle Paul's conversion to Christianity and thus has autobiographical features: Mendelssohn, who himself was born Jewish and later converted to the Protestant faith, emphasised his new affiliation with this work. At the same time, it is an homage to Johann Sebastian Bach; Mendelssohn designed the use of chorales in particular "entirely in the style of Bach's Passion", as he put it. The premiere of the oratorio in 1836 was an enormous success - which enabled the then 28-year-old composer to make his international breakthrough.