Nayer Nagui (conductor); Dina Iskander (soprano, the mother), Amina Khairat (mezzo-soprano, the narrator), Georges Wanis (tenor, the blind man), Niall Anderson (bass-baritone, Jesus); Cairo Celebration Choir and Orchestra
In collaboration with
the British Council Egypt and the British Embassy in Egypt (UK in Egypt)
About this concert
Edward Elgar’s oratorio The Light of Life (Lux Christi), Op. 29, first heard at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester in 1896, tells the Gospel story of Jesus healing the man born blind. With the British Council Egypt and the UK in Egypt, the choir performed it under Nayer Nagui in the Basilique Notre-Dame d’Héliopolis; the concert was filmed in full.
Programme
Work
Elgar: The Light of Life
About the music
Edward Elgar, The Light of Life (Lux Christi), Op. 29
A short oratorio written in 1896, first performed on 8 September 1896 in Worcester Cathedral, conducted by Elgar.
The libretto, by the Rev. Edward Capel-Cure, tells how Jesus restores the sight of a man born blind, and how the Pharisees condemn him for healing on the Sabbath.
Its orchestral opening, the Meditation, has often been recorded on its own, by Elgar among others.
