Mendelssohn symphony cycles are by no means uncommon but one that includes both his oratorios, Paulus (St Paul) which depicts the conversion and ministry of the apostle, and Elias (Elijah), depicting the travails of the Israelites and their ultimate triumph, is exceptional. The oratorios, each more than two hours long, showcase the composer’s homage to JS Bach, a composer whose musical reputation no one tried harder than Mendelssohn to rehabilitate after its decline in the first half of the 19th century. 

Mendelssohn’s own reputation (especially in relation to his oratorios at least) suffered a similar decline in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, prompting the famous jibe “He began as pure genius and ended as mere talent!” Fusty, musty and dusty was how they were seen as describing what came to be regarded in more secular times as “Victorian”’ piety. Mendelssohn may have adopted such a stance when he converted to Lutheranism after feeling the chill wind of Prussian anti-Semitism that affected even a scion of a distinguished intellectual and banking dynasty. 

Andris Nelsons might be persona non...