I recently enjoyed a performance of Felix Mendelssohn's ELIJAH as presented by the Harford Chorale and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in (surprise!) Hartford, Connecticut.. Accordingly, I've pasted here a photo of an icon of the eponymous prophet. This work is classified as an oratorio, one composed over a period of years leading up to an 1846 premiere. The program notes provided at the Hartford performance describe it as a "near opera," referring especially to the dramatic character-driven nature of the libretto. This gets me into a pedantic definition-seeking sort of mood. An "oratorio" an "extended musical composition with a text more or less dramatic in character and usually based on a religious theme, for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra and usually performed without action, costume, or scenery." That definition comes from Random House's dictionary. Presumably a particular oratorio can be considered near opera because it is s...