 In the spring of that year Mendelssohn directed the Lower Rhenish Music Festival in Düsseldorf , beginning with a performance of Handel 's oratorio Israel in Egypt prepared from the original score which he had found in London . This precipitated a Handel revival in Germany , similar to the reawakened interest in J. S. Bach following his performance of the St Matthew Passion . Mendelssohn worked with dramatist Karl Immermann to improve local theatre standards , and made his first appearance as an opera conductor in Immermann 's production of Mozart 's Don Giovanni at the end of 1833 , where he took umbrage at the audience 's protests about the cost of tickets . His frustration at his everyday duties in Düsseldorf , and the city 's provincialism , led him to resign his position at the end of 1834 . He had offers from both Munich and Leipzig for important musical posts , and decided in 1835 to accept the latter . 
