 Mendelssohn met and worked with Lind many times , and started an opera , Lorelei , for her , based on the legend of the Lorelei Rhine maidens ; the opera was unfinished at his death . He is said to have tailored the aria " Hear Ye Israel " in his oratorio Elijah to Lind 's voice , although she did not sing this part until after his death , at a concert in December 1848 . In 1847 Mendelssohn attended a London performance of Meyerbeer 's Robert le diable – an opera which musically he despised – in order to hear Lind 's British debut , in the role of Alice . The music critic Henry Chorley , who was with him , wrote " I see as I write the smile with which Mendelssohn , whose enjoyment of Mdlle . Lind 's talent was unlimited , turned round and looked at me , as if a load of anxiety had been taken off his mind . His attachment to Mlle. Lind 's genius as a singer was unbounded , as was his desire for her success " . 
