A Midsummer Night's Dream
FiBO visiting Philharmonie in Berlin
Mendelssohn–Grieg
Max Urlacher, actor
Ladies of the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin
Musicians of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, Finnish Baroque Orchestra and Concerto Copenhagen
Gottfried von der Goltz, violin and leader
Pablo Heras-Casada, director
Fairies, elves, heroes, queens - this is the stuff fairy tale dreams are made of and to which William Shakespeare dedicated his A Midsummer Night's Dream ("A Midsummer Night's Dream"). Since its premiere (before 1600), the comedy has been one of the English playwright's most popular works and served as a model for numerous compositions. The best-known setting of the material is undoubtedly Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1826 Mendelssohn read the German translation and immediately began composing the overture, which premiered that same year.
It was not until 1843 that Mendelssohn composed the incidental music at the suggestion of the music director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. In doing so, he fell back on the existing overture, whose youthful freshness is still enchanting today. He remained true to the “enchanting” style of this introduction throughout the rest of the course and thus created inspiring music that still captivates the audience with its lightness – not least because of the famous “Wedding March”. The popularity of this march often pushes the other movements into the background, especially the quiet, elegiac parts like the 'Notturno' or the 'Marcia funebre'. A Midsummer Night's Dream into an entertaining, original and intoxicating musical experience.
After A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed by Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, musicians from four Nordic Baroque orchestras join in. Together, they perform the string orchestra version of Edvard Grieg's Holberg Suite. Originally, Grieg composed the work for piano but he orchestrated the suite for string orchestra during his journey to Berlin.
The concert is the first of the two days long Nordic Lights Festival.
Duration: 1 h 45 min (incl. intermission)