A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

For the 25th anniversary of ALIA VOX, this book/CD offers two complete versions of the work in English and German, including the overture, 8 musical pieces, and 5 melodramas, performed by actors in both languages. Additionally, the two complete orchestral versions, sung in English and German, are included without the spoken texts, allowing the listener to immerse in the magical dream, guided only by the music.

ALIA VOX
AVSA9960

William Shakespeare · Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

CD1: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Complete incidental music and play
ORIGINAL TEXT: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
(1564-1616)

CD2: EIN SOMMERNACHTSTRAUM
Komplete Bühnenmusik und Spiel
DEUTSCHE FASSUNG: AUGUST WILHELM SCHLEGEL
(1767-1845)

1.  Ouverture (Allegro di molto) Op. 21 (1826) 13’05
2.  1. Scherzo (Allegro vivace) Op. 61 (1843)   4’47
3.  2. Melodram Recitations & Music. How now, spirit!/He, Geist!   3’30
4.  Elfenmarsch Music & Recitations. (Allegro vivace)   5’47
5.   3. Lied mit Chor Music & Recitations. You spotted snakes/Bunte Schlangen   4’37
6.   4. Melodram Recitations & Music. What thou seest / Was du wirst   2’51
7.   5. Intermezzo (Allegro appasionato-Allegro molto comodo)   3’11
8.   6. Melodram Recitations & Music. Are we all met?/Sind wir alle beisammen? 15’36
9.   7. Notturno (Andante tranquillo)   5’30
10.   8. Melodram Recitations & Music. Welcome, good Robin/Willkommen, Droll!   4’26
11.   9. Hochzeitmarsch (Allegro vivace)   4’53
12.   10. Melodram Recitations & Music. Say, what abridgement/Was haben wir fur Spiel   2’55
13.   Marcia Funebre Recitations & Music.   1’34
14.   11. Ein Tanz von Rüpeln (Alegro di molto)   2’26
15.   12. Melodram Recitations & Music. Now the hungry lion/Jetzt beheult der Wolf   1’07
16.   13. Finale Music & Recitations. Through the house/Bei des Feuers   6’00

CD3: CONCERT VERSION · CD4: KONCERTANTE FASSUNG

1.  Ouverture (Allegro di molto) Op. 21 (1826) 13’05
2.  1. Scherzo (Allegro vivace) Op. 61 (1843)   4’47
3.  Elfenmarsch (Allegro vivace)   5’47
4.  3. Lied mit Chor (Allegro ma non troppo) You spotted snakes/Bunte Schlangen   4’37
5.  5. Intermezzo (Allegro appasionato-Allegro molto comodo)   3’11
6.  7. Notturno (Andante tranquillo)   5’30
7.  9. Hochzeitmarsch (Allegro vivace)   4’53
8.  Marcia Funebre (Allegro comodo)   1’34
9.  11. Ein Tanz von Rüpeln (Alegro di molto)   2’26
10.  13. Finale (Allegro di molto) Through the house/Bei des Feuers   6’00

Thomas Höft et Irina Brook choix des textes et direction d’acteurs
Acteurs : G. Carey, R. von Carlowitz, J. R. Falkinger, D. Henschel, T. Höft, M. Jemmett,
G. Kroneis, A. Manske, W. Morgan, M. Penson, S. Rafaat, G. Singh Chera, L. Srajer
Solistes : Flore van Meersche – Diana Haller
La Capella Nacional de Catalunya · Le Concert des Nations
Jordi Savall
Enregistrement musique en octobre 2023 par Manuel Mohino assisté de Flavio Lenotti et Luca Guglielmi (directeur artistique de l’enregistrement). Enregistrement des textes récités les 7 et 8 janvier et le 31 mai 2024
Montage et Masterisation SACD : Manuel Mohino ARS ALTIS
TEXTES EN FRANÇAIS, ENGLISH, CASTELLANO, CATALÀ, DEUTSCH, ITALIANO

Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream
“The bloom of youth”

On 7th July, 1826, the 17-year-old Mendelssohn, fascinated by Shakespeare’s work, embarked on a project which appealed to his taste for magical fairy themes. On 6th August, in the record time of one month, he completed his extraordinary Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a few months later, in November, he played it with his sister Fanny to a spellbound gathering of friends, including the pianist and composer Ignaz Moscheles.

The miraculous opening chords create an instant enchantment which is sustained throughout the rest of the overture and leads us into the realm of the fairies. According to Robert Schumann, this “bloom of youth” seems to spring from a profound understanding of the poetic and emotional dimension of Shakespeare’s fabulous comedy. But perhaps it is also the fact that the young Mendelssohn, propelled too early into adulthood, delighted in reconnecting with the spirit of his childhood, building on his extraordinary capacity to imagine and create a kind of symphonic poem –the first of its genre– which, thanks to its inspiration and extraordinary orchestration, immerses us in the magical atmosphere of an enchanted night and the heady atmosphere enfolding the characters in the play. Hector Berlioz, who was well versed in the matter affirmed that he “had never heard anything more Shakespearean.”

Jordi Savall
+ information in the CD booklet