# A midsummer night's dream by Mendelssohn



## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

This is one of the first classical compositions I got to know and got me into Classical music in general; now, with the first heatwave of the season in Israel on the way, I think it would fit the atmosphere; any opinions about this composition? I personally think it completely refutes the "Classical music is only sad" nonsense from people not familiar with it.


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## Larkenfield

It’s one of his delightful classics. Try his Italian Symphony. It sparkles and bubbles with an effervescent joy—full of cheer but thoughtful too. If CM was mostly sad, I wouldn’t listen to it. It’s healing. Composers are friends we have never met.


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## jegreenwood

Both Frederic Ashton and George Balanchine set wonderful ballets to it. (Balanchine used several additional Mendelssohn works as well.)

I've seen Ashton's version once and I'll be seeing Balanchine's for the 4th time in June.

And don't overlook the Octet.


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## flamencosketches

This is a pretty amazing work. Young Mendelssohn's orchestration here is completely mind blowing. Totally ahead of its time and beyond his own years in sophistication. I second Larkenfield's recommendation for the Italian symphony, and jegreenwood's for the Octet which may be his best chamber work. The Scottish symphony is really good as well. Mendelssohn was an amazing composer.


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## jegreenwood

p.s. Just listened to Abbado conducting the Overture. I don't think he ever encountered a donkey.


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

Italian symphony? Any more details please?


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## Olias

Enjoy the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. In my humble opinion it is:

1) Mendelssohn's greatest single composition
2) The greatest violin concerto by any composer
3) In the top five concertos for any instrument by any composer

You could argue any of these points but I just wanted to convey how good a piece of music this is...its that good.

My personal favorite recording is Hilary Hahn's recording with the Oslo Phil

https://www.amazon.com/Mendelssohn-...n+Mendelssohn&qid=1556579979&s=gateway&sr=8-1


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## jegreenwood

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> Italian symphony? Any more details please?


His Symphony No. 4. A delight from the first note to the finish.

This is where I first heard it.


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## flamencosketches

Olias said:


> Enjoy the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. In my humble opinion it is:
> 
> 1) Mendelssohn's greatest single composition
> 2) The greatest violin concerto by any composer
> 3) In the top five concertos for any instrument by any composer
> 
> You could argue any of these points but I just wanted to convey how good a piece of music this is...its that good.
> 
> My personal favorite recording is Hilary Hahn's recording with the Oslo Phil
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Mendelssohn-...n+Mendelssohn&qid=1556579979&s=gateway&sr=8-1


Hmm... I have two recordings already but I love Ms. Hahn. Plus, I have never heard the Shostakovich. May need to go ahead and cop this one.

@Clouds, they call his 4th symphony the "Italian" because it was inspired by a trip to Italy. All of his symphonies are quite good but that may be the highlight. Concise, melodic, and upbeat. One of the few Classical/Romantic era symphonies to start in a major key and end in the tonic minor (ie. A major to A minor). Some recordings I like are Kurt Masur with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (I have a great 6 CD set that includes all of his symphonies and his 12 early "string symphonies" from this conductor and orchestra that I highly recommend) and Abbado with the London Symphony.

As another poster mentioned, the violin concerto in E minor is also very good.


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## jegreenwood

flamencosketches said:


> Hmm... I have two recordings already but I love Ms. Hahn. Plus, I have never heard the Shostakovich. May need to go ahead and cop this one.
> 
> @Clouds, they call his 4th symphony the "Italian" because it was inspired by a trip to Italy. All of his symphonies are quite good but that may be the highlight. Concise, melodic, and upbeat. One of the few Classical/Romantic era symphonies to start in a major key and end in the tonic minor (ie. A major to A minor). Some recordings I like are Kurt Masur with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (I have a great 6 CD set that includes all of his symphonies and his 12 early "string symphonies" from this conductor and orchestra that I highly recommend) and Abbado with the London Symphony.
> 
> As another poster mentioned, the violin concerto in E minor is also very good.


I have the Hahn disc (an early SACD) but haven't listened to it in some time. I also have Milstein (from the Walter box set), which I'm not sure I've ever listened to. Plus Szeryng and Grumiaux. I probably listen to Heifetz the most (my imprint version).

As for the symphony ending in minor - that is true, but the form is a saltarello, a fast dance step, and it is marked presto. As flamencosketches says, the symphony is upbeat, even in a minor key.


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

Olias said:


> Enjoy the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. In my humble opinion it is:
> 
> 1) Mendelssohn's greatest single composition
> 2) The greatest violin concerto by any composer
> 3) In the top five concertos for any instrument by any composer
> 
> You could argue any of these points but I just wanted to convey how good a piece of music this is...its that good.
> 
> My personal favorite recording is Hilary Hahn's recording with the Oslo Phil
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Mendelssohn-...n+Mendelssohn&qid=1556579979&s=gateway&sr=8-1


I do have a CD of some violin concertos by Beethoven and Mendelssohn, I'll see if I can get some more, because I have Tchaikovsky's violin concerto, which is similar as both are from the Romantic period, and I totally enjoyed it...I'll take your advice, thank you!


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## MarkW

Clouds ==

Your OP doesn't make clear whether or not you're aware that the Overture was inspired by the Shakespeare play of the same name. If not, see it. If so, the genius of the work -- especially for a sixteen year-old -- is abundantly clear


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

MarkW said:


> Clouds ==
> 
> Your OP doesn't make clear whether or not you're aware that the Overture was inspired by the Shakespeare play of the same name. If not, see it. If so, the genius of the work -- especially for a sixteen year-old -- is abundantly clear


Prokofiev didn't invent Cinderella as well, he made a ballet out of it...


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## jegreenwood

MarkW said:


> Clouds ==
> 
> Your OP doesn't make clear whether or not you're aware that the Overture was inspired by the Shakespeare play of the same name. If not, see it. If so, the genius of the work -- especially for a sixteen year-old -- is abundantly clear


I was fortunate enough to see Peter Brook's staging back in the early 70s. Although rose colored glasses may have had an effect over the years, I still describe it as the best thing I've ever seen in a theatre.

https://www.rsc.org.uk/a-midsummer-nights-dream/past-productions/peter-brook-1970-production


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## MarkW

jegreenwood said:


> I was fortunate enough to see Peter Brook's staging back in the early 70s. Although rose colored glasses may have had an effect over the years, I still describe it as the best thing I've ever seen in a theatre.
> 
> https://www.rsc.org.uk/a-midsummer-nights-dream/past-productions/peter-brook-1970-production


I envy you. The closest I can come is being taken as a kid to the Boston run-out of the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady


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## jegreenwood

MarkW said:


> I envy you. The closest I can come is being taken as a kid to the Boston run-out of the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady


I did see that on Broadway. Age 5.


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## DavidA

Love the play and Mendelssohn's music. The overture is perhaps the most remarkable work written by a young person. Have a couple of versions (Ozawa and Nelson) with some if the words that enhance it.


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## Josquin13

I'd urge anyone who's interested in Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream to hear Wilhelm Furtwängler's 1929 Berlin studio account of the Overture. Despite the historical mono sound, it's the finest, most spirited account I've ever heard:

Studio recording, Berlin, 1929:






I don't think Fürtwangler's live 1947 recording is as good, as it has an underlying tension that makes me uncomfortable. He also doesn't get Bottom's braying "hee-haw" sound as well (Bottom has been turned into a donkey), as the 1947 "hee-haw" sounds angry, even furious, rather than comical and fun, as it did in 1929.

Live recording, 1947: 




Otherwise, the top 5 Midsummer Night's Dream recordings that I've most enjoyed over the years are as follows (& in no particular order): The 1983 Philips account by Sir Neville Marriner & the Philharmonia Orchestra, with one of my favorite sopranos, Arleen Auger (although Marriner's recording is incomplete, as he omits the Melodramas and cuts the 'rustic' ending of the Intermezzo); Erich Leinsdorf & the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with Inga Swanson as narrator (which is better than the BSO's later DG account with Ozawa); Kurt Masur's Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra recording on Teldec, of the complete score--with excerpts from the text of the play spoken in German; Otto Klemperer & the Philharmonia on EMI, with sopranos Heather Harper and Janet Baker (despite Klemperer's occasional slow tempi), and last but not least, Andre Previn's 1976 London Symphony Orchestra account on EMI, without dialogue (which I prefer to Previn's later remake in Vienna). I don't own any period instrument recordings of MSND, since I've felt that Kurt Masur's account suffices in the HIP category, considering that the Gewandhaus Orchestra plays in a musical tradition that Mendelssohn created.

Marriner: 



Masur (just the Overture & Wedding March, performed live at a Gala Concert--not the Teldec recording): 








Leinsdorf: Not on YT, and OOP and difficult to find on CD: https://www.amazon.co.jp/Midsummer-...ghts&qid=1556907653&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull
Klemperer: 



Previn: 









I've also enjoyed the MSND selections that Peter Maag recorded with the LSO in 1957:














Finally, I have a high regard for the Mendelssohn conducting of Gunther Herbig, and his selections from A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Staatskapelle Berlin are well worth hearing. I might actually prefer Herbig to one of the above conductors, but I'd have to sit down and do some comparative listening, which I've not done. So, for now, call it my favorite 'sleeper' MSND recording: 




My two cents.


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## philoctetes

Felix had a way with a lot of things - aside from ritornellos and fantasy - he was also good with intros, grabbing attention immediately. 

All those string symphonies - 12 - were just a warmup, still so young. Of the music he composed as an adult, what would be the highlights?


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## Larkenfield

Glad to see Josquin13 mention Erich Leinsdorf & the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with Inga Swanson as narrator. The narration from Shakespeare adds a special charm that I’ve never heard on other recordings and the CD is still available if one searches for it. The orchestra sparkles.


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## Brahmsian Colors

Some of you might want to try any or all of what I consider to be these three very fine performances of _Midsummer_ :

Kempe/Royal Phiharmonic Orchestra
Kubelik/Bavarian Radio Symphony Orcestra (complete version with vocals)
Haitink/Amsterdam [Royal] Concertgebouw Orchestra (also complete version)


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## Oldhoosierdude

There are a ton of good Midsummer Overture recordings out there. I find it a charming and genius piece of music. The entire suite of music is good also.

As previously mentioned the 3rd and 4th symphonies and his Violin Concerto are considered Mendelssohn's best work. I like Maag's recording for the third. Gardiner's offering of the 4th is the best I have heard and the cd has both versions. I attended my local symphony's performance last year and was enthralled, it was obvious our conductor loved the piece.

A not often thought of Mendelssohn composition is his 1st symphony. There are some real stinker recordings of this one as I think it gets treated as a novelty or throw away. I find it masterful when done right and stand by this recording, Mendelssohn- Symphony No. 1 Dohnanyi, VPO..


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## jegreenwood

For a long time my only CD version was Mackerras and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Paired with the Italian Symphony, it got a lot of playing time.


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## MarkW

Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos did a good one ca. 1970 with, I believe, the New Philharmonia.


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## DavidA

This is music that is so well written it is difficult to play badly. Two other great versions I have are by Kubelik and an old one by Friscay - both in German. I also have the elderly Philharmonia with Kletzki which features the horn playing of Dennis Brain. And there is a very good version by the LPO under Litton


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## jegreenwood

DavidA said:


> This is music that is so well written it is difficult to play badly. Two other great versions I have are by Kubelik and an old one by Friscay - both in German. I also have the elderly Philharmonia with Kletzki which features the horn playing of Dennis Brain. And there is a very good version by the LPO under Litton


Litton is now music director of New York City Ballet (among other positions). I may get to hear him conduct it next month.


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## David Phillips

flamencosketches said:


> This is a pretty amazing work. Young Mendelssohn's orchestration here is completely mind blowing. Totally ahead of its time and beyond his own years in sophistication. I second Larkenfield's recommendation for the Italian symphony, and jegreenwood's for the Octet which may be his best chamber work. The Scottish symphony is really good as well. Mendelssohn was an amazing composer.


The Nocturne of AMND opens with what sound like four horns in harmony - an unacceptable expense for a theatre band - but it's two bassoons and two horns. So cleverly written.


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