Worlds of wonder
4th First Night subscription concert
Works by Felix Mendelssohn
The baritone Thomas E Bauer has unfortunately had to cancel due to illness. We are however pleased to announce that Stephan Genz has agreed to step in at short notice.
The genius of the teenager and the experience of the mature unite in Felix Mendelssohn’s music to ›A Midsummer Night’s Dream‹. Sprite-like spiritedness side by side with matrimonial pomp and ceremony. Even Franz Liszt was full of praise: »Mendelssohn’s talent nestles perfectly in the cheerful, mischievous, magical and enchanting world in which Shakespeare’s composition is set.« As a 17-year-old, Mendelssohn read Shakespeare’s ›A Midsummer Night’s Dream‹ and promptly composed the overture, with the later movements being composed 16 years later at the behest of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia. Equally exciting is ›The First Walpurgis Night‹ after Goethe’s ballad of the same name and which forms the basis of Mendelssohn’s cantata. Who could be better qualified to perform this music than Frieder Bernius who, with his Stuttgart ensemble, has already recorded all of Mendelssohn’s sacred works and for which he has received numerous awards.