Midsummer Night's Dream/Manfred Symphony

Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly

In the Overture and Incidental Music to William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Felix Mendelssohn brings the illustrious company of elves, lovers' passions and the solitude of the forest or a moonlit night to musical life. It became a model for other literary reflections in music like Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony. Its four movements – or 'images', as the composer himself named them – capture the world-weariness of George Byron's Manfred: A Dramatic Poem in music. Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra awaken the musical imagery of both works in a colourful, fresh and enchanting performance.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 / Sound formats: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 / Region code: 0 / Running time: 99:32

Mendelssohn:
 A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, Op. 21
 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61 (excerpts)

Tchaikovsky:
 Manfred Symphony, Op. 58

"Together they make a classy sound, and these are classy performances. Chailly’s Mendelssohn is affectionate, reflecting his time as principal conductor at the Leipzig Gewandhaus…Manfred is treated to a beautifully sculpted account, although Chailly doesn’t really whip up the score to the frenzied heights of some readings…He gets polished playing from the LFO, woodwinds once again a delight."
Gramophone Magazine - September 2018

"As a piece of filmmaking, it is utterly conventional…Chailly’s clear, unfussy gestures and limited range of facial expressions are all registered…As of August 2017, when this concert was recorded, the orchestra featured a particularly colourful and well-integrated wind section and the many solo touches in Mendelssohn’s Overture and Incidental Music are all delectably done."
BBC Music Magazine - october 2018 ****