What would Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sommernachtstraum) be without the stage music of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy? Composed at the request of the Prussian king, the comedy of magic and love translated by August Wilhelm Schlegel conquered one theatre after another in the German-speaking area. Nowadays, Mendelsshohn’s wonderful stage music is seldom performed in its entirety. Everyone is familiar with the Wedding March (Hochzeitsmarsch), perhaps also the Overture or the Dance of the Clowns (Tanz der Rüpel). However, have you ever had the chance to listen to the ELFENChor with its “Eiapopeia (lullaby)”?

The Austrian writer Franzobel has written new text intermezzi. The German (film) actress Johanna Wokalek, accompanied by the fairy-like tones of the La Cetra Vokalensemble, switches seamlessly between the roles of Puck, Titania and Zettl.

“Beethoven moved me almost as much as Shakespeare did,” noted Berlioz in his memoirs. “He opened up a new world to me in the music, just as the poet revealed a new universe in the poetry.” Placing Beethoven on a par with Shakespeare was still the “wildest, craziest notion for Friedrich Nietzsche”. We are excited to see what sort of musical wonders that Frank Peter Zimmermann has in store for us when he plays Beethoven’s violin concerto in front of The Midsummer Night’s Dream.