Tales of Mendelssohn I: A Midsummer Night's Dream with SCO Chorus

Mendelssohn's enchanting music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream has to be the most famous and beloved Shakespearean score of all time, but, what is a ‘Walpurgisnacht’? Think Halloween crossed with Beltane.

In April, people across Northern and Eastern Europe dress up as witches and wizards, light bonfires, feast and are jolly. Mendelssohn celebrates by setting Goethe’s tale of ancient Druids outwitting the intolerant local Christians who want to ban their pagan rituals, and quite simply has a lot of choral fun with it. 

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Incidental Music
Mendelssohn: Die erste Walpurgisnacht

Laurence Equilbey: Conductor
Hilary Summers: Contralto
Martin Mitterrutzner: Tenor
Huw Montague Rendall: Baritone

SCO Chorus
Gregory Batsleer: Chorus Director

Connect Insights: 6.30pm

Mischief and Magic. Storyteller Anna Lehr and SCO Flute Brontë Hudnott invite concertgoers of all ages into Mendelssohn’s imagined worlds with timeless tales and musical magic.

Presented in collaboration with the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

Photo by Julien Mignot