A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s funniest and most sophisticated plays, exploring the nature of human emotions. It is a comedy of errors based on classical themes, set in the atmosphere of a poetic fairy tale. William Shakespeare wrote this play at the end of the 16th century. His literary artistry is evident in his skilful blending of worlds, in the intermingling of realism with poetry and magic, and in his playful subversion of convention. In 1826, at the age of 17, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, inspired by the work, composed the concert overture Ein Sommernachtstraum (Op. 21; MWV P 3), and in the following years added further movements. The 19th-century music scholar and compiler of a musical encyclopaedia, George Grove, rightly regarded Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as ‘the greatest phenomenon of precocious maturity that has ever occurred in music – and probably in art in general’. The score delights with its melodiousness, sophisticated themes, exceptional romantic atmosphere, and original harmonic and timbral solutions. It is worth noting that the famous Wedding March from this composition has become one of the most recognisable pieces of music.
This production is Anna Hop’s own original adaptation of Shakespeare’s play. It is worth noting that the choreographer has also created her own musical concept for the production, which, in addition to the programme music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Op. 61), comprises other works by Felix Mendelssohn, as well as a contemporary composition and an orchestral arrangement by Paweł Stuczyński.
