A Midsummer Night's Dream
At-A-Glance
Composed: 1826 and 1843
Length: c. 61. minutes
Orchestration: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, triangle, strings, 2 solo voices, and treble chorus
First Los Angeles Philharmonic performance: February 17, 1922 (Overture, Scherzo, Nocturne, and Wedding March), Walter Henry Rothwell conducting; July 16, 1932 (Overture and complete Incidental Music for a production directed by Max Reinhardt), Sir Hamilton Harty conducting
About this Piece
From the first cinematic version of Les Misérables in 1935, directed by Richard Boleslawski, to Tom Hooper's version nearly a century later, starring Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean and Russell Crowe as Javert, Victor Hugo's work has become one of the most frequently adapted and enduring stories in the American repertoire. Transcending cultural boundaries is a journey shared by many masterpieces of literature. One of the most memorable adaptations of the classic Russian play Uncle Vanya, directed and reinterpreted by David Mamet, manages to fully preserve the soul and drama of Chekhov's text, transforming its dialogues into direct and colloquial American English. Mamet even plays with the rhythm of the scenes, making the play more accessible to contemporary audiences.
We all grew up watching great classics reimagined by theater and cinema, making it commonplace to see Don Quixote speaking Russian or Madame Bovary speaking German. I vividly remember seeing El Cid Campeador, one of my childhood heroes, speaking English, powerfully portrayed by Charlton Heston, while Sophia Loren brought to life an impeccable Doña Jimena, with her charming Italian accent. Perhaps one of the most beautiful gifts that art can offer is its unique ability to transcend borders, cultures, languages, and social differences, bringing us closer to one another and opening portals to new interpretations that sometimes even reveal deeper aspects of the original work’s spirit.
The version of A Midsummer Night's Dream that we present embodies that same transformative and renewing spirit of art, which has left its native soil to become a universal heritage for all. This classic of English literature, composed by a German, takes on a new dimension conducted by a Venezuelan, and performed by an American orchestra and choir, and narrated in pure Castilian by a Spanish actress.
At the heart of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream lies the joyous fusion of two art forms: literature and music. We wanted to pay a poetic tribute to this reality, and we accompany this production with Video Art that compiles several of the most iconic paintings inspired by the play, from the 18th and 19th centuries, ranging from Edwin Landseer to William Blake, while also bringing in images from Max Reinhardt’s unforgettable 1935 film, starring Mickey Rooney and Olivia de Havilland. “Sound, music!”
– Alberto Arvelo