Certain compositions are so dazzling that they seem to have sprung up as if by magic. A perfect example is Mendelssohn’ overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream (composed when he was 17). Inspired by Shakespeare’s play, this overture is a surprisingly mature, fresh, poised piece, full of imagination, and which never ceases to amaze us.

Seventeen years later, in 1843, Mendelssohn was one of the most prominent musicians in Europe. He had been commissioned by his employer, Frederick William IV of Prussia, to write incidental music for a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at his new palace in Potsdam. Mendelssohn returned to his earlier overture, adding twelve numbers for two women’s voices, choir and orchestra.

Although the instrumental pieces such as the Scherzo and especially the Wedding March are familiar to us, we do not often hear the passages, sung or not, incorporated into the text itself of Shakespeare’s enchanting work. Wonderful treasures of poetry, tenderness, mockery.

Large sections of the work will be performed by The Factory, a London theatre company which drew attention for its production of Hamlet, now a cult performance. Tim Carroll, director of their Hamlet, will also direct their production in Lyon.

En complicité avec les Célestins, Théâtre de Lyon.