Essentials: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Essentials series introduces you to the masterpieces you will be happy to know, performed by the world-famous Concertgebouw Orchestra. At Essentials we welcome a new generation of music lovers, and the concerts typically have a pleasant informal atmosphere.

This concert starts at 9 p.m. with a lively introduction by honorary guest conductor Iván Fischer (in Dutch).

Even as a teenager, Mendelssohn was inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, composing a wonderful overture in which we hear the fairies flitting about. Years later, he added incidental music which is highly imaginative and captures the dreamlike atmosphere of the narrative like no other. One would hardly have suspected that Mendelssohn was ill and would die just five years later – so full of joy and life is the music. This performance features the heavenly voices of the National Women’s Youth Choir, soprano Mirella Hagen and mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen.