A Midsummer Night's Dream: Shakespeare's comic play with Mendelssohn's enchanting incidental music at Opera Holland Park Theatre, London on Friday 30th June 2023

Please note: This concert is in the past and has already taken place.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare's comic play with Mendelssohn's enchanting incidental music

Add to my Calendar 30-06-2023 19:30 30-06-2023 21:30 36 A Midsummer Night's Dream Unbridled desire meets magic as Figure returns to OHP with Shakespeare’s comic exploration of the unconscious, accompanied by Mendelssohn’s enchanting orchestral score. With Midsummer’s eve descending, four young lovers and a troupe of am-dram artisans venture into the woods, but little do they know of the amorous shenanigans about to ensue – or is it what they always dreamed of? Returning to OHP after the success of their “fantastically detailed” (The Guardian) 2022 performance of Handel’s Serse (pictured), innovative historical performance ensemble Figure presents a highly-physical production of Shakespeare’s comedy, along with Mendelssohn’s beguiling incidental music. Beyond the famous Overture and ‘Wedding March’, this varied score also includes music for soloists and upper-voice chorus (performed by local children’s choirs, including Theatre Peckham), as well as filmic passages which sensitively underscore the dialogue. Figure’s musicians will play on historical instruments, modelled on those from Mendelssohn’s time, including the rarely-heard ophicleide, an ancestor of the tuba. In sympathy with this mid-19th-century sound-world, the production is visually inspired by the world of Mendelssohn’s literary contemporaries, the Brothers Grimm, whose fairy tales became as widespread and popular as the composer’s tuneful melodies. Opera Holland Park Theatre, London DD/MM/YYYY

Details

Opera Holland Park Theatre
Ilchester Place
Kensington
London
W8 6LU
England

Friday 30th June 2023
7:30 PM

Programme

Felix Mendelssohn – A Midsummer Night's Dream, incidental music, Op.61
William Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night's Dream

Performers

Rowan Pierce – soprano
Madison Nonoa – soprano
Frederick Waxman – Conductor

Figure

Programme Note

Unbridled desire meets magic as Figure returns to OHP with Shakespeare’s comic exploration of the unconscious, accompanied by Mendelssohn’s enchanting orchestral score.

With Midsummer’s eve descending, four young lovers and a troupe of am-dram artisans venture into the woods, but little do they know of the amorous shenanigans about to ensue – or is it what they always dreamed of?

Returning to OHP after the success of their “fantastically detailed” (The Guardian) 2022 performance of Handel’s Serse (pictured), innovative historical performance ensemble Figure presents a highly-physical production of Shakespeare’s comedy, along with Mendelssohn’s beguiling incidental music. Beyond the famous Overture and ‘Wedding March’, this varied score also includes music for soloists and upper-voice chorus (performed by local children’s choirs, including Theatre Peckham), as well as filmic passages which sensitively underscore the dialogue.

Figure’s musicians will play on historical instruments, modelled on those from Mendelssohn’s time, including the rarely-heard ophicleide, an ancestor of the tuba. In sympathy with this mid-19th-century sound-world, the production is visually inspired by the world of Mendelssohn’s literary contemporaries, the Brothers Grimm, whose fairy tales became as widespread and popular as the composer’s tuneful melodies.

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