A Midsummer Night's Dream

Felix Mendelssohn (Artist), Andre [conductor] Previn (Artist), London Symphony Orchestra (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002RNC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,396 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #40 in	Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Romantic (c.1820-1910) > Forms & Genres > Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music
  #58 in	Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music > Incidental Music
  #72 in	Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music > Overtures

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting performance of magic music, January 21, 2003

By	Gontroppo "Music and Theology Lover" (Bathurst, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

Have you had the opportunity to hear Mendelssohn's music performed with the Shakespeare play? We went to a performance where veteran Shakespearean actors, husband and wife John Bell and Anna Volska, acted every single part in the play, while the Sydney Opera and Ballet Orchestra performed the music. [It took about 2 minutes to adjust to a cast of 2!]

Some people have called it "Great Music for a Silly Play," but I think both play and music are superb. By the way, it is not true that Mendelssohn wrote the music at the age of 17: he did write the overture then (which is an amazing feat), but the rest was written in his maturity.

This recording does *not* feature the play, too, but it is one of my favourites. It is one of the earliest CDs we bought, and it is terrific that it is still available.

The music is superb, and the performances of the orchestra, soloists and children's choir are top notch.

This is one of the best pieces of Nineteenth Century Music. You may find that you play it more frequently than most CDs in your collection.

Highly recommended.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply, the best Midsummer Nights Dream anywhere, August 2, 1999

By A Customer

This EMI recording came out in the late 1970s, and quite simply, no one else has come close to capturing the sheer beauty and quicksilver lightness of Mendelssohn's scoring. Andre Previn and his London forces have done a masterful job. One of those discs that should never be allowed to go out of print.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars After thirty years, Previn's Mendelssohn is still enchanted, July 15, 2006

By	Santa Fe listener - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Andre Previn was at his freshest and most involved in 1976 when he made his acclaimed recording of Mendelssohn's complete Midsummer Night's Dream music, all 57 min. worth. It's become fashionable to include some spoken dialogue (as Abbado does on his Sony recording with the Berlin Phil.) so that we can capture the melding of Mendelssohn with Shakespeare. Previn's version is dialogue free, but he is unusually alert and sparkling here.

One secret is taking slower than normal tempos, which gives the orchestra space to phrase with more imagination. You really do participate in a wordless drama of romance and magic, and thanks to EMI's sterling engineering, which highlights all the delicious detials of the LSO's playing, thrice-familiar music sounds new and engaging. That's the secret--Previn doesn't tkae a single bar for granted, so listeners old and new can immrese themselves in Mendelsoohn's immortal fairy whimsy. Even the scaling back to a smaller orchestral sound--far removed from the symphonic breadth of, say, Klemperer--makes us feel that we have traveled to a world of delicate enchantment. Highly recommended.