In the summer of 1826 Felix Mendelssohn stumbled upon a German translation of A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream made by August Wilhelm Schlegel. Spellbound, the 17-year-old composer wrote an orchestral overture for the play and, another 17 years later, augmented it with yet more scene-setting music 鈥� the most enchanting and characterful he would write. Gemma New joins the 麻豆官网首页入口 Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Mendelssohn鈥檚 musical retelling of Shakespeare鈥檚 story (see also Proms 24 & 68) 鈥� performed with readings from the play for dramatic context 鈥� after equally colourful musical storytelling from forgotten French late-Romantic composer Mel Bonis and the heavenly sounds of Mozart鈥檚 Clarinet Concerto.

Broadcast live on 麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 3

Broadcast on 麻豆官网首页入口 Four and 麻豆官网首页入口 iPlayer this season

Image: Gemma New 漏 Roy Cox