Mendelssohn’s most famous melody, the Wedding March, is written for Shakespeare’s ode to love, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Fairies, elves, a forest full of surprises, two couples hunting each other, a travelling troupe, a royal wedding, all these unfolding to divine symphonic music that captures the sounds of the rustling leaves, the fairies’ lullabies, the donkey’s bray, the transformation and constant back-and-forth of love, the truth of the moment and the other truth, that of fantasy. The star of our performance is the ERT Symphony Orchestra, as it is the music itself that provides the narrative, offering an open interaction with Shakespeare’s text and the images that each one of us creates in his or her unique world. Actors become the Orchestra’s speaking instruments, voicing harmony when they fall in love and discord when they act as befits the gods or elves that they are. The ERT Choir becomes the forest’s fairy voice and together, we all travel to the unknown. To where each change in life is taking us. Some things will scare us, others will enchant us, and everything will be music. When we emerge from this world, we will all find ourselves in a different world. Thank you, Felix.
