Iván Fischer conducts Mendelssohn with the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto

Felix Mendelssohn composed little in the final years of his life, but what he did write was pure gold. Iván Fischer is conducting two masterpieces from Mendelssohn’s late period. Concertmaster Vesko Eschkenazy is the soloist in the vibrant Violin Concerto. Here the soloist hits the ground running – the lack of a customary orchestral introduction characterises this energetic work full of tender warmth, played without pauses between the movements.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Even as a teenager, Mendelssohn was inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, composing a clever 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.