Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream Concert Overture and Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony are both rooted in great literary legends. Inspired by Lord Byron's lyric poem, Tchaikovsky's Symphony is somber, icy, and tragic, following the course of Byron's anti-hero: racked by guilt after killing his love, Manfred wanders the Alps until he gives himself up to death. Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream appears all the more luminous in contrast, as light and mischievous as the playful fairies of Shakespeare's comedy. This program features Riccardo Chailly at the head the Lucerne Festival Orchestra for his second consecutive year.
Photo: Riccardo Chailly © Luca Piva
2004 Lucerne Festival Opening Concert
