Anyone who thinks of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream can already hear Mendelssohn's wedding march in his or her head, so to speak. Yet many more composers have engaged in Shakespeare's fairytale play. Among them, Carl Orff undoubtedly had the greatest ambitions, because between 1917 and 1964 he delivered no less than six (completed or not) versions of Ein Sommernachtstraum. It was not without
… controversy. The premiere of the third version (Frankfurt, 1939) took place against the background of cultural purges under Nazi rule, with Mendelssohn's music being regarded as pre-eminently 'entartet'. Although Orff withdrew the work immediately after its premiere, this event nevertheless cast a shadow over his reputation as a composer. It was not until twenty-five years later that Orff delivered the final and definitive version. During this time his composing style had in the meantime been greatly reduced. In his pursuit of a completely new synthesis between music, language and movement, he replaced singers with singing actors and the symphony orchestra was exchanged for an ensemble consisting largely of percussion. What remained was the magical atmosphere of Orff's music. All this can be heard on this first recording of the work from the Orff Festspiele in Andechs. (JWvR) All this can be heard on this first recording of the work from the Orff Festspiele in Andechs. (JWvR) All this can be heard on this first recording of the work from the Orff Festspiele in Andechs. (JWvR)more
