As an up-beat to the Shakespeare anniversary next year, Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra tackle Mendelssohn’s overture and complete incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, bookended by two other overtures, The Fair Melusine and The Hebrides. As we’ve come to expect, their performances have a raw, driving energy that’s very persuasive – and yet the flipside is that the playing, especially from the stereo-placed violins, tends to have more vigour than refinement.
In a live performance, Dausgaard would almost certainly be able to sell the rough edges to us; on disc he and the orchestra are less convincing. The performance captures the idea of flitting, frenetic activity in a parallel world, activity we are not sure is entirely benign, yet does so without the ideal gossamer lightness Mendelssohn’s writing demands. Still, it is good to hear such a full version of the Midsummer Night’s score, and Camilla Tilling is a luxury soprano soloist.
