7th Philharmonic Concert

In the summer of 1826, Felix Mendelssohn, just 17 years old, wrote one of his most acclaimed works to date: the overture to Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream . The atmospheric opening wind chords transport us directly to the spiritual realm of Romanticism. The whirring of the strings, a highly virtuosic performance, conjures up images of elves and other luminous folk dancing before our inner eyes. It is almost a miracle that the youn...