Bergen International Festival Closing Concert

Youngsters on the run, a grand wedding, forest fairies’ magic, and the chaotic nature of love – the summer night in ancient Athens unfolds into a comic hotchpotch of affairs and entanglements in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Mendelssohn read a German translation of the comedy in his teens and composed an overture for the play, only 17 years old. More than a decade later, he completed the incidental music, which includes the iconic wedding march. A Midsummer Night’s Dream fills the stage with orchestra, actors, and choir, all under the direction of rising star Gemma New.

During Grieg’s years of study in Leipzig, and the period he composed his famous Piano Concerto in A minor, Mendelssohn was a major influence on him. This year the concerto, the Festival’s signature work, will be performed by soloist Shani Diluka. The pianist from Monaco and of Sri Lankan descent, has made global links between classical music and Indian raga, and has earned widespread acclaim for her poetic and distinctive interpretations of Grieg.

Image: Gemma New (photo: Roy Cox)