Otto Klemperer was very much a man of the theatre. “Here, opera and drama were truly united,” he said of his time at Berlin’s Kroll Theatre, a progressive and influential force in the heady years of the Weimar Republic. He was also a man with a sharp sense of humour: this performance of Mendelssohn’s incidental music to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream both glows with enchantment and sparkles with wit. – Heather Harper soprano (A-4, B-6) Janet Baker alto (A-4)

The Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus Otto Klemperer conductor

Recorded/Aufgenommen/Enregistr: 28-29. I, 16 & 18. II. 1960, Abbey Road Studios, London (STEREO)

Producers/Produzenten/Directeurs artistiques: Walter Legge & Walter Jellinek

Balance Engineers/Tonmeister/Ingnieurs du son: Harold Davidson & Douglas Larter

Digitally remastered in 24-BIT / 96kHz at Abbey Road Studios

1 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: Overture, Op. 21 – By Philharmonia Orchestra
2 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: No. 1 Scherzo – By Philharmonia Orchestra
3 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: No. 2A. March of the Fairies – By Philharmonia Orchestra
4 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: No. 3 “Ye Spotted Snakes – By Philharmonia Orchestra
5 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: No. 5 Intermezzo – By Philharmonia Orchestra
6 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: No. 7 Nocturne – By Philharmonia Orchestra
7 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: No. 9 Wedding March – By Philharmonia Orchestra
8 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: No. 10A Funeral March – By Philharmonia Orchestra
9 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: No. 11 Dance of the Clowns – By Philharmonia Orchestra
10 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 – Incidental Music: Finale. “Through the House” – By Philharmonia Orchestra