The production is being rehearsed by stage director Claudia Solti, daughter of the late internationally acclaimed conductor, and this premiere marks her debut in opera. Claudia has previously worked in cinema and drama theatres. Isabella Bywater, who created the sets and costumes for the production and makes use of mirrors, has changed the stage space of the Concert Hall almost beyond recognition. The production will also feature acrobats whose tricks have been conceived by director and circus choreographer David Downie. Maxine Braham is the Stage Movement Director.
The Mariinsky Theatre has already successfully brought the music of Benjamin Britten to life, its production of The Turn of the Screw being awarded a Golden Mask. But this is the first time ever that the theatre has staged A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The opera was composed in 1960. Each of the three groups of characters that inhabit Shakespeare’s féerie – the lovers, the fairies and elves and the artisans – was given its own musical language by Britten. The lead male character of Oberon was composed by Britten for countertenor. Instead of the normal chorus, this opera uses a children’s chorus. “In the elf scenes, and not just there, the orchestra sounds transparent, almost weightless. In the brilliant orchestral introduction to Act II, The Forest, one can hear echoes of Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This musical painting of the first order – one can hear the tiniest vibrations of the forest air and the most miniscule movements of the fairies’ wings. And, of course, the fantastical style that played such an important role in The Turn of the Screw is developed further here. Britten took care of his audiences’ ears, making the music easy to listen to, “engaging”, and filled it with life-loving energy.”
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