Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream (CD review)

Complete incidental music, with spoken text and melodramas in English. Jenny Wollerman and Pepe Becker, sopranos; Varsity Voices, Nota Bene; James Judd, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Naxos 8.570794.

Whether you will like this new budget-priced Naxos disc by maestro James Judd and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra may depend on several things: How happy you are with the recording you already own, how curious or adventurous you are about buying new recordings of music you already have, and how you feel about hearing some of Shakespeare's text spoken along with the music.

As you no doubt know, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) began work on his music for Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream when he was still in his teens, composing the overture in 1826 when he was only seventeen. Mendelssohn completed the work sixteen years later, in 1841, while in the employ of the Prussian court. The King suggested he compose complete incidental music for a new production of the play, and Mendelssohn complied.

Judd's approach to the music is pretty straightforward, not at all objectionable but losing some of the airy, mercurial magic we find in performances by Otto Klemperer (EMI) and Andre Previn (EMI). The music, of course, is highly programmatic, following at least a few of Shakespeare's plot ideas and characters, most notably Puck, Bottom, the Duke, and the fairies. Judd judiciously chooses his tempo changes to reflect the state of the story and characters, if sometimes slowing things to a crawl. It is not an altogether inappropriate or unpleasant interpretation, just a bit more matter-of-fact than I've heard.

The Scherzo, for example, is bright and cheery, and rolls merrily along. The song "Ye Spotted Snakes" comes off wonderfully, too, helped by sopranos Jenny Wollerman and Pepe Becker, who sing delightfully. No, there is nothing wrong with the performance; Judd may occasionally exaggerate the music's flow, but he always does so for maximum dramatic effect.

My only quibbles are few: I found the spoken Shakespeare excerpts intrusive, inserted as they are between and during the main segments of music. Not that the actors aren't fine in their speaking roles, but I'd rather have just heard the traditional selections played without interruption. Or maybe that's just what I'm used to. In addition, I thought the "Wedding March" could have used more pizzazz and the "Dance of the Clowns" more jollity. That said, it's certainly pleasing to find all of the composer's incidental music in one place, and many listeners may welcome the spoken text as well.

The Naxos sound, recorded between 2003 and 2009 (the music recorded first, then the vocals, and finally the speech), is good without being in any way outstanding. It is somewhat two-dimensional, without much depth; lacks ultimate dynamics, sparkle, and transparency; and presents the voices too close up. Yet the sound does its job warmly, smoothly, and efficiently; while it may not wow the audiophile, it is hardly a cause for concern. What's more, because this is a prestige product from Naxos, they enclose the jewel box in an attractive cardboard slipcover.

JJP