Felix Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Nights Dream Opus 61 – Ivan Fischer

   in Classical Music (Jul, 2018)
The performance standard here is extremely high, the coupling stimulating. Yet a rather reverberant recording acts against the lightness of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, which can itself sound rather studio-bound (the famous Scherzo and Wedding March being cases in point). Of all pieces to lose the magic in, this is surely the worst. Iván Fischer has always been a most intelligent and musical conductor, and his direction is indeed both, but this is nowhere near the class of the 1970 Klemperer Philharmonia recording (with Baker and Harper). Nevertheless, both soloists are fine (the text is sung in German), and soprano Anna Lucia Richter shines in the three Fanny Mendelssohn lieder. Mainacht …