Enchanting night at the 2017 Cincinnati May Festival
the second night of the 2017 Cincinnati May Festival evoked a summer's night SaturdayThere was the Incidental music to Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream” in a semi-staged setting, with the characters making entrances and exits
in front of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, accompanied by atmospheric
projections at the rear of the stage. Also on the program were works by Frederick Delius and
Ralph Vaughan Williams. Leading it all was Matthew
Halls, artistic director of the Oregon Bach Festival. The concert opened with Delius’
“Summer Night on the River” from “Two Pieces for Small Orchestra,” a peaceful, but
somewhat melancholy work composed in 1911 (which might have illustrated scenes
along the Ohio River.) Following were two works by
Vaughan Williams, Three Shakespeare Songs, composed in 1951: “Full Fathom
Five,” “The Cloud-Capp’d Towers” and the sprightly “Over Hill, Over Dale,”
featuring soprano Anya Tatanovic and mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino. Also by Vaughan Williams was the lovely
“Serenade to Music” (1938), the latter colored by strings, including violin
solos by Kathryn Woolley, associate concert master of the CSO, and projections
of the moon against a darkened sky. Centerpiece of the program was
the Incidental Music from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The often-performed Overture set the
scene briskly. Illustrative
projections by creative partner Gerard McBurney and designer Mike Tutaj
followed Shakespeare’s play beautifully.
Actors Jonathan Mastro (Puck), Susan Shunk (Hermia), Matthew Krause
(Lysander/Egeus), Bradley Armacost (Bottom, in donkey garb and Pyramus), Roger
Mueller (Theseus/ Oberon), Jill Shellabarger Mueller (Hyypolita/Titania) and
Stephen O’Connell (Quince/Flue) delivered lines from the play, delivered
colorfully and with great skill. All in all, it was a superb night
for the Festival and was received with great enthusiasm by the audience. The Festival continues at 8
p.m. Sunday with the May Festival Youth Chorus and May Festival Chamber Choir
at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington with works by Palestrina,
Mendelssohn, Jacob Handl, Lodovico Viadana and Johann Sebastian Bach. Call 381-3300, or visit
www.mayfestival.com