SSO gives Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's music a full-bodied staging

This title was just half the story, as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra's (SSO) early Romantic programme led by music director Hans Graf might as well have been two separate concerts.

- Chang Tou Liang

CONCERT A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Singapore Symphony Orchestra Victoria Concert Hall Oct 25

The main event was the Singapore premiere of Felix Mendelssohn's complete Incidental Music to William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Those familiar with its four-movement suite would find pleasure in this fleshed-out edition with spoken verses by veteran Canadian stage actress Maureen Thomas and sung vocal parts.

Every word was by the Bard himself, including a totally engaging Thomas playing the impish character of Puck and breaking the fourth wall to address the audience.

Shakespeare's English was like a foreign language here, and one wondered whether the use of projected surtitles could have enhanced its appreciation. That would, however, have detracted from the theatre-like ambience deliberately created by dimmed lighting.