Led by Music Director Dane Lam, the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra and actors from Manoa Valley Theatre performed Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Mendelssohn’s incidental music. Photo by Renee Ragucci.
In Monday’s (3/16) Classical Voice North America, James Bash writes, “What were you doing when you were 17 years old? That’s the question conductor Dane Lam put to the audience to introduce the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream … on March 8…. The HSO shared the stage with actors from the Manoa Valley Theatre, seamlessly presenting Mendelssohn’s music with Shakespeare’s comedy to make a very entertaining production…. The collaboration between the HSO and the Manoa Valley Theatre represented the first concert in the HSO’s Sounds of Shakespeare Festival, a three-concert series celebrating music inspired by the Bard’s plays. The two remaining concerts center on Prokofiev’s and Tchaikovsky’s interpretations of Romeo and Juliet, with the Tchaikovsky offering a collaboration with Ballet Hawaii…. Urged on by Lam’s energetic gestures and clear baton, the orchestra elicited the magical qualities of Mendelssohn’s music. Lithe woodwinds popped in and out to create the litheness of Puck (Tiger Tam), who scampered about with elan…. By collaborating with the Manoa Valley Theatre, the production put a spotlight on the arts community in Hawaii and broadened the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra audience to include theatergoers.”
