Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream

The CBSO bring a Shakespearean programme to Symphony Hall on Thursday 4 March, with conductor Ilan Volkov leading the orchestra and the CBSO Youth Chorus. The whole evening is built around three musical responses to Shakespeare, spanning the 19th and 21st centuries.

It opens with Thomas Adès' Five Spells from The Tempest, a 22-minute piece that follows a spectacular 'Storm' with a series of character portraits taken from his operatic score. Then comes Richard Strauss' Macbeth, his first tone poem, which depicts the toxic medieval power couple in about 20 minutes. The second half is Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the evening's main feature, running for 42 minutes and including the famous 'Wedding March'.

Between them, the three pieces cover a lot of ground: Adès' contemporary take on The Tempest, Strauss' early tone poem, and Mendelssohn's well-known score. The CBSO Youth Chorus joins in for the night, and the whole thing runs about two hours with a 20-minute interval. If you're keen to hear more about what's on the programme, there's a pre-concert talk with Ilan Volkov offered beforehand.

The concert is part of the CBSO's 2026-27 season under Music Director Kazuki Yamada, a programme that pairs major symphonic journeys with new commissions, international touring and bold cross-genre collaborations. The evening is supported by the Clive Richards Foundation, Chris and Jane Loughran and the Leverhulme Trust. Tickets are £27.50 to £65.50, with a £4 per-ticket commission included in every ticket priced over £15. It starts at 7:30pm.