Romantic Summer

ROBERTO BELTRAN ZAVALA Conductor MARVIC MONREAL Mezzo Soprano Hector Berlioz Les nuits d’été, Op. 7 Felix Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Suite Op. 61 As Music Director of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV’s Academy of the Arts, Mendelssohn was commissioned to write incidental music for theatrical productions. Although composing the rest of the opus 16 years after writing the overture, the consistency of style and musical unity belies this disparity in composition dates. Berlioz’s song cycle, a supreme example of his melodic flair, was considered as a personal work by the composer, who seemed reluctant to put it in the public spotlight.