The orchestra performed a shortened version of the play with the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey and Montclair State University's Prima Voce
On one of the colder nights of the season, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra tried to evoke the warmth and light of summer. At Richardson Auditorium in Princeton Friday, the orchestra teamed up with the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey and Montclair State University's Prima Voce to present a semi-staged production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" scored to Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music for the Bard's evergreen play.
Despite the universal charm of both Shakespeare's 1596 comedy and Mendelssohn's 1843 score, performances that combine the two are hard to pull off. The styles of both works are quite different and rehearsal time in the theater is expensive, especially with a full orchestra. And despite its crowd-pleasing accessibility, "Midsummer" is long and complex, and therefore usually has to be cut -- as it was in this case. This limited any real dramatic progression and gave the theatrical side of the performance a truncated feel.
The New Jersey players responded to this challenge with energy rather than nuance. Heather J. Buchanan's production emphasized broad clowning and big costumes: bowler hats, sunglasses and other such gimmicks were employed. "The Mechanicals," the troupe of actors in the play -- Bottom, Snout, and company -- fared best, as their mugging registered and earned laughs from the crowd. The young lovers, or "Royals," suffered as their romantic entanglements felt like mere plot details killing time between tunes.
But what tunes! Mendelssohn was great with melodies, and those written for "Midsummer" are among his best. The overture, penned when the composer was just a teenager, is a first-rate curtain raiser. Jacques Lacombe and the NJSO played the 12-minute piece with aplomb: The skittering strings tickled the ear and Lacombe conducted with a firm, driving pace.
Scenes from Act 1 of the play followed, which introduced another problem: The actors used microphones, and the amplified sound clashed with the natural sound of the un-amplified band (it should be noted that the acoustics in the intimate Richardson Auditorium were just right for Mendelssohn's light orchestrations). When it was back to the music, the NJSO band dispatched the famous Scherzo with skill and later brought particular snap and stateliness to the ubiquitous Wedding March.
But the moments in the performance that burned brightest were the less-often played -- and recorded -- vocal bits. In the two choral numbers, directed by Bonnie J. Monte, Prima Voce sang with grace and precision -- its articulation was such that even when singing the word "trippingly," you could hear each syllable so that the printed text in the program was hardly needed. Likewise with soloist Victoria Joel, who sang the part of the First Fairy. She sang the small role with a secure soprano sound, fine diction and an inviting stage presence.
The performance, as noted by a flier in the program and remarks before curtain, was Maestro Lacombe's final one leading the NJSO at Princeton. And this was his last series with the band before a one-off night with Jessye Norman in May and then his farewell concerts in June. With Berlioz and Mendelsson in these two weekends of the NJSO's Winter Festival, its clear that after six seasons leading them, Lacombe knows the orchestra well and how best to showcase their sound.
James C. Taylor can be reached at writejamesctaylor@gmail.com. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.