MDR-Musiksommer 2026: Walpurgisnacht

Joseph Haydn:
Symphony in D major Hob. I:73 "La chasse"

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy:
"Die erste Walpurgisnacht" op. 60 Ballad for soloists, choir and orchestra

MDR Symphony Orchestra
MDR Radio Choir
Ulrike Schneider | alto
Patrick Grahl | Tenor
Daniel Ochoa | Baritone
Josep Vila i Casañas | Conductor

In this program, Josep Vila i Casañas, chief conductor of the MDR Radio Choir, combines classically enlightened symphonic music with romantically charged glorification of nature. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Die erste Walpurgisnacht transforms the forest into a soundscape full of suspense and mystery. Based on Goethe's ballad, the work depicts how pagan druids assert their spring rites in the protection of the forest at night - against resistance, but with cunning and joie de vivre. Mendelssohn combines dramatic choral scenes with lyrical images of nature and creates music that celebrates the vitality of spring - at once dramatic, humorous and deeply moving.