Performer: Matthew Worth

The Atlanta Symphony, under Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles, was joined by one of its own, flute soloist Christina Smith, in fine performances of late 19th-century are mid-20th-century French music.

From the opening glissandos of Britten's opera, we know this is not Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Where the Mendelssohn / Balanchine ballet is romantic, dreamy and reminiscent of an illustrated fairytale, Britten's opera borders on the nightmarish and eerie.