Christoph Eschenbach conducts Bach and Mendelssohn

Two things inspired Mendelssohn more than anything else: travel and literature. This concert under Christoph Eschenbach celebrates both, opening with all the magic and mystery of the composer’s overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play by Shakespeare for which he wrote extensive incidental music, and concluding with the boundless exhilaration and joy of his Italian Symphony, which overflows with the composer’s unique brand of perfected spontaneity. Between them comes the Violin Concerto in E minor from Mendelssohn’s other great love: Bach.