Libretto: Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Play A Midsummer Night's Dream plot

The action takes place in Athens. The ruler of Athens bears the name of Theseus, one of the most popular heroes of ancient legends about the conquest of the warlike tribe of women, the Amazons, by the Greeks. Theseus marries the queen of this tribe, Hippolyta. The play was apparently created for a performance on the occasion of the wedding of some high-ranking officials.

Preparations are underway for the wedding of Duke Theseus and the Amazon queen Hippolyta, which is to take place on the night of the full moon. An angry Aegeus, Hermia's father, appears at the duke's palace, accusing Lysander of bewitching his daughter and cunningly forcing her to love him, while she had already been promised to Demetrius. Hermia confesses her love for Lysander. The Duke announces that according to Athenian law, she must submit to her father's will. He gives the girl a reprieve, but on the day of the new moon she will have to “either die for violating her father’s will, or marry the one he chose, or take a vow of celibacy and a harsh life forever at the altar of Diana.” The lovers agree to flee Athens together and meet the next night in a nearby forest. They reveal their plan to Hermia's friend Helena, who was once Demetrius' lover and still loves him passionately. Hoping for his gratitude, she is going to tell Demetrius about the plans of the lovers. Meanwhile, a group of rustic craftsmen are preparing to stage a sideshow on the occasion of the Duke's wedding. The director, carpenter Peter Pigva, chose a suitable work: “A pitiful comedy and a very cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe.” Weaver Nick Osnova agrees to play the role of Pyramus, as well as most other roles. Bellows repairman Francis Dudke is given the role of Thisbe (in Shakespeare's time women were not allowed on stage). The tailor Robin Hungry will be Thisbe's mother, and the coppersmith Tom Snout will be the father of Pyramus. The role of Leo is assigned to the carpenter Gentle: he has “a memory that is slow to learn,” and for this role you only need to roar. Pigva asks everyone to memorize the roles and tomorrow evening come to the forest to the ducal oak tree for a rehearsal.

In a forest near Athens, the king of fairies and elves Oberon and his wife Queen Titania quarrel over a child whom Titania adopted, and Oberon wants to take for himself to make him a page. Titania refuses to submit to her husband's will and leaves with the elves. Oberon asks the mischievous elf Puck (Good Little Robin) to bring him a small flower on which Cupid's arrow fell after he missed “the Vestal reigning in the West” (an allusion to Queen Elizabeth). If the eyelids of a sleeping person are smeared with the juice of this flower, then when he wakes up, he will fall in love with the first living creature he sees. Oberon wants to make Titania fall in love with some wild animal and forget about the boy. Peck flies off in search of the flower, and Oberon becomes an invisible witness to the conversation between Helen and Demetrius, who is looking for Hermia and Lysander in the forest and rejects his former lover with contempt. When Peck returns with the flower, Oberon instructs him to find Demetrius, whom he describes as an “arrogant rake” in Athenian robes, and anoint his eyes, but so that when he awakens, the beauty in love with him will be next to him. Finding Titania sleeping, Oberon squeezes the juice of the flower onto her eyelids. Lysander and Hermia got lost in the forest and also lay down to rest, at Hermia’s request - away from each other, since “for a boy and a girl, human shame does not allow intimacy...”. Peck, mistaking Lysander for Demetrius, drips juice onto his eyes. Elena appears, from whom Demetrius ran away, and stopping to rest, wakes up Lysander, who immediately falls in love with her. Elena believes that he is mocking her and runs away, and Lysander, abandoning Hermia, rushes after Elena.

Near the place where Titania sleeps, a company of artisans gathered for a rehearsal. At the suggestion of Osnova, who is very concerned that, God forbid, not frighten the female spectators, two prologues are written for the play - the first that Pyramus does not kill himself at all and that he is not really Pyramus, but the weaver Osnova, and the second - that Lev is not a lion at all, but a carpenter, Milag. Naughty Peck, who is watching the rehearsal with interest, casts a spell on the Foundation: now the weaver has a donkey's head. The friends, mistaking the Base for a werewolf, run away in fear. At this time, Titania wakes up and, looking at the Base, says: “Your image captivates the eye. I love you. Follow me!” Titania summons four elves - Mustard Seed, Sweet Pea, Gossamer and Moth - and orders them to serve “her darling.” Oberon is delighted to listen to Peck's story about how Titania fell in love with the monster, but is very dissatisfied when he learns that the elf sprinkled magic juice into the eyes of Lysander, and not Demetrius. Oberon puts Demetrius to sleep and corrects the mistake of Peck, who, on the orders of his master, lures Helen closer to the sleeping Demetrius. As soon as he wakes up, Demetrius begins to swear his love to the one he recently rejected with contempt. Elena is convinced that both young men, Lysander and Demetrius, are mocking her: “There is no strength to listen to empty ridicule!” In addition, she believes that Hermia is at one with them, and bitterly reproaches her friend for her deceit. Shocked by Lysander's crude insults, Hermia accuses Helen of being a deceiver and a thief who stole Lysander's heart from her. Word for word - and she is already trying to scratch out Elena’s eyes. The young people - now rivals seeking Elena's love - retire to decide in a duel which of them has more rights. Peck is delighted with all this confusion, but Oberon orders him to lead both duelists deeper into the forest, imitating their voices, and lead them astray, “so that they will never find each other.” When Lysander collapses exhausted and falls asleep, Peck squeezes the juice of a plant - an antidote to the love flower - onto his eyelids. Elena and Demetrius were also euthanized not far from each other.

Seeing Titania asleep next to the Base, Oberon, who by this time had already acquired the child he liked, takes pity on her and touches her eyes with an antidote flower. The fairy queen wakes up with the words: “My Oberon! What can we dream about! I dreamed that I fell in love with a donkey!” Peck, on Oberon's orders, returns his own head to the Base. The Elf Lords fly away. Theseus, Hippolyta and Aegeus appear hunting in the forest. They find sleeping young people and wake them up. Already free from the effects of the love potion, but still stunned, Lysander explains that he and Hermia fled into the forest from the severity of Athenian laws, while Demetrius admits that “Passion, purpose and joy of the eyes are now not Hermia, but dear Helen.” Theseus announces that two more couples will be married today with them and Hippolyta, after which he leaves with his retinue. The awakened Base goes to Pigwa's house, where his friends are eagerly awaiting him. He gives the actors the last instructions: “Let Thisbe put on clean underwear,” and let Lev not try to cut his nails - they should peek out from under the skin like claws.

Theseus marvels at the strange story of the lovers. “Mad men, lovers, poets - All created from fantasies alone,” he says. The entertainment manager, Philostratus, presents him with a list of entertainments. The Duke chooses the artisans' play: “It can never be too bad, What devotion humbly offers.” Pigva reads the prologue to the audience's ironic comments. Snout explains that he is the Wall through which Pyramus and Thisbe are talking, and therefore is smeared with lime. When the Pyramus Base looks for a crack in the Wall to look at his beloved, Snout helpfully spreads his fingers. Lev appears and explains in verse that he is not real. “What a meek animal,” Theseus admires, “and what a reasonable one!” Amateur actors shamelessly distort the text and say a lot of nonsense, which greatly amuses their noble audience. Finally the play is over. Everyone leaves - it’s already midnight, a magical hour for lovers. Peck appears, he and the rest of the elves first sing and dance, and then, by order of Oberon and Titania, scatter around the palace to bless the beds of the newlyweds. Peck addresses the audience: “If I couldn’t amuse you, it will be easy for you to fix everything: Imagine that you fell asleep and dreams flashed before you.”

Option 2

The ruler of Athens, Duke Theseus, is preparing to marry Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons. Preparations for the wedding are in full swing, but then Aegeus appears, who is very angry with his daughter Hermia and a certain Lysander, who, according to Aegeus, charmed Hermia and made her fall in love with himself. The girl's father is against such a relationship, because she already has a fiancé - Demetrius. But Hermia objects to her father, claiming that she loves Lysander. Theseus interrupts their quarrel with the assertion that, according to the law, she must be completely commanded by the will of her father. He gives time to think and consider everything, but on the day of the new moon she must give her answer. Lysander and Hermia are planning to escape, but they need support, and the girl turns to her friend Helen, telling her the whole plan. Hermia did not even know that long, long ago, Elena was Demetrius’s beloved, but her love did not cool down. Hoping to rekindle long-forgotten feelings, she tells Demetri everything.

Near Athens in the forest, Oberon, the king of the elves and fairies, quarrels with his wife Titania over an adopted child. He wants to take the baby and make him a page, but his wife is against it, and, having taken the child, he leaves with the elves. Not knowing the refusal, Oberon asks Peck to find and bring the flower on which Cupid’s arrow lay. The king knows that if you smear the eyelids of a sleeping person with the juice of this flower, then when he wakes up, he will fall in love with the first person who meets him on the way. He wants to smear his sleeping wife’s eyelids so that when she wakes up, she will fall in love with some animal and forget about her son, and then the child will be his. Peck flew off in search, and Oberon, against his will, hears a conversation between Helen and Demetrius in the forest, where they came to look for Lysander and Hermia, and he rejects her with contempt for Helen. At this moment Pak arrives with a flower. The king orders him to smear Demetrius' eyelids with juice from a flower when he falls asleep, and when he wakes up, to make sure that the woman who loves him is before his eyes. Peck flies away, and Oberon goes to look for his wife. Finding her sleeping, he smears flower juice on her eyelids.

Having gotten lost in the forest, Hermia and Lysander lay down to rest. Pek, thinking that this is the couple the king was talking about, anoints the sleeping Lysander’s eyelids. Helena, who has left Demetrius, finds the couple and wakes up Lysander. As soon as he saw her, he immediately fell in love. Elena thought it was a joke that Lysander was joking like that, and began to leave. Lysander, abandoning Hermia, went after her.

There, in the forest, next to the sleeping Titania, Osnova and her friends came to rehearse scenes for the count’s wedding day. Watching them, Peck turns Base's head into that of a donkey. The friends thought it was a werewolf and ran away out of fear, waking Titania. The first thing the queen sees is Osnova with a donkey's head, and she immediately falls in love with him.

Oberon returns. Peck reported to him what he did and how he did it. The king realizes that Peck applied the anointing to the wrong eyes, and rectifies the situation by putting Demetri to sleep and anointing his eyes. Elena is lured to him, and upon waking up, Demetrius begins to declare his love for her. Elena is sure that they are simply mocking her. Oberon and Peck are lured into the forest and the two couples are put to sleep. The juice is removed from Lysander's eyes, but Demetri's eyes are left as is. Aegeus, Theseus and Hippolyta find the sleeping children and wake them up. The spell passes, Lysander explains himself to Hermia, and Theseus announces that today not one, but two couples will be married, and leaves.

Essay on literature on the topic: Summary of A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare

Other writings:

1. The action takes place in Athens. The ruler of Athens bears the name of Theseus, one of the most popular heroes of ancient legends about the conquest of the warlike tribe of women, the Amazons, by the Greeks. Theseus marries the queen of this tribe, Hippolyta. The play was apparently created for a performance on the occasion of a wedding Read More ......
2. The playwright borrowed the name Titania from his favorite poet Ovid. In a magical forest inhabited by spirits, the same passions boil as in the human world. T. reproaches her husband, Oberon, for his love for Hippolyta. At the same time, she does not want to part with the charming page boy, Read More......
3. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the most romantic of all Shakespeare's comedies. This is a magical extravaganza, and Belinsky also noted that, along with “The Tempest,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” represents “a completely different world of Shakespeare’s work than his other dramatic works - the world of Read More ......
4. Twelfth Night, or Whatever The action of the comedy takes place in a fabulous country for the English of Shakespeare's time - Illyria. The Duke of Illyria Orsino is in love with the young Countess Olivia, but she is in mourning after the death of her brother and does not even accept the Duke's envoys. Olivia's indifference Read More ......
5. Viola Characteristics of a literary hero VIOLA (English Viola) is the heroine of W. Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night, or Whatever” (1601). An image that most fully expresses the idea of ​​a Renaissance man. Active, courageous, enterprising, generous, V. is also beautiful, well-educated and well-mannered. Read More......
6. The Storm The play takes place on a secluded island, where all the fictional characters are transported from different countries. Ship at sea. Storm. Thunder and lightning. The ship's crew is trying to save him, but the noble passengers are the Neapolitan king Alonzo, his brother Sebastian and his son Read More ......
7. King Lear Setting: Britain. Time period: 11th century. The powerful King Lear, sensing the approach of old age, decides to shift the burden of power onto the shoulders of three daughters: Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, dividing his kingdom between them. The king wants to hear from his daughters how Read More......
8. Richard III When Richard was born, a hurricane raged, destroying trees. Foreshadowing timelessness, an owl screamed and an eagle owl cried, dogs howled, a raven croaked ominously and magpies chirped. During the most difficult labor, a shapeless lump was born, from which her own mother recoiled in horror. Baby Read More ......

The action takes place in Athens. The ruler of Athens bears the name of Theseus, one of the most popular heroes of ancient legends about the conquest by the Greeks of the warlike tribe of women - the Amazons. Theseus marries the queen of this tribe, Hippolyta. The play was apparently created for a performance on the occasion of the wedding of some high-ranking officials.

Preparations are underway for the wedding of Duke Theseus and the Amazon queen Hippolyta, which is to take place on the night of the full moon. An angry Aegeus, Hermia's father, appears at the duke's palace, accusing Lysander of bewitching his daughter and cunningly forcing her to love him, while she had already been promised to Demetrius. Hermia confesses her love for Lysander. The Duke announces that according to Athenian law, she must submit to her father's will. He gives the girl a reprieve, but on the day of the new moon she will have to “either die / For violating her father’s will, / Or marry the one he chose, / Or take forever at the altar of Diana / A vow of celibacy and a harsh life.” The lovers agree to escape from Athens together and meet the next night in a nearby forest. They reveal their plan to Hermia's friend Helena, who was once Demetrius' lover and still loves him passionately. Hoping for his gratitude, she is going to tell Demetrius about the plans of the lovers. Meanwhile, a group of rustic craftsmen are preparing to stage a sideshow on the occasion of the Duke's wedding. The director, carpenter Peter Pigwa, chose a suitable work: “A pitiful comedy and the very cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe.” Weaver Nick Osnova agrees to play the role of Pyramus, as well as most other roles. Bellows repairman Francis Dudke is given the role of Thisbe (in Shakespeare's time women were not allowed on stage). The tailor Robin Hungry will be Thisbe's mother, and the coppersmith Tom Snout will be the father of Pyramus. The role of Leo is assigned to the carpenter Milaga: he “has a memory for learning,” and for this role you only need to roar. Pigva asks everyone to memorize the roles and tomorrow evening come to the forest to the ducal oak tree for a rehearsal.

In a forest near Athens, the king of fairies and elves Oberon and his wife Queen Titania quarrel over a child whom Titania adopted, and Oberon wants to take for himself to make him a page. Titania refuses to submit to her husband's will and leaves with the elves. Oberon asks the mischievous elf Puck (Good Little Robin) to bring him a small flower on which Cupid's arrow fell after he missed "the Vestal reigning in the West" (an allusion to Queen Elizabeth). If the eyelids of a sleeping person are smeared with the juice of this flower, then when he wakes up, he will fall in love with the first living creature he sees. Oberon wants to make Titania fall in love with some wild animal and forget about the boy. Peck flies off in search of the flower, and Oberon becomes an invisible witness to the conversation between Helen and Demetrius, who is looking for Hermia and Lysander in the forest and rejects his former lover with contempt. When Peck returns with the flower, Oberon instructs him to find Demetrius, whom he describes as an “arrogant rake” in Athenian robes, and anoint his eyes, but so that when he awakens, the beauty in love with him will be next to him. Finding Titania sleeping, Oberon squeezes the juice of the flower onto her eyelids. Lysander and Hermia got lost in the forest and also lay down to rest, at Hermia’s request - away from each other, since “for a young man and a girl, human shame / Does not allow intimacy...”. Peck, mistaking Lysander for Demetrius, drips juice onto his eyes. Elena appears, from whom Demetrius ran away, and stopping to rest, wakes up Lysander, who immediately falls in love with her. Elena believes that he is mocking her and runs away, and Lysander, abandoning Hermia, rushes after Elena.

Near the place where Titania sleeps, a company of artisans gathered for a rehearsal. At the suggestion of Osnova, who is very concerned that, God forbid, he should not scare the female spectators, two prologues are written for the play - the first that Pyramus does not kill himself at all and that he is not really Pyramus, but a weaver Osnova, and the second - that Lev is not a lion at all, but a carpenter, Milag. Naughty Peck, who is watching the rehearsal with interest, casts a spell on the Foundation: now the weaver has a donkey's head. The friends, mistaking the Base for a werewolf, run away in fear. At this time, Titania wakes up and, looking at the Base, says: “Your image captivates the eye. I love you. Follow me!” Titania summons four elves - Mustard Seed, Sweet Pea, Gossamer and Moth - and orders them to serve "her darling." Oberon is delighted to listen to Peck's story about how Titania fell in love with the monster, but is very dissatisfied when he learns that the elf sprinkled magic juice into the eyes of Lysander, and not Demetrius. Oberon puts Demetrius to sleep and corrects the mistake of Peck, who, on the orders of his master, lures Helen closer to the sleeping Demetrius. As soon as he wakes up, Demetrius begins to swear his love to the one he recently rejected with contempt. Elena is convinced that both young men, Lysander and Demetrius, are mocking her: “There is no strength to listen to empty ridicule!” In addition, she believes that Hermia is at one with them, and bitterly reproaches her friend for her deceit. Shocked by Lysander's rude insults, Hermia accuses Helen of being a deceiver and a thief who stole Lysander's heart from her. Word for word - and she is already trying to scratch out Elena’s eyes. The young people - now rivals seeking Elena's love - retire to decide in a duel which of them has more rights. Peck is delighted with all this confusion, but Oberon orders him to lead both duelists deeper into the forest, imitating their voices, and lead them astray, “so that they will never find each other.” When Lysander collapses exhausted and falls asleep, Peck squeezes the juice of a plant on his eyelids - an antidote to the love flower. Elena and Demetrius were also euthanized not far from each other.

Seeing Titania asleep next to the Base, Oberon, who by this time had already acquired the child he liked, takes pity on her and touches her eyes with an antidote flower. The fairy queen wakes up with the words: “My Oberon! What can we dream about! / I dreamed that I fell in love with a donkey!” Peck, on Oberon's orders, returns his own head to the Base. The Elf Lords fly away. Theseus, Hippolyta and Aegeus appear hunting in the forest. They find sleeping young people and wake them up. Already free from the effects of the love potion, but still stunned, Lysander explains that he and Hermia fled into the forest from the severity of Athenian laws, while Demetrius admits that “Passion, purpose and joy of the eyes are now / Not Hermia, but dear Helen.” Theseus announces that two more couples will be married today with them and Hippolyta, after which he leaves with his retinue. The awakened Base goes to Pigwa's house, where his friends are eagerly awaiting him. He gives the actors the last instructions: “Let Thisbe put on clean underwear,” and let Lev not try to cut his nails - they should look out from under the skin like claws.

Theseus marvels at the strange story of the lovers. “Madmen, lovers, poets - / All created from fantasies alone,” he says. The entertainment manager, Philostratus, presents him with a list of entertainments. The Duke chooses the workmen's play: "It can never be too bad, / Which devotion humbly offers." Pigva reads the prologue to the audience's ironic comments. Snout explains that he is the Wall through which Pyramus and Thisbe are talking, and therefore is smeared with lime. When the Pyramus Base looks for a crack in the Wall to look at his beloved, Snout helpfully spreads his fingers. Lev appears and explains in verse that he is not real. “What a meek animal,” Theseus admires, “and what a reasonable one!” Amateur actors shamelessly distort the text and say a lot of nonsense, which greatly amuses their noble viewers. Finally the play is over. Everyone leaves - it’s already midnight, a magical hour for lovers. Peck appears, he and the rest of the elves first sing and dance, and then, by order of Oberon and Titania, scatter around the palace to bless the beds of the newlyweds. Pak addresses the audience: “If I couldn’t amuse you, / It will be easy for you to fix everything: / Imagine that you fell asleep / And dreams flashed before you.”

Retold

In the summer of 1826, 17-year-old Mendelssohn lived on the outskirts of Berlin, far from the noise of the city, almost in the countryside. His father's house was surrounded by a huge shady garden, and the young man spent whole days there, reading the works of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), which had just been translated into German. He was especially attracted to comedies; A Midsummer Night's Dream made an irresistible impression.

Sophie Anderson - Thus Your Fairy's made of most beautiful things

If other composers of the 19th century - Rossini, Gounod and Verdi, Liszt and Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and Balakirev - were inspired mainly by Shakespeare's grandiose passions, and they wrote music based on his tragedies, then Mendelssohn was not particularly fascinated even by the story of two loving couples, their misadventures, jealousy and happy connection. The main attraction for the young musician was the magical side of Shakespeare’s comedy; his creative imagination was awakened by the poetic world of nature that surrounded him, so vividly reminiscent of the fairy-tale world created by Shakespeare. Work on the overture proceeded quickly: in a letter dated June 7, 1826, Mendelssohn wrote about his intention to compose an overture, and a month later the manuscript was ready. According to Schumann, “the blossoming of youth is felt here as, perhaps, in no other work by the composer—the accomplished master made his first takeoff at a happy moment.” A Midsummer Night's Dream marks the beginning of the composer's maturity.

Overture

The first performance of the overture took place at home: Mendelssohn played it on November 19, 1826 on the piano four hands with his sister Fanny. The premiere took place on February 20 of the following year in Stettin under the baton of the famous composer Karl Löwe (together with the premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in that city). And the author himself conducted it for the first time in London on Midsummer Day - June 24, 1829. 17 years after writing the overture, Mendelssohn - the famous composer, pianist and conductor, director of symphony concerts of the Royal Chapel and the choir of the Dom Cathedral in Berlin - again turned to the play "The Dream" on a midsummer night." Shakespeare's comedy was staged for the birthday of the Prussian king Frederick William IV: the premiere of the performance took place on October 14, 1843 in the theater hall of the New Palace in Potsdam, and 4 days later - in the Schauspielhaus in Berlin. The success was enormous - precisely thanks to Mendelssohn. Never before has music contributed so much to the popularity of a Shakespearean play.

At the first sustained mysterious chords of the wind instruments, it’s as if a magic curtain rises, and a mysterious fairy-tale world appears before the listeners.

In the ghostly light of the moon, in the virgin forest, among the rustles and rustles, vague shadows flicker, elves lead their aerial round dances. One after another, musical themes emerge, captivating with their unfading freshness and colorfulness for more than a century and a half. Unpretentious lyrical melodies give way to clumsy leaps reminiscent of donkey cries and hunting fanfares. But the main place is occupied by poeticized pictures of nature and the night forest. Masterfully varying the theme of the elves, the composer gives it a threatening tone: mysterious voices call to each other, frightening, teasing and luring into an impenetrable thicket; Bizarre visions flash. The repetition of already known musical images leads to a transparent, fading epilogue. Like a farewell to a fairy tale, an awakening from a magical dream, the previously perky and confident theme sounds slowly and quietly from the violins. An echo answers her. The overture ends, as it opened, with mysterious chords of wind instruments.

Music for a comedy, op. 61, consists of an overture and separate numbers - instrumental and choral, as well as dramatic dialogues with orchestral accompaniment.

Scherzo. Allegro vivace

“Scherzo” depicts a captivating aerial world of elves frolicking in a mysterious night forest.

Procession of the Elves

Intermezzo

“Intermezzo” belongs to the human world and forms one of the rare disturbing, impetuous and passionate episodes in this work (the heroine is looking everywhere for her unfaithful lover).

Song with choir

Nocturne

“Nocturne” is characterized by a peaceful mood - under the cover of night, passions subside in the magical forest, and everything falls into sleep.

Wedding March

The brilliant, lush “Wedding March” is Mendelssohn’s most popular creation, which has long become a phenomenon not only musical.

The final

"A Midsummer-Night's Dream" - "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a play that stands out among Shakespeare's works in the fact that no direct and immediate source of its plot has been found. The concept of the plot and the composition of the action belong entirely to Shakespeare himself.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is the most romantic of all Shakespeare's comedies. This is a magical extravaganza, a fantastic world. In this comedy, the great realist surrendered to the will of his imagination. He filled the play with imaginary, fantastic creatures, presented events in such an unusual way that the viewer gets an impression similar to what happens during dreams.

Yes, this is a dream - a dream on a summer night, when the moon illuminates with a soft light the foliage of the trees gently rustling under the light breeze and some strange and mysterious life seems to be in the rustling of the night forest. The images of the heroes float before us, like “shadows in the transparent twilight of the night from behind the pink curtain of dawn, on multi-colored clouds woven from the aromas of flowers...”.

The marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta frames the entire plot. The comedy begins with the court of Theseus, and during the first scene we learn about the upcoming wedding of the Athenian king with the queen of the Amazons. The end of the comedy is the celebration of the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. This plot frame does not contain any dramatic motives. There is no hint of conflict here. Theseus is a wise king who loves his bride and enjoys mutual love on her part. These images are given by Shakespeare statically. The second and central plot motif is the stories of Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helen. The action unfolding here already contains significant dramatic motives and conflicts.

Hermia's father chose Demetrius as her husband, but she prefers Lysander. Theseus, being a sovereign, stands guard over his father's right and orders Hermia to obey her parental will. But youth does not want to put up with violence against feelings. Hermia decides to flee into the forest with her lover. Elena and Demetrius go there too. But here, in the forest, there is a world of our own, in which the laws of the state, morals and customs developed by society no longer apply. This is the kingdom of nature, and the senses are relaxed here; they manifest themselves with maximum freedom. The natural world is poetically inspired by Shakespeare. In the thicket of the forest, among the trees and shrubs, grass and flowers, small, light, airy spirits hover.

They are the soul of the forest, and what is the soul in general, the soul of a person in particular - isn’t it a forest where a person can get lost among his own feelings? So, in any case, one might think, looking at what happens to young lovers who find themselves in this enchanted world. This world has its own king - the forest spirit Oberon, who controls all the elves of the forest. If the Athenian king Theseus demands obedience to customs and laws, while providing the opportunity to think and realize his mistake, the forest king will use the spell of witchcraft in order to subordinate to his will. This is how he punishes Titania, who argued with him.

Athenian artisans come here to rehearse the play they are going to perform on the wedding day of their sovereign. Simple-minded artisans take their craft extremely seriously. They have no time for jokes, but they, having found themselves in the world of forest wonders, find themselves involved in the cycle of strange events and extraordinary transformations taking place in this world of wonders. The weaver suddenly found himself with a donkey's head and, despite this deformity, the airy queen of the elves, the beautiful Titania, fell in love with him.

Arthur Rackham - The meeting of Oberon and Titania

Finally, the last plot motif appears before us already when, it would seem, all the action is completed: the artisans are acting out the love story of Pyramus and Thisbe. Passing through all the vicissitudes that occurred during the young people’s stay in the forest, and coming to how it all ended, we see that the love of Hermia and Lysander, having gone through all the trials, triumphed. As for Demetrius, he became convinced that his feelings for Hermia were fragile. In the forest, he fell in love with Elena, who had long been burning with passion for him. Thus, the feelings of the two girls overcame all obstacles: Hermia confirmed her intention to unite her life with Lysander, and Helen won the love of Demetrius, who had been indifferent to her for a long time.

Edward Robert Hughes - Midsummer Eve

Even Aegeus, who jealously guarded his right to decide the fate of his daughter and forced an unloved man on her as a husband, is forced to resign himself to this victory of love. Before her, before the victory of feelings, Theseus also bows, giving young people the opportunity to marry according to their heartfelt desires. Thus, nature turned out to be stronger than the law.

Joseph Noel Paton - Oberon and Titania

Shakespeare also reveals the contradictions that arise where feelings act as the determining force of life. A madman, a poet and a lover, notes Theseus, are equally susceptible to the will of their imagination and, being under its influence, are capable of doing thousands of stupid things. When a person is guided only by feeling, he often makes mistakes. Feelings are deceptive, and a person, succumbing to imagination, may be mistaken in his attachments. So, at first it seems to Demetrius that he loves Hermia, and then his feeling is transferred to Helen, and he is convinced that the first attraction was mistaken. In the comedy, the metamorphosis of the feelings of young men and women who fled into the Athenian forest is caused by the spell of the magical flower juice that Good Little Robin squeezed into their eyes.

Fitzgerald, John Anster -Midsummer Eve Fairies

The changeability of feelings and the blindness caused by them reach their culmination when Titania, under the influence of enchantment, falls in love with the Base with a donkey's head, as if he were amazingly handsome. A Midsummer Night's Dream shows a bizarre play of human feelings that makes the characters commit strange acts and change their sympathies in the most inexplicable way. The comedy is imbued with the subtlest irony with which Shakespeare looks at the strange quirks of the human heart, at these heroes who show inconstancy of feelings.

Youth tends to exaggerate the suffering caused by failures in love and young heroes and may seem to be on the verge of tragically losing all possibility of happiness. But true love will conquer all obstacles. Moreover, it must win in the fairy-tale world that appears before us in the comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” because in a fairy tale, goodness and all the best principles of life always win. And “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a fairy tale full of enchanting charm, depicting a fictional world in which the difficulties and contradictions of life are overcome easily, by magic. This is a fairy tale about human happiness, about fresh youthful feelings, about the charm of a summer forest in which wonderful and extraordinary stories take place.

Artist Y. Rose, conductor K.P. Seibel.

The premiere took place on 10 July 1977 at the ballet company of the Hamburg State Opera.

The final preparations are underway for Hippolyta's wedding to the Athenian Duke Theseus. Hippolyta's friends - Elena and Hermia - help her try on her wedding dress. Philostratus, the organizer of entertainment at the court of Theseus, oversees the preparations for the celebration.

The treasurer brings wedding decorations to Hippolyta. He is accompanied by officer Demetrius, Elena's former lover, who is now hopelessly seeking Terminus's love. But Elena still continues to love Demetrius.

Gardener Lysander brings flower samples to make a wedding bouquet. He is also in love with Hermia and is reciprocated. Lysander gives Hermia a letter in which he asks for a meeting in the forest. Jealous Helen finds the letter and shows it to Demetrius.

Theseus appears. He gives Hippolyta a rose, but at the same time flirts with the ladies of the court. Hippolyta begins to doubt the sincerity of her chosen one's love.

A group of artisans, led by the weaver Osnova, enters and asks permission to show the play “Pyramus and Thisbe” at the wedding. Everyone leaves.

Left alone, Hippolyta finds Lysander's love letter to Hermia. Lost in thought, she falls asleep and dreams...

1. Sleep. Night in the forest. Fairy Kingdom. Titania, queen of the fairies, argues with the elf king Oberon. An angry Oberon gives his trusted elf Peck a flower of love. If you pass it over the eyes of a sleeping person, then when he wakes up, he will fall in love with the first person he sees upon awakening.

Happy Lysander and Hermia meet in the forest. But then, getting lost, they lose each other and, tired, fall asleep. Demetrius is also looking for Hermia. Elena is watching him. Oberon is watching everyone.

Out of sympathy for Helen, Oberon orders Peck to touch Demetrius with the flower so that he will fall in love with Helen again. But Peck mistakenly touched Lysander with the flower. Lysander, accidentally awakened by Helen, falls passionately in love with her. Confused, Elena runs away. Hermia wakes up and looks for Lysander.

The Base and his friends appear. They intend to rehearse the performance. The roles are assigned, and the Base directs the rehearsal. Peck watches this with pleasure. For fun, he turns the Base's head into a donkey's. The artisans run away in horror.

Titania and her retinue fall asleep. Peck touches the flower of love to Titania. Accidentally awakened by the Base with a donkey's head on her shoulders, Titania falls in love with him.

Observing Demetrius, who is still in love with Hermia, Oberon discovers Puck's mistake. To fix it, Peck again uses the properties of the magic flower. Elena stumbles over the sleeping Demetrius, wakes him up, he wakes up and falls in love with her.

Everything is mixed up. Oberon tells Peck to get everything in order.

2. Awakening and wedding. Dawn in the forest. Oberon frees Titania from her love for the Base. They make peace. Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius wake up and find each other.

Hippolyta's room. Theseus is watching Hippolyta sleeping on her bed. Finally he gently wakes her up. Couples in love appear. They ask permission for weddings. Theseus agrees.

The main hall in the Palace of Theseus. The wedding is in full swing.

Craftsmen perform the play “Pyramus and Thisbe”.

Finally, the guests leave the palace. Hippolyta and Theseus are left alone...

While developing the dramaturgy of the ballet, the choreographer tried to convey the essence of Shakespeare's comedy. Here the dream mixes with reality, a magical forest comes to life with rustling trees, where fairies in synthetic tights and bathing caps live, where the elf Peck plays pranks with his flower, the smell of which is intoxicating, and where everyone risks falling in love with the first person they meet. Confusion ensues: two couples in love are mixed up, drawn into comical situations. The choreographer emphasizes the theme of the commonality of the real and fantastic worlds by assigning the same performers roles in both worlds. Each hero lives a double life, appearing in different guises and changing his plastic image.

Each of the worlds of the performance has its own music: the famous melodies of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy for palace life, the modern sounds of György Ligeti for a fantastic dream, and a live organ-organ for common people-artisans. The scene of them rehearsing the play “Pyramus and Thisbe” is infectiously funny. Verdi's music from La Traviata plays to the accompaniment of a barrel organ; men dress in women's dresses, put on braids, stand on pointe shoes, and depict the moon, a lion, and a wall.

Each music corresponded to its own plasticity of the characters. Neumeier brings together the pathetically elevated and the everyday, even the base, and reveals the common in the dissimilar, achieving a comic effect. Among the masterfully constructed roles, the role of Peck stands out, where the animal softness of the plasticity is organically combined with impetuous and strong pressure, and spontaneous naivety with cunning. Technically, the part is very complex, full of dizzying jumps, requiring high professionalism from the performer.

The ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream was performed in Leningrad by the Hamburg Ballet in October 1981. Among the performers were Lynn Charles (Hippolyta, Titania), Francois Claus (Theseus, Oberon), Gamal Guda (Lysander).

Responding to these tours, ballet historian Vera Krasovskaya wrote: “The festive elegance of the “real” world carelessly mixed comedy and lyricism, as if inadvertently parodying the naivety of ballet performances of the 19th century. Fantasy led to the 20th century, to the sounds of modern music by Ligeti, to the elves, with head to toe, clad in tights and obedient to the orders of the latest revelations of plastic arts. The talent of the choreographer brought this whimsical mixture into organic unity. John Neumeier's images of Shakespeare changed both appearances and spheres of existence. The inhabitants of the mysterious world entered into communication with people and, constructing hilarious intrigues for them , themselves found themselves in comic alterations. The academic classics of “real” characters and the sophisticated plasticity of fantasy characters, like two different languages, each had its own poetic convention and, colliding, entered into bizarre combinations with each other. And between them every now and then wedged in a third group of stylized characters: a dashing burlesque of artisans, wedged with their “theater” between the noble townspeople and the retinue of Titania and Oberon.”

In 1982, the ballet was staged at the Paris Opera, and later on the stages of Vienna, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. The performance has already been shown more than 250 times in Hamburg. In December 2004, John Neumeier with assistants Victor Hughes and Radik Zaripov staged A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bolshoi Theater. The premiere was attended by Svetlana Zakharova and Nikolai Tsiskaridze (Hippolyta and Theseus), Maria Alexandrova and guest from Hamburg Ivan Urban (Hermia and Lysander), Nina Kaptsova and Vladimir Neporozhny (Elena and Demetri), Jan Godovsky (Peck and Philostrat).

A. Degen, I. Stupnikov

Scene 1

Athens, Ducal Palace. Theseus can't wait to get closer to his wedding day with the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta. He orders the entertainment manager, Philostratus, to organize a holiday for the Athenian youth.

Aegeus complains to Theseus about his daughter, who is in love with Lysander. He wants to give Hermia as his wife to Demetrius and, if the girl does not agree to this, then, in accordance with Athenian laws, put her to death. Theseus explains to Hermia that her father has the right to control her body and destiny. He gives her four days (until the New Moon - the day of her wedding) for her to decide what she will choose: marriage with Demetrius, death or a vow of celibacy given at the altar of Diana. Lysander tries to convince Theseus of his rights: he is equal to Demetrius in wealth and superior to him by birth, he is loved by Hermia and loves himself, while his rival is fickle (he once fell in love with the beautiful Helen, and then abandoned him).

Lysander consoles the pale Hermia, explaining that the path of true love is never easy. He suggests going to his widowed aunt, who lives seven miles from Athens, to get married there. Hermia agrees to meet him at night in the forest three miles from the city.

Elena asks her friend how she bewitched Demetrius? Hermia explains that she was always strict with him, but this only attracted the young man to her even more. Lysander shares his escape plan with Helen. Elena decides to tell Demetrius everything in order to get at least a drop of gratitude from him.

Scene 2

Carpenter Peter Pigva announces the list of actors chosen for the production of the sideshow “The Piteous Comedy and the Very Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe.” Weaver Nick Osnova has been cast as Pyramus, bellows blower repairman Francis Dudka has been cast as Thisbe, tailor Robin Zamorysh has been cast as Thisbe's mother, and coppersmith Thomas Rylo has been cast as Pyramus' father. Peter Pigva himself is going to play Thisbe's father. Carpenter Milyaga gets the role of Leo. The cast is eager to replay all possible roles, even those that are not in the play. Pigva gives the townspeople the texts and schedules a rehearsal for the next night in the palace forest, one mile from Athens.

Act II

Scene 1

In a forest near Athens, the little elf Peck asks the fairy where she is going? The airy creature explains that he serves the fairy queen, who will soon appear at the place of their conversation. Peck warns the fairy that his king “will have fun here at night,” and since Oberon is angry with Titania because of the child she cares for, kidnapped from the Indian Sultan, it would be better for the latter not to show herself here. The fairy recognizes Peck as the Good Little Robin, the jester Oberon, who frightens the village needlewomen. The conversation of the spirits is interrupted by the appearance of Oberon and Titania - each with his own retinue.

Titania reproaches her husband for cheating with Phyllida and Hippolyta. Oberon reminds his wife of her passion for Theseus. Titania denies cheating. She explains to Oberon that because of their quarrel, the seasons have become confused, which is not good for mortals. Oberon says that Titania has the power to change everything - it’s enough just to give him a boy born to a priestess and friend of the fairy queen as a page. Titania refuses to do this and leaves so as not to quarrel with her husband even more.

Oberon orders Peck to bring from the West a small scarlet flower - “Love in Idleness”, which was once hit by Cupid’s arrow. He explains that the juice of the plant has magical properties: if you smear it on the eyelids of a sleeping person, the first person he sees when he opens his eyes will become his favorite. Thus, Oberon plans to intoxicate Titania in order to take the child away from her. Seeing Demetrius with Elena, he becomes invisible and overhears a conversation in which the girl confesses her love to the young man, and he drives her away. Oberon decides to help Helen and, when Peck brings a magic flower, orders him to make the arrogant rake in Athenian robes fall in love with the beauty who is in love with him.

Scene 2

In another part of the forest, Titania gives instructions to her servants, after which she orders them to lull her to sleep. When the queen falls asleep, the elves fly off to their own affairs. Oberon squeezes a flower onto his wife's eyes. Hermia and Lysander, having lost their way, fall asleep far from each other so as not to compromise the former’s maiden honor. Peck squeezes the juice of the flower onto Lysander's eyes. Demetrius runs away from Helena, who stumbles upon Hermia's lover, wakes him up and receives a flurry of love confessions. The girl, offended in her best feelings, hides in the forest. Lysander follows her. Hermia wakes up from a bad dream, does not find her groom next to her and goes into the forest to look for him.

Act III

Scene 1

Actors appear on the green lawn where Titania sleeps. The Foundation is worried that the suicide of Pyramus and Leo may frighten the ladies at the Duke's court. He doesn’t want everyone to be hanged for this, so he proposes to write an additional Prologue to the play, explaining that everything that happens is fiction. At the same time, each of the actors could introduce themselves so that the audience understands that they are people just like everyone else. Instead of moonlight, Pigva suggests using a person with a bush and a lantern; the role of the wall, according to Osnova, can also be played by one of the actors.

Peck watches the rehearsal. The base in the role of Pyramus goes into the bushes, after which it returns to the clearing with a donkey's head. The actors run away in horror. Peck leads them in circles through the forest. Every now and then each of them returns to the clearing to the Base. The latter takes what is happening for a prank. He begins to sing loudly, which awakens Titania. The fairy queen tells the Foundation that she loves him, and summons four elves - Mustard Seed, Sweet Pea, Cobweb and Moth, whom she orders to fulfill all the weaver's whims. The base speaks politely to the elves and finds a kind word for everyone.

Scene 2

Peck tells Oberon about the rehearsal of the Athenian mob, Pyramus’s donkey’s head and Titania who fell in love with him. Hermia accuses Demetrius of killing Lysander. Peck does not recognize Demetrius as a young man bewitched by a flower. Oberon orders the elf to bring Helen from Athens, while he himself enchants the sleeping Demetrius.

Lysander swears his love to Helen. The girl thinks that he is laughing at her. The awakened Demetri showers Elena with compliments and asks permission to kiss. Elena perceives everything that is happening as a cruel prank. Lysander argues with Demetrius for the girl's heart. Hermia, who finds them, is horrified by her lover’s words. Elena believes that her friend is at one with the young people. Hermia, on the contrary, is sure that it is Elena who is mocking her.

Elena wants to stop the joke by leaving the forest. Demetrius and Lysander argue over who loves her more. Hermia tries to find out from her beloved what is going on, but he insults her and drives her away. Realizing that she is hated, Hermia calls Helen a thief who stole Lysander's heart. Elena accuses her ex-friend of hypocrisy and compares her to a doll. Hermia is offended by the indication of her short stature and is eager to claw out Elena’s eyes. The latter asks for protection from Lysander and Demetrius. She says that she is tired of everything that is happening. Hermia invites Helen to return to Athens.

Demetrius and Lysander go into the forest to fight for Helen's heart. The latter runs away from Hermia. Satisfied Pak laughs. Oberon orders him to darken the night, separate the young people from each other, put them to sleep, and then smear Lysander’s eyelids with an herb that removes flower love spells. Peck carries out the order exactly. Next to the sleeping Lysander and Demetrius, Elena also falls asleep.

Act IV

Scene 1

Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius are sleeping in the forest. Titania caresses the donkey's head. Weaver orders Gossamer to kill the red-legged bumblebee and bring him a honey bag. He asks Mustard Seed to join Sweet Pea in order to properly scratch his overgrown head. Titania invites Osnova to listen to music and eat. The weaver expresses a desire to eat “dry sheep” or “sweet hay.” Tired of the worries of the night, he falls asleep.

Oberon, having received a child from Titania, removes the love dope from his wife. The fairy queen makes peace with her husband. They fly off along the globe following the darkness of the night.

With the ringing of larks and the sound of horns, Theseus, Hippolyta, Aegeus and the ducal retinue appear in the forest. Theseus plans to show off to his bride the “music of the hounds.” Hippolyta remembers hunting with Hercules and Cadmus in Crete.

Hunters wake up the sleeping ones. Theseus asks how it happened that rivals who hated each other ended up next to each other on a sleepy bed? Lysander tries to remember what happened the day before and begins his story with an escape. Demetrius tells his part of the story and renounces Hermia, saying that he was once engaged to Helen, and that night he realized that he loved her, and not the daughter of Aegeus.

Theseus believes that the latter needs to come to terms with the current situation, and invites young people to the temple to arrange a triple marriage. When everyone leaves, the Base wakes up. It seems to him that he is still rehearsing the play. The basis takes the night incident for a dream.

Scene 2

Craftsmen engaged in performances gather in Pigva's house. The owner asks if the Basis has been found? Gentleman brings news of the Duke's wedding. The Basis, who appears, does not tell anything about his adventures, but says that Theseus has already dined and is waiting for the start of the promised play.

Act V

Scene 1

Theseus does not believe the lovers' story, believing that in the revelry of their imagination they are like madmen. What happened seems strange to Hippolyta, but she feels that “in the events of this night there is more than one play of the imagination.” Theseus asks Philostratus what he can do to brighten up the hours from dinner to bedtime. The entertainment manager hands him a list. The Duke chooses a play by Athenian artisans. Philostratus dissuades Theseus from viewing the production, calling it ridiculous. The Duke decides to show attention to the devotion of his subjects. Hippolyta doubts that the idea will be successful. The Duke asks her to be patient.

Philostratus invites Prologue. Pigva reads the text, regardless of punctuation marks. Then he calls the actors onto the stage, introduces them and tells in detail the plot of the upcoming tragedy. The wall talks about who is playing her and why she is in the play. Pyramus, who did not see Thisbe through the crack, accuses her of treason. Theseus thinks the Wall should be scared. Pyramus explains to him why this is not happening. He whispers to Thisbe and makes an appointment with her at Ninya's tomb.

Leo appears on the stage. He asks the ladies not to be afraid, since we are actually not an animal, but an ordinary carpenter. Moonlight explains why he came out with a lantern. The audience makes fun of the actors, but watches the play patiently. The lion tears off Thisbe's cloak. Pyramus finds him and, thinking that the girl is dead, stabs himself with a blade. Thisbe stumbles upon her dead lover and kills herself with a sword. The base asks the Duke if the audience wants to watch the Bergamo dance or the epilogue? Theseus chooses to dance. The actors are dancing. At twelve everyone goes to bed.