Goethe’s dramatic ballad Die erste Walpurgisnacht inspired Mendelssohn to compose a magnificent and vivid portrayal of the conflict between an old pagan community and the new aspirations of Christianization, between belief and superstition and the witches’ sabbath, steeped in legend. The composition became one of his most successful choral works.

Now Frieder Bernius has recorded the work on CD with the Kammerchor Stuttgart, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and Renée Morloc, David Fisch...