Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was one of the great child prodigies of music history. His immortal Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture was written at the age of 17, but this long-lost masterpiece was created three years earlier. Written when Mendelssohn was 14, Der Onkel aus Boston, oder Die beiden Neffen ("The Uncle from Boston, or The Two Nephews") is a full-length, three-act comic opera displaying staggering skill and talent. The famed conductor and musicologist Helmut Rilling discovered the score in Mendelssohn’s handwriting in the Berlin State Library. Rilling prepared the work and gave the first belated public performance in Essen, Germany on October 3, 2004. He then brought it to the Oregon Bach Festival for the American premiere on July 3, 2005.