By teasing, teaching, and then unleashing musical brilliance, Shostakovich’s Fifth by Heart floods you with Shostakovich’s genius.
The BBC Proms is arguably one of the UK’s most iconic musical events. Since its conception in 1895, its mission has remained the same: to bring the best of classical music to the widest possible audience. Yet with younger generations increasingly detached from the genre, organizers have had to rethink how to capture the attention of listeners who are more likely to queue Doja Cat on Spotify than pay to sit through two hours at the Royal Albert Hall. While I count myself a fan of classical music, true success lies in drawing in those who don’t yet see its value. Which raises the question: did this year’s Proms manage to appeal to young(ish) audiences? Thanks to the Aurora Orchestra’s electric performance– enhanced by actors and dancers dramatizing the history behind Shostakovich’s Fifth– the answer is a resounding yes.
Shostakovich’s Fifth by Heart is both a musical and dramatic exploration of the composer’s Fifth Symphony– a work that earned him acclaim in the Soviet Union and the West, while its true meaning and intent remain hotly debated to this day. Across two 50-minute acts, the Aurora Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Collon, first stages a dramatized retelling of the symphony’s creation and reception before performing the piece entirely from memory. Playing without sheet music gives the musicians a lot of physical freedom and opportunity for stage dynamics, particularly in the first act: they weave among actors, are lifted by dancers, and move across the stage as scenes unfold. At its core lies a theatrical imagining of how the symphony might have been judged by a committee of officials tasked with censoring art under Stalin’s regime in the 1930s. After this breakdown and exploration of possible interpretations, the evening culminates
in a complete performance of the symphony. The final concert feels all the more magical with an audience now attuned to the work’s four movements, primed for deeper appreciation by the dramatic groundwork laid before.
The first act is both informative and entertaining, full of music and humour throughout. We meet three Soviet officials (Polly Frame, Craig Stein, Sarah Twomey) tasked with deciding whether Shostakovich’s (Max Revell) music is suitably “Soviet Union–friendly.” After Stalin attended a performance of his opera The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District– a work that had previously been acclaimed– he declared that the young composer was “capable of great work” but in need of “guidance.” Soon after, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, Pravda, vilified his music and publicly tarnished his reputation, pressuring him to produce something more ideologically correct. The result was several years of failed or compromised compositions, until 1937, when he presented his Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47. The work moved audiences to tears and seemed to satisfy the state, though many continue to interpret it as a bold act of defiance hidden beneath its triumphant surface.
The actors explore both interpretations– state-sanctioned triumph or covert resistance– while Aurora’s founder and conductor Nicholas Collon (impersonating Mravinsky, who defended Shostakovich before Soviet officials) guides the audience through orchestral demonstrations and narration. Meanwhile, individual musicians are freed to move across the stage, some violinists and flute players even being lifted into the air mid-performance. The result is beautiful yet, at times, incredibly frustrating: the music is dissected in little teasing fragments, never allowed to run free. By the end of the act, I was aching to hear the symphony in full.
Which is, of course, the point. The second act finally gives us what we’ve been longing for: uninterrupted music, enriched by the dramatic and historical context we’ve just witnessed. The anticipation makes the performance all the more exhilarating; having learned some of the symphony’s possible narratives, we hear it with fresh ears. The orchestra plays with contagious joy, and the effect is both deeply moving and immensely satisfying.
Overall, this Proms offering achieves exactly what it sets out to: educational, accessible, entertaining, and beautiful. In the grandeur of the Royal Albert Hall, the experience resonates all the more powerfully. Whether seasoned classical enthusiast or curious newcomer, any audience– young or old– is sure to be captivated.