A feat of craft, talent and skill that transforms the classical music experience
Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, the ‘Jupiter’, is widely regarded as among the greatest symphonies in classical music – particularly in its use of counterpoint where various melodic lines are combined together. The performance at St George’s Bristol marked the first collaboration between the renowned Aurora Orchestra and production company Through the Noise.
By a show of hands at the performance’s opening, the general sense was that this was a lot of the audience’s first time experiencing Mozart live. Expertly conducted by Nicholas Collon, under his wing, the concert becomes as much a theatrical experience as much as it is a musical one. It takes Mozart’s highly celebrated work right out of the 18th century.
You experience the music within the orchestra. The musicians are arranged in-the-round so the audience becomes immersed in the performance – more of a gig than the conventional classical music experience.
The performance then becomes shaped by where you are standing. This is most evidently felt in the second movement, where the subdued sound of the courtly strings are dramatically interrupted by moments of the whole orchestra intensely coming together. Standing in the middle of the space, you brilliantly become caught in this almost military-like battle. In the third movement, standing near the woodwinds makes it easier to pick out the crafted repetition, before the return of the full orchestra.
Aurora Orchestra’s trademark is performing entirely from memory. It began in August 2014 with their ground-breaking performance of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 at the BBC Proms. But it is far more than a stunt. It visibly deepens the connection between the musicians and the audience. When Collon gets the orchestra to unpick the four separate themes of the fourth movement, you feel and see their trust in each other – the need to remember both their individual and collective parts. There is a stronger demand on the orchestra to know the piece inside and out, especially in the finale when the layering of these various themes comes to full effect. Without stands and sheet music, the orchestra becomes free to play with flair, deepening the liveness of the experience.
Mozart’s operatic tendencies come to the fore in the third movement – having had the successes of The Marriage of Fiagro and Don Givonanni in the two years prior to the original performance of the ‘Jupiter’ in 1788. Collon deftly identifies its theatrical nature by using three audience members to dramatise the distinctive motifs of the trio section. For a classical music novice, this helps to envisage Mozart’s compositional genius in both an accessible and entertaining manner, helped by Collon’s effortless showmanship. This analytical precision and care was demonstrated at each of the brief interludes between the movements where Collon gave insights on what to expect next.
With the evening ending in rapturous applause, Aurora Orchestra left a clear mark in the audience’s minds with its entirely unique offering.
Mozart’s Jupiter by Heart tours England until 3rd July. Tickets here.