Aurora Orchestra/ Collon review – Freud analyses Mahler to decipher music from the heart
Royal Albert Hall, London An acted prelude by Jane Mitchell teased out the composer’s motivations for his engrossing First Symphony before the orchestra assayed the
Royal Albert Hall, London An acted prelude by Jane Mitchell teased out the composer’s motivations for his engrossing First Symphony before the orchestra assayed the work from memory “Ridiculous,” “offensively trivial”, “a complete disaster,” just some of the critical barbs hurled at Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony following its Budapest premiere in 1889. A babel of such invective echoed around the Albert Hall launching the ingenious theatrical presentation – in effect, a staged programme note – that preceded Aurora Orchestra’s performance of the work in all its maverick majesty.
Over an hour, actors and musicians took us on a light touch, deep dive into the circumstances surrounding the genesis of a symphony that frankly baffled its first audience. “For those that listen closely, everything about me is explained in this music,” declared a beguiling Jack Bardoe, perfectly encapsulating Mahler’s combination of frenetic energy and artistic neuroses (“A bomb encased in razorblades,” is how one-time friend Ferdinand Pfohl put it).
The setting was a psychiatrist’s office, with Sarah Twomey a forthright Sigmund Freud (“Tell me about your mother”) linking the composer’s compulsion to write music with a need to re-enact childhood trauma. Paternal cruelty, eight siblings lost in infancy and a disastrous love affair fostered a deeper understanding of what made Mahler tick.
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