Nicholas Collon and Aurora Orchestra pull off another dramatic performance from memory

Max Revell as Dmitry Shostakovich
© BBC/Andy Paradise

Max Revell (actor/dancer)

Polly Frame (actor)

Craig Stein (actor)

Sarah Twomey (actor)

Samuel West (voice of Stalin)

Petroc Trelawny (voice of Telephone Operator)

Aurora Orchestra

Nicholas Collon (conductor)

Alexandra Wood (leader)

Jane Mitchell (co-director, scriptwriter)

James Bonas (co-director)

Scott Graham (for Frantic Assembly) (co-director)

Sean Hollands (for Frantic Assembly) (associate to Scott Graham)

Zakk Hein (video designer)

David Bishop (lighting designer)

BBC Proms
7.30pm, Sunday 16 & 17 August, 2025 (reviewed at 17 August performance)
Royal Albert Hall, London

Max Revell (Shostakovich), Frantic Assembly,
Aurora Orchestra and Nicholas Collon
© BBC/Andy Paradise

★★★★

Shostakovich's Fifth by Heart

A musical and dramatic exploration of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5

Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975): Symphony No. 5 in D minor, op. 47

'Dancer Max Revell, a silent Shostakovich, contorted and twisted his body, literally pulled in all directions. Men in black lifted and manhandled him, and also some of the musicians, who played their examples while upside down or in the air'.

'The device to demonstrate parallel interpretations of the symphony worked and, as ever with Shostakovich, there’s no definitive answer'.

Nicholas Collon conducts Aurora Orchestra
© BBC/Andy Paradise

'The standing musicians were at their freest to move and engage with each other, with sections of violins moving as one body as they scurried forward'.

'The snare commenced the final build-up to the spectacular finish, and every musician knew exactly where this was going, but also their part in getting us there'.

'Sunday lunchtime never felt so elementally exhilarating!'

Read my full review on Bachtrack here. 

Sparkling 'Music of the Spheres' full of cosmic energy from Kuusisto, Collon and Aurora Orchestra

Aurora Orchestra/Nicholas Collon
© Nick Rutter

Pekka Kuusisto (violin)
Aurora Orchestra
Nicholas Collon (conductor)
Samuel West (narrator)
Sam Swallow (singer, piano)

Wednesday 5 June, 2019

Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

★★★★★




Max Richter: Journey Song (CP1919)
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2 'Razumovsky' (Molto adagio)
Thomas Adès: Violin Concerto, 'Concentric Paths'
Encore:
Nico Muhly: Material in E flat, from Drones and Violin Part 1
Mozart: Symphony no. 41 in C major, K551 'Jupiter'
Encore:
David Bowie: Life on Mars

Pekka Kuusisto, Aurora Orchestra/Nicholas Collon
© Nick Rutter

Richter:
'The orchestra showed impressive command and ensemble, no mean feat with relatively little clear rhythmic pulse, in the dark and from memory!'

'Kuusisto is a striking presence and a soloist who clearly relishes in a collaborative process with other musicians'.

Mozart:
'The communication between the players, released from the confines of chairs and music stands, was so evident'.
'I’m not sure I want to see it performed any other way for some time to come'.

'Endless column inches are written on regular basis about how to keep audiences engaged and bring new punters into the concert hall: the Aurora Orchestra are just getting on with making it happen, and long may they continue'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Aurora Orchestra/Nicholas Collon
© Nick Rutter