Aurora Orchestra have built a reputation on doing things “by heart”. Their well-known repertoire removes scores entirely, asking players to perform major works from memory. It is a concept that sounds precarious on paper but, in practice, it’s thrilling, and last night’s spectacle at the Royal Festival Hall was no different. Indeed, there is something about the complexity of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring that makes the endeavour doubly compelling.

Under conductor Nicholas Collon, the orchestra played with the usual impressive control and clarity. Tight rhythms, well balanced and frequently dramatic, the players brought Stravinsky’s work to life, with Jonathan Davies’ infamous opening bassoon solo a particular delight.

Actors Karl Queensborough and Sarah Twomey do well to simultaneously entertain and educate in the first half with a quasi-dramatising of the piece’s conception, delivering the accomplished text with assurance, guiding the audience without drawing focus away from the music itself. Collon himself though (secretly desperate to be an actor?) so often steals the show with his audience participation.

Jane Mitchell’s script is informative and quirky – the right balance, while James Bonas Direction is slick, making good use of Anouar Brissel’s projections. What sticks out more and more with Aurora is that whilst their gimmick may well be the absence of music stands, it is their mastery of combining classical works with real theatricality that makes the difference.

Aurora Orchestra is currently on tour across Europe.