The MTT Files - Program 6: Freud and the Ballet

Some people think the music of Giselle is a piece of fluff. But MTT thinks it’s a masterpiece. The work marks the very beginning of art that looks at internal, emotional explanations of behavior. Art has always predicted the future; in this case, music predicted Sigmund Freud. MTT interviews former prima ballerina Natalia Makarova, the greatest Giselle of our time, about dancing this “heart on the sleeve” role.

After Giselle, music grew increasingly dissonant as the world view of the human psyche became more central to art—until the bubble burst in the mid-20th century, when dissonance overtook itself with a human scream in the opera Lulu. This program is a tour de force examination of one of the major historical transformations in music.

This is the 6th episode The MTT Files radio series.