Classical Music Sans Anti-Depressents

Kudos to Vivien Schweitzer for the following description in her review of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen's appearance at the Mostly Mozart Festival:

Schumann, an unstable man who attempted suicide and died in an insane asylum, composed the overture as music for Lord Byron’s dramatic poem about a transcendence-seeking, Faust-like sorcerer.

This was a Xanax-free performance, the music raw and unprettified and its bipolar underpinnings highlighted with sharp contrasts and unexpected accents. The musicians, perched on the edge of their seats, played with enormous energy and illuminated violent mood swings within a single measure.