Elgar: Enigma Variations

Onyx / 2019

The third Elgar album from Petrenko and the RLPO, a critically acclaimed team of Elgarians, brings together three masterpieces, In the South, a vibrant and colourful depiction of the Southern Italian coast, the Serenade for String Orchestra, and the Variations on an original theme, known as the Enigma Variations. Elgar’s breakthrough masterpiece was conceived in 1898 during a moment of dispirited idleness. He had come home exhausted from a day of violin teaching and was absent-mindedly extemporising at the piano when his wife, Alice, called out: ‘Edward, that’s a good tune.’ What Elgar’s fingers had stumbled upon were in fact hints or fragments of a melody, each starting after the first beat of the bar – ideal for variation treatment. Now contemplating that theme, Elgar began to imagine how certain friends of his might play it or make it their own.

Elgar: In the South (Alassio), Op. 50

Elgar: Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20
I. Allegro piacevole
II. Larghetto
III. Allegretto

Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36
Variation I. L’istesso tempo “C.A.E.”
Variation II. Allegro “H.D.S-P.”
Variation III. Allegretto “R.B.T.”
Variation IV. Allegro di molto “W.M.B.”
Variation V. Moderato “R.P.A.”
Variation VI. Andantino “Ysobel”
Variation VII. Presto “Troyte”
Variation VIII. Allegretto “W.N.”
Variation IX. Adagio “Nimrod”
Variation X. Intermezzo: Allegretto “Dorabella”
Variation XI. Allegro di molto “G.R.S.”
Variation XII. Andante “B.G.N.”
Variation XIII. Romanza: Moderato “* * *”
Variation XIV. Finale: Allegro Presto “E.D.U.”

“If any life is left in the myth that only the English can do Elgar, it’s put to shame by the Russian conductor. This disc — an ideal mix of the grand and the intimate — shows a first-rate musician’s unencumbered, enthusiastic response to great music” – The Sunday Times