Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations

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Image courtesy of Arts Primavera.

This concert opens with the first performance of Null, by Ukrainian composer Victoria Poleva, a powerful apocalyptic sound portrait in which the orchestra has a strong presence.

It is followed by Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto. Despite being a national hero in Finland, the composer sought international recognition by premiering this concert in Berlin. Unfortunately, this plan had to be postponed and the premiere, in Helsinki, was a failure, due to the work’s considerable difficulty and a delay in the delivery date. In the end, the work and its composer enjoyed success and fame far beyond the borders of his own country.

The concert closes with one of Edward Elgar’s best-known and most mysterious works, his Enigma Variations. Starting from an original theme that, according to the composer, is never heard, the work comprises a series of fourteen variations, each dedicated to a friend whom he did not initially identify.

Program

• Victoria Poleva: Null (2006) 18′ National Premiere
• Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 (1904; rev. 1905) 35′
• Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36 (1898-1899) 31′

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