ENIGMA VARIATIONS

‘A dark saying that must be left unguessed.’ Fourteen variations on a single theme—it sounds simple, even trivial. Yet the playful sketch Elgar improvised one evening grew into one of the most iconic works in the symphonic repertoire. It begins with a variation portraying his friend Billy Baker—and soon his entire circle of friends comes alive in music. The true ‘Enigma’? Not only who’s who behind each variation, but the hidden theme itself… a secret Elgar took to his grave. (24.10) ‘Music begins where the possibilities of language end.’ Sibelius wrote his only violin concerto for himself—or for a dream lost: to become a violin virtuoso. In this music, one hears both the ache of that failure and his deep understanding of the instrument. (26.10) ‘That old, but eternally new subject, Romeo and Juliet.’ Tchaikovsky turns the timeless love story into a sweeping, passionate musical drama.