Elgar’s ‘Enigma’ Variations

August 29, 2023, 8:00 pm

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Elim Chan (Photo: Rahi Rezvani)

The Enigma I will not explain – its “dark saying” must be left unguessed …’ So wrote Edward Elgar of his career-making ‘Enigma’ Variations. What’s not in question, however, is the tender playfulness of orchestral variations inspired by the composer’s friends and family, including the noble, much-loved ‘Nimrod’.

Pianist Jan Lisiecki joins Elim Chan and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 – a Romantic tussle between conflict and lyricism. The concert opens with the European premiere of Noriko Koide’s silkworm-inspired Swaddling Silk and Gossamer Rain, commissioned for last year’s BBC Proms Japan.

Description via Royal Albert Hall

Playlist

Noriko Koide: Swaddling Silk and Gossamer Rain
BBC co-commission: European premiere

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor
Jan Lisiecki, piano

Edward Elgar: ‘Enigma’ Variations


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