A striking rendition of Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’ from a world class orchestra.
My visit to the Bridgewater Hall last night marked an evening of firsts — my first time seeing the BBC Philharmonic perform live, my first time seeing the music of Elgar (one of my favourite composers), performed live, and indeed, my first visit to the iconic Bridgewater Hall itself. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, so I was easily blown away by the orchestra’s tenacity and vibrancy, tackling a diverse programme with ease.
From what I understand, ‘Cracking Elgar’s Enigma Code’ was an evening of tributes — the ‘Enigma Variations’ themselves are all tributes to Elgar’s “friends pictured within”, including his wife, Alice, and Elgar himself. The first piece, ‘Swansong’ by Arvo Pärt, creates a tribute to the 19th century priest John Henry Newman. It is a serene and reflective piece of music, contrasting the heavier themes yet to come on the programme. Following this was the world premiere of ‘Anima Mia’ by Geoffrey Gordon — itself a tribute to and inspired by the work of H.R Giger (best known for his work on the film ‘Alien’.) This featured soloist Roberto Giaccaglia, the Philharmonic’s own principal bassoonist. This music was definitely harder for me to engage with than the rest of the programme, but intensely atmospheric and dark. What was particularly striking about the piece was Giaccaglia’s command of the bassoon — I’d never seen a bassoon soloist before, and he took the stage with remarkable presence, working well with conductor John Storgårds. He even threw in a short piece at the end of the symphony that he himself had composed, ‘Nuvole’ (clouds). This seemingly impulsive moment, encouraged by Storgårds, spoke to the confidence and ease with which Giaccaglia takes space within the orchestra, and was again fascinating to see some solo bassoon work.
After the interval came baritone Roderick William’s rendition of six monologues from ‘Everyman’, a song cycle by Frank Martin based on Hugo Von Hofmannsthal’s 1911 ‘Jedermann.’ Again, I had to work hard to engage fully with this section, as opera isn’t entirely my thing, but Williams is a stunning baritone, and brought a vivacity to the story. By far the highlight of the evening were the ‘Enigma Variations’ themselves. It felt freeing to see the orchestra finally released, deftly navigating this renown piece with boundless energy and exuberance. ‘Nimrod’, one of my all time favourite pieces of music, was extraordinary — deeply moving, to the extend that it encouraged a smattering of applause between movements. It was a real privilege to see the ‘Variations live’, performed by such an adept orchestra.
Ultimately, ‘Cracking Elgar’s Enigma Code’ is a stirring evening of tribute music, featuring a varied programme performed by a truly world class orchestra. The two hours concert duration seemed to fly by, and I have been listening to the ‘Enigma Variations’ ever since.