Russian-British conductor Vasily Petrenko is ‘one of the most exciting stars in the current firmament of international maestri’ (Limelight). In this performance recorded live from Hamer Hall, Petrenko brings his signature blend of energy and intelligence to a titan of English music: Elgar’s Symphony No. 2. Premiered in 1911, during the twilight years of late Romanticism, Symphony No. 2 is one of Elgar's most complex creations: monumental yet lyrical, intensely joyous yet underwritten by sense of deep tragedy. As the music critic Tom Service writes, ‘this music glows with a strange, veiled radiance that is one of the most special sounds a late-romantic composer ever conjured from the orchestra.’ The symphony reflects a range of influences from Elgar's life, including his relationship with Alice Stuart-Wortley, to whom he said that he had ‘shewn his soul’ in this music, and to King Edward VII, to whom the symphony is dedicated. Relive this inspired concert to go on Elgar’s ‘pilgrimage of the soul.’