Santtu Conducts Elgar's Enigma Variations
The Philharmonia Orchestra’s 2023/24 season closes with Elgar’s enduringly popular paean to friendship.
Well-known performers of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 include Tom and Jerry (in 1946 Oscar-winner The Cat Concerto), Woody Woodpecker and Rowlf the Dog on The Muppet Show. Santtu-Matias Rouvali has chosen it to get the Philharmonia’s season finale off to a rousing start.
At the heart of the programme is Shostakovich’s fiery Cello Concerto No.1. Widely considered the height of achievement for a cellist, the piece gives the principal horn, celesta, and indeed every member of the orchestra, the chance to shine too.
Sol Gabetta’s last performance of this concerto with the Philharmonia was acclaimed as ‘a compelling account shot through with playfulness and poetic rhapsodising… technically formidable’ (Bachtrack).
The Enigma Variations, Elgar’s tribute to his closest friends, crowns the programme and the season.
From the tender grace of the first variation, representing his beloved wife Alice, to the solemn grandeur of ‘Nimrod’, and other character sketches full of warmth and humour, this is the work that launched Elgar on the road to his status as a national treasure.
Performers
Philharmonia Orchestra
Santtu-Matias Rouvali conductor
Sol Gabetta cello
Repertoire
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 arr. Doppler for orchestra
Elgar: Enigma Variations
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No.1
Need to know
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
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Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
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Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.