Elgar's Enigma variations

"The programme is divided into two parts, the first being a complete performance of the Enigma Variations given by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under their past Music Director Sir Andrew Davis. How refreshing it is to see this orchestra trying to, and indeed succeeding in playing with commitment and fervour ... The second half of the programme is a documentary, covering a good portion of some of the characters around which Elgar built his Variations. This is informative without becoming sentimental ... I am sure that this release will be one of my DVDs of the Year".

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"Sir Andrew Davis’s warmly committed performance of the Enigma Variations, atmospherically recorded in Worcester Cathedral, introduces a highly enjoyable documentary about the work and the ‘friends pictured within’ ... The performance itself has no unwanted intrusions – just a sepia photo of the subject as each variation begins – and is a fine one, with Davis in ‘Nimrod’ keeping his slow tempo steady throughout".