Elgar: Symphony No. 2, Mina, Carissima & Chanson de matin Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Vasily Petrenko

• Edward Elgar (1857-1934):
• 1 Symphony No. 2 in E-Flat, Op. 63: I. Allegro vivace e nobilmente 19:14
• 2 Symphony No. 2 in E-Flat, Op. 63: II. Larghetto 15:04
• 3 Symphony No. 2 in E-Flat, Op. 63: III. Rondo. Presto 07:57
• 4 Symphony No. 2 in E-Flat, Op. 63: IV. Moderato e maestoso 16:50
• 5 Carissima 03:23
• 6 Mina 03:52
• 7 Chanson de Matin, Op. 15/2 03:19
• Total Runtime 01:09:39

Info for Elgar: Symphony No. 2, Mina, Carissima & Chanson de matin

"What’s the matter with them Billy? They sit there like a lot of stuffed pigs!" Elgar commented to his friend W.H Reid, the leader of the Queen’s Hall Orchestra after the chilly reception given to the 2nd Symphony at its premiere in 1911. More emotionally complex and ambiguous than the first symphony, the 2nd seems to hint at the apocalyptic events that would be unleashed just three years on. "Be like a woman dropping a flower on a man’s grave" wrote the composer of the ‘Spirit of Delight' theme in the coda of the second movement.

This eagerly awaited Elgar 2 from Petrenko and the RLPO will further delight those fans who bought their recording of the 1st Symphony, released on Onyx to critical acclaim last year.

“Petrenko’s tempos in the long opening movement are admirably flexible, but it’s in the last two that interpretation and playing seem to me finest; the finale achieves a noble grandeur and melancholy.” (Sunday Times)

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Vasily Petrenko - Conductor
Vasily Petrenko was appointed Principal Conductor of the orchestra in September 2006 and in September 2009 became Chief Conductor. He is also Principal Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and in 2013 will become Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the Classical BRIT Awards Male Artist of the Year 2010 and the Classic FM/Gramophone Young Artist of the Year 2007. In 2009 he was awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of Liverpool and Liverpool Hope University. He now works with many of the world’s finest orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Russian National, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, and the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and his wide operatic repertoire includes Macbeth (Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Le Villi, I due Foscari and Boris Godunov (Netherlands Reisopera), Pique Dame (Hamburg State Opera) and Eugene Onegin (Opéra de Paris, Bastille). Recordings with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra include Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony (2009 Classic FM/Gramophone Orchestral Recording of the Year) (Naxos 8.570568), an ongoing Shostakovich cycle, and Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances and complete Piano Concertos.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
The award-winning Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is Britain’s oldest surviving professional symphony orchestra, dating from 1840. The dynamic young Russian, Vasily Petrenko, was appointed Principal Conductor of the orchestra in September 2006 and in September 2009 became Chief Conductor. The orchestra gives over sixty concerts each season in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and tours widely throughout the United Kingdom and internationally, most recently touring to China, Switzerland, France, Spain, Germany, Romania and the Czech Republic. In recent seasons, world première performances have included major works by Sir John Tavener, Karl Jenkins, Michael Nyman and Jennifer Higdon, John McCabe, Emily Howard, Gary Carpenter, Mark Simpson and Kenneth Hesketh. Recent additions to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s extensive and critically acclaimed recording catalogue include Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony (2009 Gramophone Awards Orchestral Recording of the Year), the world première performance of Sir John Tavener’s Requiem, the first six discs of an ongoing Shostakovich cycle (the recording of Symphony No. 10 is the 2011 Gramophone Awards Orchestral Recording of the Year), Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, and Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 and Nos. 1 and 4 with Simon Trpčeski; and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 3.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir & Chorus Master: Ian Tracey
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir has always been central to the life of Liverpool Philharmonic. Its members are drawn from all walks of life and travel from all parts of the Liverpool City Region, and beyond, to take part in the choir’s activities. The choir’s repertoire covers all periods and styles from Bach to newly commissioned works, with full symphony orchestra and unaccompanied, and it also plays a leading rôle in the famous Liverpool Philharmonic Carol Concerts. The choir has performed in many of the major British concert venues, has sung with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Wales and the BBC Philharmonic, and has undertaken several foreign tours, both independently and with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Ian Tracey has been Chorus Master since 1985 and has travelled with the choir both in Britain and abroad.

Booklet for Elgar: Symphony No. 2, Mina, Carissima & Chanson de matin