Elgar: Symphony No 2 CD review – lyricism and angst

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Petrenko
(Onyx)Talking about his Symphony No 2, Elgar said “it was absolutely correct to say the whole thing represents the ‘passionate pilgrimage’ of a soul”. There’s a terrible struggle in the grand opening movement, lurching back and forth between soaring, whooping melody and poetic introspection. Vasily Petrenko displayed a perceptive understanding for Elgar in his disc with the RLPO of Symphony No 1. Here again, flexibilit