Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko conductor
 
Elgar Symphony No. 2
 
'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 later.