Elgar, Bruckner

Falling leaves, melancholy songs, and an eternal sense of the British countryside in autumn – it’s hard to define the precise qualities that make Elgar’s Cello Concerto so enduringly popular. But that’s why it’s a classic; it always has something fresh to say. It’s perfect, in other words, for Raphaela Gromes, a cellist whose aim (she says) is to “immerse myself completely in the piece, to serve the music, to communicate it to the audience”. And perfect, too, for a conductor with the insight and stature of Michael Sanderling, who concludes the concert with Bruckner’s epic Third Symphony. This is Romantic music on a visionary scale, conducted by an artist who understands that Bruckner was speaking from - and to - the human soul.