An enigma? Dinis Sousa and the OAE present Elgar on period instruments

Elgar on period instruments? Why, one may well ask, given we have actual recordings of Sir Edward conducting much of his music, including all three works that featured on this programme from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Dinis Sousa? In matters of tempo and portamento, we can hear exactly what “period Elgar” sounded like just by firing up Spotify. From photographs of Elgar conducting the London Symphony Orchestra at the Queen's Hall in 1911, we can see the orchestral layout he favoured.

“Because it’s there!” seemed to be the answer from the OAE, pioneers in orchestral adventures for nearly 40 years, launching into In the South with gusto. The 48 strings – antiphonal violins, six double basses in two rows at the back – were no match for the brass, soon making their presence felt in the thrusting opening minutes, Elgar at his most (Richard) Straussian. Sousa, with large, whippy gestures, set off at quite a pace, although the overall speed was more measured than Elgar’s whipcrack account with the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra. The viola solo in the central Canto popolare section was almost whispered, affecting intonation.

On the first recording of Sea Pictures, restrictions in acoustic recording technology in the early 1920s means that Leila Megane is much more forwardly placed than the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra. Frances Gregory faced the opposite problem here, her lower register often submerged beneath the OAE’s animated accompaniments. Her pastel-toned mezzo fared best in the lighter numbers, Where Corals Lie beautifully judged, but songs like The Swimmer need a voice at least one size larger, especially up against an orchestra painting seascapes in bold oils.

The Variations on an Original Theme, commonly known as the Enigma Variations, was composed in 1898-99. “The Enigma I will not explain,” wrote Elgar, cryptically. “Its ‘dark saying’ must be left unguessed.” One of the composer’s most familiar works, its tender theme is followed by 13 variations, each representing one of Elgar’s friends, before the final variation, a self-portrait.

The more robust variations came off best: the scurrying strings of HDS-P; energetic brass in WMB; combative timpani in Troyte; the frantic scamper in GRS as Dan, the bulldog, tumbles into the River Wye.

Apart from a shapely clarinet solo quoting Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage in the Romanza and warm cellos in BGN, the gentler variations came off less securely, intonation wavering in Dorabella’s woodwind stutters. The transparency in the strings in Nimrod lent this most famous variation a sepia tint, although with very limited use of portamento compared with Elgar’s own account.

Before the unrehearsed Salut d'amour encore, Sousa explained that the strings had been given free rein to apply vibrato and portamento as and when they liked. It led to some of the most colourful string playing of the evening.