Proms 2023 Prom 51: Weir, Schumann and Elgar with the BBC Symphony Orchestra

Elgar’s boldly virtuosic Violin Concerto was one of the few works he admitted to being proud of: ‘Awfully emotional! Too emotional,’ he said, ‘but I love it.’ A deeply personal work, its title-page carries the enigmatic inscription ‘Herein is enshrined the soul of .....’. Distinguished German violinist Christian Tetzlaff is the soloist, following in the line of Fritz Kreisler, for whom the concerto was written. Schumann’s ‘Spring’ Symphony reflects the freshness and drive that seized the composer around the time of his marriage. Begin Afresh, a new commission from Master of the King’s Music Judith Weir, also celebrates new beginnings, inspired by Philip Larkin’s poem ‘The Trees’.

Image: Christian Tetzlaff © Giorgia Bertazzi