Scene from: Elgar's tenth Muse
Composer: Edward Elgar
Conductor: Andrew Davis
This moving film is about the brief encounter in 1919 between the composer, Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), and the young violinist, Jelly d'Aranyi. It explores conflicts between innocence and experience and between friendship and love, and stars James Fox as the famous composer.
In 1919 Sir Edward Elgar was in despair. He had witnessed the First World War and mourned man's inhumanity to man. He could find no consolation in his work. His Cello Concerto lay unfinished. Alice, his wife of thirty years, lay dying and the impending loneliness added to his intense melancholy. It was then that he heard the brilliant young Hungarian violinist Jelly d'Aranyi. Only 24 years old, Jelly was already accepted as an outstanding musician, and was a beautiful young lady. Their differences formed the basis for a brief, bitter-sweet relationship which, although it came to an abrupt and enigmatic end, provided Elgar with fresh and new inspiration which he needed to complete his final works.
Elgar's Tenth Muse features the brilliant young cellist Natalie Clein - winner of the 1994 European Young Musician of the Year. Critics immediately compared her account of Elgar's Cello Concerto to that of Jacqueline du Pré's. In a specially recorded performance, Clein performs the Adagio movement from Elgar's much-loved Cello Concerto here with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The soundtrack also includes a performance of Elgar's Violin Sonata by Maxim Vengerov.
Cast:
Sir Edward Elgar - James Fox
Lady Elgar - Faith Brook
Jelly d'Aranyi - Selma Alispahic
Billy Reed - Rupert Frazer
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