Davis superbly characterizes Enigma's "friends pictured within". The recording imparts a misty, dream-like feel to the cryptic opening theme, and the individual cameos that follow afford compelling insights into their subjects. The blustering country squire "WMB" slams the drawing room door imperiously on his way out (Var. 4), and the amateur violist "Ysobel" struggles patiently with a simple string-crossing exercise in her variation (6). Basil Nevinson's eloquent seriousness is skillfully portrayed by the cello soloist in Var. 12, and the pin-sharp recording effectively conveys the timpanist's coin-drumming (evoking a distantly heard ship engine) in the penultimate variation. Finally, the composer himself emerges, and Davis presents him as a man of energy and purpose. It's good to hear Elgar's optional organ part (most recordings overlook it) both here and in the final section of Cockaigne. The BBC strings give a disciplined, confident performance of the Introduction and Allegro, with a biting, racy fugue and excellent (but uncredited) solo quartet.