Enigma

In Claude Debussy’s celebrated Prélude to the Afternoon of a Faun, the gentle voice of the flute lulls the listener into a dream before leading them into previously unimagined realms of consciousness and fantasy. This delicate and sensuous masterpiece by a pioneering composer is widely regarded as one of the defining works that ushered in musical modernism.

Inspired by the sound world of French Impressionism, the British composer Christian Mason wrote his flute concerto Thaleia, which is performed by its dedicatee, Noémi Győri.

The other half of this distinguished musical partnership, conductor Gergely Madaras, leads the MÁV Symphony Orchestra in Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations—a deeply moving gallery of musical portraits of the composer’s friends, imbued with quintessentially English restraint, wit, empathy, and warmth.