Elgar's Enigma - A Love Child Named Pearl?
This Sunday a period of gripping mystery in Edward Elgar's life will be summoned up when the LSO perform his oratorio The Kingdom at the Barbican. When he was struggling to write this devoutly religious work, going through something like a nervous breakdown, a young Welsh red-headed music-hall dancer was making her way on London stages. Were these events connected? More to the point, did Elgar have a lovechild with the dancer? Yes, was the answer given in private by musical circles. But the secret did not get out, while the evidence was allowed to die. Here, for the first time, the remark...
Source: theartsdesk.com