John Smyth said complimentary things about Elgar's 2nd:

Don't know whether I would say it was Russian sounding in any way but
what I will say (and I know I am not alone in this belief, am I Roger)
that the Elgar 2 is one of the truly great late-romantic symphonies and
in my view can be successfully stacked up against any one of Mahler's
Symphonies.  I would even go so far as to say that I would lose all of
Mahler before I lost that piece.  It is much more proficient in terms of
balance and weight than Mahler.  He tried to do too much and hence ended
up with pieces which I find bloated and empty at the same time.  I suppose
the ninth and the fourth would be the exceptions.  Elgar though ...  every
single note is there for a reason, and tells its own tale.  Right down to
the instrumentation it is so well put together.  Oh, and the tunes....
Maybe its because I'm a Londoner...

David Stewart
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