January 22, 2011 - Guest Conductor CLYDE MITCHELL
8:00 PM
“Theme and Variations”

Clyde Mitchell
       
  Johannes Brahms:   Variations on a Theme of Haydn
       
  Sergei Rachmaninoff:   Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
       
 
Yin Yin Huang Acevedo, Piano
       
  Edward Elgar:   Enigma Variations
 




 
The evening will open with Brahms’ Variations which demonstrates the composer’s sense of imagination. The piece serves as a compliment to Haydn’s original concept in which a theme is repeated in alternate forms and different manners. Of course Rachmaninoff, considered by many as the greatest musical virtuoso, needs no special introduction. His Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini will speak for itself. The program concludes with Elgar’s most challenging and musically rewarding Variations on an Original Theme, “Enigma” - his tribute to a number of his closest friends. Pay attention to the optimum opportunity for our timpanist.