Theme and Variation - Wales Millennium Centre / Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru

Inventive charming distinguished

Shostakovich Theme and Variations
Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.2
Haydn Symphony No.6
Brahms Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn

In a second nod to Shostakovich in the 50th anniversary year of his death BBC NOW’s Principal Guest Conductor Jaime Martin presents a programme including his Theme and Variations and Second Piano Concerto.

Written whilst still a teenager, Shostakovich’s charming Theme and Variations features an original theme and 11 variations atypical of his later style, but no less ingenious or self-assured. His Piano Concerto, written some 25 years later however is filled with his distinctive musical personality - from the charmingly hectic and restlessly athletic themes and tempos, to colourful orchestration and unbridled lyricism, this light-hearted concerto was written as a birthday gift for his son Maxim.

In continued exploration of Theme and Variations we turn to Brahms and his Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn. Fascinated by both music manuscripts and the music of Haydn it was the score of the Chorale St Antoni that forms the theme for this attractive and fascinating work. But first we turn to Brahms’ muse himself, Joseph Haydn and his programmatic Sixth Symphony, Le Matin.