Three composers, three homages. A virtuoso showpiece for solo cello, Tchaikovsky variations takes full advantage of his wide-ranging musical gifts to dress an old-style tune in 19th Century garb—creating a work of dazzling brilliance, and kaleidoscopic emotional range. We open with short work of Hugo Wolf’s—an Austrian’s witty and delightful Italian imagining. The program closes with Mendelssohn’s tuneful, buoyant, energized Italian Symphony, written as a musical remembrance of a deeply impactful visit.