Storms and Secrets

Secrets abound in this concert featuring Mozart, Britten and Elgar.

Mozart's La clemenza di Tito is a story of jealousy, secrets – and clemency. Vitellia's secret treason, Sesto's refusal to confess, and Vitellia's hidden guilt will be portrayed by Eleanor Greenwood and Henry Choo in arias from the opera.

Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes leaves its central secret unresolved – what really happened to his missing apprentice? Celebrating 50 years since Britten's death, the program features his stormy Four Sea Interludes and two arias from the opera.

The identities behind each of Elgar's variations were easily discovered, but the hidden theme counterpointing the Enigma theme has perplexed musicologists for over a century. And what of the Enigma's "dark saying" that Elgar said must be left unguessed?

Whatever secrets Elgar took to his grave, the inventiveness, fun, love and grandeur of these variations form a fitting conclusion to Zelman's 2026 season.