BUTLER TWP — The theme was romance Saturday night for the Butler County Symphony Orchestra's "Venus," its pre-Valentine's Day concert.

The concert at the Butler Intermediate High School included the Musical Theater Guild Chorus with nearly 40 singers.

The music opened with "Prelude" and "Siciliana" from Pietro Mascagni's opera, "Cavalleria Rusticana.

" While the two pieces featured soft, lush strings, there were prominent flute, harp, and trumpet solos.

The siciliana is in the usual siciliana six-eight time but sounds more romantic. The harp was played throughout and there was an oboe solo.

It is probably obligatory during the Valentine season to play a Strauss waltz. The one performed Saturday was "Wine, Women, and Song" by Johann Strauss Jr.

The Musical Theater Guild Chorus performed a medley of music from MGM films. The songs included "That's Entertainment," "San Francisco," "The Trolley Song," "Good Morning," "Make 'Em Laugh," "Over the Rainbow," and "Singing' in the Rain."

Observant concert-goers may have noticed the group of accomplished singers memorized all their music. Soprano Davlin Hupp said the group, under the direction of Claudette Sanzotti, rehearsed twice a week for about a month.

"Loved it — had a good time!" she said.

The second half of the concert was devoted to Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Symphony No. 2." It is a beautiful piece of music, which has served as grist for a pop tune, and is formidable to play.

Although Rachmaninoff made use of lush, romantic strings, as did Mascagni, the second half of the second movement contains a recurring pizzicato passage, which provides a nice contrast.

With his usual clean, expert style, Chuck Norton played the long clarinet solo at the beginning of the adagio third movement. It was a pleasure to listen to and watch Nena Lorenz play the prominent tympani parts with precision.

After the concert, members of the orchestra were pleased, even ecstatic, by their performance of the Rachmaninoff.

They played under the direction of Elisabeth Heath-Charles.

The Butler community is fortunate to have dedicated and enthusiastic groups of musicians such as the Musical Theater Guild Chorus and the Butler County Symphony Orchestra.