Child piano prodigy Ruth Slenczynska received an urgent telegram in 1934: Famed pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff couldn’t play at his performance in Los Angeles because of an elbow injury.

Pianist Jon Nakamatsu returns to play with the Waco Symphony Orchestra on Nov. 7 and, like that time nearly 30 years ago, it’s a Rachmaninoff concerto, but those are about the only similarities.

For instance, the main melodic lines in Eric Carmen’s mid-1970s hits “All By Myself” and “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” are based on the very Rachmaninoff piano concerto Voltersvik will play. “There ...