PEORIA, IL -- The Heartland Festival Orchestra's all Beethoven concert on April 6 occurred at an unusual place, Venue Chisca, a converted warehouse with crystal chandeliers in Peoria's Warehouse District.
There was no stage, so the audience was seated next to the orchestra while it played an all Beethoven program, Symphony No. 1, the Coriolan Overture, and to top it off, Symphony No. 5. The sound in the venue was fabulous, and the Beethoven pieces were wonderful.
Artistic director/composer David Commanday enlivened the event even more with commentary on Beethoven's music before and after the pieces, and between each movement of the symphonies. He also gave the audience permission to applaud between the movements, and it did.
"My purpose is to 'break the mold' of the classical concert -- to create an un-concert...setting up a new scene for a performance adventure. This is a first in Central Illinois," Commanday wrote in the program. He succeeded.
The only problem -- the chairs were somewhat uncomfortable, with straight backs. Still, the music made up for that.
-- Elaine Hopkins