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REVIEW: Brown-Urioste-Canellakis Trio with the Heartland Festival Orchestra

By Elaine Hopkins, PeoriaStory
September 08, 2014
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Beethoven Beats Baseball

WASHINGTON, IL -- The Heartland Festival Orchestra hit a home run at its Oct. 25 concert, Beethoven Triple. A nearly full house at Five Points Washington showed that classical music could eclipse the World Series on TV. And the audience was not disappointed, as the orchestra presented its best concert to date.

Three Beethoven pieces were played beautifully, with full sound. The third piece, Beethoven's Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C Major featured the Brown-Urioste-Canellakis Trio, young award-winning musicians who wowed the audience with their musicianship and stage presence.

The well deserved standing ovation brought forth a lovely modern piece from the trio, a blend of classical, jazz and blues, Cafe Music for Piano Trio by Paul Schonfield.

The evening began with Beethoven's Prometheus Overture, Op. 43, short and exciting, followed by Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, the Pastoral, a georgeous number. It was the first symphony to incorporate music depicting bird song and a storm, according to artistic director David Commanday.

That storm was so excitingly played, and the orchestra's sound was full and rich.

A musician once told me "you have to bat 1,000 to be taken seriously in music." These musicians, the orchestra and the trio, all measured up to that standard at this concert.

In addition, the informal ambience of the Heartland concerts, with deserts served at intermission, a reception afterwards with more goodies, and where the audience can chat with the musicians, adds to the evening.

And the videographers, who focus on the soloists and the orchestra, present another dimension to the concert on the big screen above the stage, providing views that the audience otherwise would not see.

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