Bags of Beethoven

Fireworks inside and outside the Theatre

The Milton Keynes City Orchestra's latest concert last Sunday was accompanied by the distant thumps of the annual Campbell Park fireworks display, and the playing inside the theatre was full of musical fireworks as well.

The star of the show was popular Northern pianist Peter Donohoe who, not content with giving a memorable recital at The Stables in the afternoon, rushed to the Theatre to play not one, but two of Beethoven's fabulous concertos. Donohoe has a brilliant technique which took him to Number One at the Moscow International Piano Competition, and he dealt with the formidable problems in these tough works without any sign of difficulty. These weren't superficial performances, however. Donohoe is a deep thinker about Beethoven's music and he managed to rediscover profound things in these well-known warhorses. The audience showed their appreciation by prolonged applause and cheering for this talented and likeable performer.

This all-Beethoven concert also included two popular overtures and Hilary Davan Wetton dug out a charming rarity: the music that the young Beethoven wrote for a long-forgotten ballet called The Creatures of Prometheus.

Reviewer:  Roy Tipping
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