Actually, the headline is misleading as there was surprisingly no Beethoven on the musical menu at this year’s Kunstrasen Klassik Picknick. It was still a magical evening though for a picnic or even just a snooze to wonderful music from the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn.
This years programme, under the baton of Martin Lukas Meister was somewhat less ‘populist’ in comparison to last years offering by BOB (I do love that abbreviation for the Orchestrs!). No James Bond Theme or West Side Story. Some familiar musical fayre though even to my untrained classical ears. Walt Disney loved the most recognisable piece of the evening to me – Paul Dukas’ ‘Sorcerers Apprentice’ featured not long after the composers death in Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ and is now forever linked to visions of Mice in magicians hats and dancing brooms.
I enjoyed too the sweet singing of Anjara Bartz and the pomp of Samson & Delilah’s Bachanal that was cleverly placed at the set end to get picknickers on their feet in time to pack away for next years Klassik Picknick – always a magical evening – and how often is magic like this free?
