Earlier, forecasters had predicted a slight chance of storms, but by the first downbeat at the Indianapolis Symphony's concert Friday night at Conner Prairie, the skies were turbulence-free, and so was the orchestra's virtually all-Beethoven program.

In his "Symphony on the Prairie" debut, Sean Newhouse, the ISO's new associate conductor, presided over a tasteful, almost overly controlled program.

The evening opened with the "Egmont" Overture, which gave way to the Piano Concerto No. 1 in the opening half. The Seventh Symphony followed intermission.

In the "Egmont," Beethoven created incidental music for a tragic Goethe play about defiance against Spanish military dominance over the Netherlands. The overture opens with minor chords that often sound ominous, but Newhouse's attack didn't seem particularly heavy or intense. He did build another potentially dramatic moment -- a descending cello theme -- to an exciting climax.

The Concerto No. 1 in C is an early work that Beethoven played as a soloist. Although the concerto dates to 1798, and was more grounded in classicism than in the romantic era that would follow, some passages were considered wild for the time, and historians have written of Beethoven's bold improvisations in the piece.

The ISO's concerto soloist is an Israeli-born pianist named Shai Wosner (pronounced WOZE-nur). In the opening "Allegro con brio" movement, Newhouse's conducting was taut and energetic in the long orchestral opening, but the soloist's sound seemed fairly contained. The slow second movement, with an initial "Largo" tempo, was quiet and pretty, accompanied by sustained strings. A second theme had the feel of a quick waltz. The concerto's final movement offered small cadenzas, or improvisatory solos.

Afterwards, Wosner nearly took a tumble while descending a ramp off stage, but returned to play an encore, Schumann's "Nightpiece," with grace.

During the opening movement of the Seventh Symphony, lightning flashed in the skies to the north of the amphitheater as the orchestra cranked up a quick, flute-studded country dance. Newhouse gave appropriate pathos to the pulsing rhythms of the low strings in the "Allegretto" second movement, building in complexity as more instruments joined in.

The symphony's third movement, a potentially explosive scherzo, again began in a relatively controlled fashion.