I had planned to go, then decided not to go, then decided to go, then didn't. The reasons wouldn't interest you, but one reason for the shifts was that I wasn't all that enthusiastic about the program. There were two pieces, the first being a Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists, by Philip Glass.
What? Or as some online young people say: wut. Without a question mark. I really like that because it's utterly expressionless, as if it can't be bothered with more than the bare minimum of effort needed to communicate a combination of incomprehension and indifference in such a way as to suggest that whatever is being responded to is nonsense. Three letters is the bare minimum for representing the sound; four would be far too much trouble.
And that was pretty close to my immediate reaction to the name of the piece. But Phillip Glass is quite a gifted composer, even if one thinks (or suspects) he has written too much that is too similar to other works. I've enjoyed a good bit of his music over the years–I remember especially a performance of his Second Symphony. And rhythm has always been an important element in his music, insistent but constantly shifting. So the day after the concert which I had missed, I looked for the piece on YouTube rather than Idagio, because I was curious as to how the tympani and timpanists would be positioned, and what the two players would look like in action. (I recall it being spelled with a "y," but the title of the Glass piece uses an "i." I don't know why it names the players and not the instruments–you don't say "concerto for pianist.")
And it turned out to be a very enjoyable and interesting work, well worth thirty minutes of my time, and yours I think. And I'm glad I watched it instead of only listening, because there are a lot more drums involved than I realized, and it's a visual spectacle as well as a musical one. There are several performances on YouTube and the drums seemed to be more prominent in the recording in this one.
I admit that I had moments when I was reminded of a trend among rock bands in the late '60s: the drum solo. Cream's Wheels of Fire album gave over most of an LP side to a fifteen-minute performance of "Toad," most of which was solo drumming, accurately described by the AMG reviewer as "numbing." But the orchestra quickly dispelled that sensation.
The second piece on the program was Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. Since it was the only other thing on the program, I assume it was the entire ballet, not a suite taken from it. As far as I can remember I have never heard this work. But my classical music consultant tells me that it's a great work, and sent me a link to this excerpt:
And I'm puzzled, because it seems very familiar. Has it been used in a movie or some other context where I would have heard it, and more than once?
Light On Dark Water 
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