As curious as it is interesting

The fourth concert by the Illes Balears Symphony Orchestra at the Auditorium on the Passeig Marítim offered some attractions that went beyond a superb and stimulating program. Curiosity was palpable, to a greater or lesser degree. This was hardly surprising given the announcement of Raise the Roof. Concerto for Timpani, as a starting piece. A composition by Michael Daugherty, a disciple of Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio, performed by percussionist Javier Eguillor, with Nuno Coelho leading the ensemble. An unusual piece that truly shines live, showcasing the dynamic energy of a protagonist who displays a whole range of possibilities on the timpani and cymbals, from melodic tuning to placing a cymbal on one of the five timpani in a convex position—and I mean convex—an immense array of rhythms that make it a complex and unusual musical singularity. Clearly, its duration, just over twelve minutes, makes it fly by. There was an encore, of course, and right afterward they repeated a fragment of Daugherty's piece, as if to savor it more fully and with greater understanding.

The second piece was unconventional as well; Concerto for orchestra, by Witold Lutoslawski, which, whether by chance or by design, begins with a drumbeat, supported by the double basses, announcing a series of intricate and almost unrecognizable variations on folk music from his native Poland. This is the starting point, from which emerges a contrapuntal sequence of different melodies that will develop and grow throughout the composition. A piece in which the vast majority of instruments, including the tuba, have their moment of glory, as well as the concertmaster's violin in the second movement, or the flutes, the horns… Despite the Entrance initial or the Capriccio notturno y ariosoWith the relentless display of the different soloists, the key moment was the crescendo of the third and final movement, which begins with a huge Passaccaglia, signed with an energetic Toccata and a tender and subtle Coralwhich ensured that both the audience and the musicians equally enjoyed a composition that Nuno Coelho had under control from beginning to end. An evening as curious as it was interesting.