Danny Elfman's Percussion Concerto

I always love it when I walk into Abravanel Hall and see lots of percussion instruments on the stage because I know that I am in for a good time!  Last night's Utah Symphony concert featured more percussion instruments than I've ever seen assembled and it was amazing!  The concert began with a spotlight on percussionist Colin Currie as he performed a piece for a solo marimba called Tromp Miniature by Bryce Dessner (who founded the band The National with his brother Aaron).  Currie described it as a lullaby and I found it to be almost hypnotic.  Next, the orchestra joined Currie on stage for Danny Elfman's Percussion Concerto and, as a huge fan of Oingo Boingo, I was beyond excited for this and I loved it!  Currie, as the soloist, played 12 instruments (and assorted other objects) himself but there were also five additional percussionists along with the strings and piano.  The piece was instantly recognizable as an Elfman composition because, like all of his film scores, it is intense and dramatic but also a little bit playful.  I loved the interaction between the percussion instruments in the first movement, the themes played by the strings in the third movement, and the vibraphone in the spectacular final movement.  I also enjoyed seeing Currie run across the stage to reach all of the instruments in order to keep up with the frenetic pace.  I am so glad that I got to hear this thrilling and exciting piece (and I highly suggest that fans of Elfman get a ticket to tonight's performance sooner rather than later because there were very few empty seats in Abravanel Hall last night).  After the intermission, the concert concluded with Symphony No.1 by Johannes Brahms which was also quite exciting and dramatic.  I really loved the slow and somewhat ominous introduction to the first movement by the timpani followed by a palpable tension between the woodwinds and the violins, the themes played by the bassoons and the horns (meant to mimic an alpenhorn) in the second movement, and the themes played by the strings and then repeated by the woodwinds and then the full orchestra (which sounded very similar to "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony) in the final movement.  This was one of my favorite concerts this season and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets to tonight's performance).