Concert tip: Timpani storm and orchestral pride at the Auditori

Concert tip: Timpani storm and orchestral pride at the Auditori

Two works that tear the stage apart and put it back together

When you walk down the Carrer de Sant Miquel on a December evening, it smells of freshly brewed coffee and wet asphalt, and voices rise from the Auditori: the soft rustle of concert programs, a taxi passing by, the distant sound of a guitar from a bar. Such small scenes have become part of the concert-going experience in Palma; they make it everyday and yet a little special. At the upcoming subscription evening there is a programme that amplifies precisely this feeling: an energetic percussion solo and a large-scale concerto for orchestra.

The first half places an unusual role on the timpani. The piece demands not only precision from the percussionist but a truly theatrical presence: timpani are used less as a timekeeper and more as a voice that shapes space and tension. The soloist is tasked with developing from a single instrument a whole gesture that challenges and at the same time energises the orchestra. The result is a scene in which rhythm becomes architecture.

The second half presents the orchestra in its full range: from chamber-like delicacy to powerful, almost symphonic eruptions. The work is not a nostalgic reminiscence of folk tunes, but a reformation: familiar colours appear, are fragmented, recombined and translated into a language that sounds both forceful and open. It is music that understands the ensemble as an organism — each passage, each section takes responsibility for the collective progress.

The conductor and ensemble work on exactly this togetherness. The conductor does more than order pitches; they build conversations between groups of instruments: a whisper from the woodwinds here, the surge of the brass there, with the timpani repeatedly acting as an instigator. The evening that unfolds is not only technically impressive but also provocative: who recently thought so audibly along? Who was willing to take musical risks? Such moments keep Palma's season alive.

For the city this is more than a single performance. A concert like this brings people together from different corners — students from the university district, retirees who sat an hour earlier in Café Plaça sa Gerreria, tourists who managed to get last-minute tickets. People talk about the programme in front of the Auditori; you hear Mallorcans and visitors exchanging impressions. The cultural gathering creates neighbourhoods for an evening; that is an important, positive side effect.

My tip is simple: anyone who wants to experience the raw power of the timpani while also appreciating the wide palette of an orchestra should secure a seat. The concert experience deepens if you arrive five minutes early, let your gaze sweep over the palm-lined avenue and savour the small anticipation before the first beat. For families: curious children benefit from seeing live how many individual voices merge into a single sound.

In conclusion: evenings like this show why culture in Palma is not a side issue. It brings people together, energises the streets and reminds us that the city is more than sun and sea. When the last chord fades and people descend the steps with flushed cheeks and bright faces, you know the evening was worth it.

Tickets are available through the Auditori's ticket office; if you want to keep a little ritual, have an espresso on the corner beforehand. And when leaving the venue, it's worth looking up: sometimes the lights above the square seem louder when a concert has just ended.