Maybe it's because the 20th Century is so famously drawing to a close, but I have found that at the last few concerts where I've heard 20th Century compositions, I've actually enjoyed them.

I certainly wasn't expecting to like Philip Glass's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra this past Saturday night at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, so often having found his music to be dull and repetitive. But, although I did nod off a bit due to the concerto's hypnotic qualities, it was a winner. It's got great rhythms -- could you dance to it? -- and the interplay between sections is asinteresting to listen for as greater variations on the themes would have been.

The violin part is less showy than in most concerti, as the instrument is blended in with the orchestra as a whole. But violinist Gidon Kremer, a great champion of contemporary music, nevertheless demonstrated great flair and a smooth tone throughout. He also had a kind of cute bended-knee dancing in place thing going on.

The Oslo Philharmonic, Kremer's back-up band, is a terrific orchestra and did itself proud in Mahler's Symphony No. 1. Conductor Mariss Jansons wrought less emotion out of the work than is perhaps typical, yet there was plenty of drama from the piece itself during its long journey from its gemutlicheit Austian morning dawn to its thundering conclusion. The band was a highly disciplined wonder, truly a wonderful blend whether playing pizzicato or bashing out big noises.

I have a greater appreciation for European orchestras, I think, after listening to the home team, the National Symphony. This past weekend under the baton of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (say it three times fast), the NSO played a warm but perfectly ordinary rendition of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony.

They also played a little blandly behind this weekend's other fiddle virtuoso, Joshua Bell. Bell ekes one of the warmest tones you'll hear out of a Stradivarius and, as usual, made even the workout Sibelius Violin Concerto appear effortless. Bell is incredibly handsome, for a musician, and has been heavily marketed throughout his career. The joy, though, is that he is not merely greatly gifted but one of the most sensitive interpreters of both major works and minor pieces playing today. His runs up and down the cold mountains Sibelius constructed were exquisite treats.