by Kenneth Woods | Jun 11, 2017 | A view from the podium
I find myself thinking of Bartók today. For me, he seemed to rise to the musical challenges of the early 20th C with more vision and creativity than anyone else. In his music, we find blood and mathematics, folks songs and atonal cells, head and heart, earth and...
by Kenneth Woods | Jul 16, 2014 | A view from the podium
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Herbert von Karajan- one of the most influential, accomplished, controversial and contradictory musicians who ever lived. Not too long ago, I was asked to provide introductory essays for two volumes the Warner’s...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 13, 2011 | A view from the podium
The Pro Arte String Quartet was the first string quartet I ever heard as a young musician growing up in Madison, Wisconsin. The ensemble, in its many incarnations has been based there at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music since it took up the...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 7, 2011 | A view from the podium, Lists
This is a list I’ve been thinking about ever since I first conducted the Prokofiev 2nd Piano Concerto with Daniel de Borah. I was amused at the thought of just how far down the list of the greatest piano concerti of the 20th c. I would go before I got to a piece not...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 12, 2011 | A view from the podium
It’s Brahms 1 week here at Vftp, and to bring in some fresh perspective, I thought I would get some thoughts on the work from another Brahmsian, my friend, the American conductor, Jonathan Pasternack. Jonathan and I met when we were both based in Oregon- he as...
Recent Comments