by Kenneth Woods | Nov 23, 2007 | A view from the podium, Performing Life
In rehearsals, the orchestra had sounded like Jaguar fresh from a tune up- all effortless perfect handling, pure power and explosive speed, and the night was a glamorous one, with one of the great living pianists waiting in the wings for Mozart and Ravel concerti. The...
by Kenneth Woods | Nov 9, 2007 | A view from the podium, Performing Life
I’m just grabbing a bite of tasy polenta before my final recital rehearsal this afternoon. After about 40hours in transit, I finally made it to Pendleton yesterday morning, fresh as a daisy. Nipped up to the office and grabbed my axe and managed a tidy 45 minutes of...
by Kenneth Woods | Nov 8, 2007 | A view from the podium, Performing Life
From the “life’s little hassles” file…. Just as I was posting my last blog, I looked up and saw the last thing any weary traveler wants to see AFTER a trans-Atlantic, which is “flight cancelled” next to the last leg of your journey…. I’m a little bummed out, but it...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 24, 2007 | A view from the podium, Performing Life
There are plenty more books to be written about musicians and pain. It’s easy to forget when you see people on stage in penguin suits and evening gowns that music is a form of athletics, and your body can take a beating. I’ve been comparatively lucky with pain over...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 19, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler, Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
Friday morning and I’m moving a little slower after a long rehearsal last night. We’ve now got about %95 of the out of town players here, so we’re starting to get a good sense of what the issues are going to be this week. The Fourth may be the hardest Mahler symphony...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 18, 2007 | A view from the podium, Haydn, Performing Life
A few things I’m smiling about this week- 1- Any time you can do Haydn symphonies in consecutive weeks, life is good. How is it that the even the classical music world doesn’t seem to realize just what a badass he was! His music is never what it seems- the...
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