by Kenneth Woods | Mar 28, 2011 | A view from the podium, Lists
Before unveiling the hotly anticipated final 5 of our “Real” Top 20 Conductors, I thought it might be interesting to, er, milk the moment with a little divertimento or two. Regular Vftp contributor Peter Davison beat me to the punch on one topic: “There’s...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 20, 2010 | Nuts and bolts
In my last post on Beethoven 3, I talked just a little bit about my experience of studying the work with my teacher, Gerhard Samuel (more on him here and here). It remains a particularly memorable experience since it was the first score we went through together, so I...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 24, 2010 | A view from the podium
This Satuday evening I’m conducting a program that includes Berlioz’s Corsaire Overture, the Saint-Saens 3rd Violin Concerto and the Franck Symphony in D minor. It’s almost ten years to the day since I last conducted the Franck (that time around it was paired with the...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 21, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective
Well, Hans Rott seems to be in the zeitgeist this week. My old school mate, Tom Consolo, has written a brilliant piece for Music in Cincinnati describing the events leading up to the first performances of the Rott Symphony in E in Cincinnati and Paris in 1989. The...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 16, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler
The subject recently came up of the Symphony in E by Hans Rott. Rott died a horrible death as a schizophrenic in a mental hospital. Had he remained healthy, he would surely have been one of the most important composers of all time. Mahler called him the...
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