by Kenneth Woods | Jan 22, 2012 | News and Reviews
A big thank you to Jason in Iowa, who alerted us to the fact that the eminent musicologist and Brahms scholar, Bernard D. Sherman, picked Orchestra of the Swan’s recording of the Third Symphonies of Hans Gal and Robert Schumann as one of his top 10 best...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 21, 2012 | Study with Ken
Magicians of the orchestra: revealing the conductor’s art On Sunday 20 May 2012 the Two Rivers Festival (ww.tworiversfestival.co.uk) will present a special day-long workshop at The Bushell Hall, Birkenhead School working with an ensemble of players from the...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 20, 2012 | A view from the podium, Lists
C major. The white keys on the piano. The Symphony has been good to C major, and C major has been good to the symphony, even though there are no Brahms, Mahler or Bruckner symphonies officially in C. Brahms 1 ends in C major (as does Beethoven 5 and Bruckner’s...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 14, 2012 | A view from the podium
Small-scale Choral Symphony draws large crowds Surrey Mozart Players – Holy Trinity Church – 19th November 2011 When Beethoven conducted the première of his Choral Symphony in 1824 to rapturous applause the forces deployed were not much different from those used in...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 14, 2012 | Repertoire Reports
Next up in the 2011 Repertoire Reports is Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, Sasha Mäkilä. I first became aware of Maestro Mäkilä when a couple of comments on VFTP led me to his excellent blog- to the best of my knowledge, Sasha was the second conductor...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 13, 2012 | Performing Life
I feel a little sheepish about writing a blog post of my personal performing highlights from 2011. It could all-too-easily read like the notorious episode of Desert Island Discs when a famous diva picked all her own recordings. But that’s not what this list is about-...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 12, 2012 | Repertoire Reports
Conductor Semyon Bychkov has been a stalwart of our annual Repertoire Reports for many years. This year’s Report was culled from his very-user-friendly website by Monty in Phoenix. This year’s Bychkov Report is remarkably consistent with past years- as always, he...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 10, 2012 | Repertoire Reports
Repertoire Report season continues here at VFTP, with the first of the really big names. Kristjan in Los Angeles has been kind enough to collate this years’ Report from the listing of programs on Paavo’s website. You can see Paavo’s Reports from past years here...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 7, 2012 | Repertoire Reports
Now in his sixth season as Music Director of the Seven Hills Sinfonietta in Cincinnati, OH, Maestro Michael Wheatley has established a reputation as a builder of orchestras. During his tenure with this ensemble the orchestra has nearly doubled in size, relocated to an...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 6, 2012 | Repertoire Reports
Conductor Michael Seal has established a reputation as one of the UK’s most versatile conductors, his career going from strength to strength, conducting orchestras in the UK and internationally. In March 2011, he was appointed Associate Conductor of the City of...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 5, 2012 | A view from the podium, Repertoire Reports
Up next- our first ensemble Repertoire Report from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Youth Orchestra. You can compare it with their 2010 report here. CBSO Youth Orchestra incorporating the Midland Youth Orchestra 2004 saw the launch of a new youth orchestra...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 4, 2012 | Repertoire Reports
Happy New Year, VFTP Friends and Fans The old year is out and the new one has arrived, which means it is Repertoire Report season at VFTP. Our crack research team has spent literally minutes upon minutes combing through my programs for the year now past, assembling...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 19, 2011 | News and Reviews
Chicago’s flagship station for classical music, WFMT has selected the Orchestra of the Swan’s recording of the Third Symphonies of Hans Gal and Robert Schumann in a column from new releases editor, Lisa Flynn. Read the whole thing here. THE BEST CLASSICAL...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 2, 2011 | A view from the podium, Bobby and Hans, Explore the Score, Nuts and bolts
(First time using “Explore the score?” Just click on the hyperlinks within the text to hear the musical excerpts.) “Up to the present, however, Brahms has maintained his place as the “last classical composer,” for no one has yet come to replace him.” Hans Gál-...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 2, 2011 | A view from the podium
There’s a lovely mention of Orchestra of the Swan’s recording of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in the current issue of BBC Music Magazine (in the Music to my Ears column, where distinguished musicians share their current listening items with...
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