by Kenneth Woods | Sep 28, 2011 | Nuts and bolts
I’m in the midst of doing the bowings for a performance I’m conducting of Beethoven 9 in November. It’s been just over ten years since I last conducted the work- during that time I’ve conducted all of his other symphonies several times, and it feels long overdue for...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 20, 2011 | A view from the podium
The home video revolution, in particular the advent of the DVD and YouTube, have fundamentally changed our understanding of the art of conducting, in ways both good and bad (more on the bad part in another post). Things really began to change for the good when the two...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 19, 2011 | Music and Media, Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
Reformist musicologists with a politically-correct worldview might find themselves raising an eyebrow at this week’s Surrey Mozart Players concert, where, with blatant disregard for all the latest scholarship, the orchestra and I will be playing Johannes Brahms’...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 17, 2011 | Bobby and Hans, News and Reviews
A new review of Bobby and Hans vol. 1 at theartsdesk.com. Critic Graham Rickson chooses Schumann and Gal’s 3rd Symphonies with Orchestra of the Swan as one of the Arts Desk CD’s of the Week. Read the whole thing here. Get your copy direct from Avie...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 8, 2011 | A view from the podium
The excerpt above is the beginning of the 3rd movement of Shostkovich’s 10th Symphony, a work I conducted last week with the Kent County Youth Orchestra. Shostakovich 10 is a serious piece, and a seriously difficult piece. When news gets out that I’m...
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 | Sep 6, 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 about five years ago. 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...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 25, 2011 | A view from the podium
Peter Davison, artistic consultant of the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and artistic director of the Two Rivers Music Festival takes a clear-eyed look at how the music business finds and overlooks talent, and the disconnect that can happen between ability and...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 18, 2011 | A view from the podium
I think it is as close to a truism of writing about music as you will get: The better you know a piece, the more you understand it. The more you understand it, the more you value it. The more you value it, the better you write about it. In converse is also true- bad...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 16, 2011 | A view from the podium
A very nice new review of Bobby and Hans vol. 1 from Jay Harvey of the Indianapolis Star. Read the whole thing at the Indy Star website here. Get your copy direct from Avie Order Here from Presto Classical Order Here from Amazon.com Revelatory Schumann...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 12, 2011 | A view from the podium
Part III- Strauss’s personality and politics are as misunderstood as they are talked about. (Part I- “He was no Mahler, he was no Wagner” is here” Part III Strauss- Innovation and Absolute Music is here) Richard Strauss’s music is an intergral and...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 12, 2011 | A view from the podium
Part II- Strauss and Modernity, Strauss and Program Music (Part I- “He was no Mahler, he was no Wagner” is here”) Richard Strauss’s music is an intergral and popular part of the modern concert repertoire, and yet, he remains one of our most...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 11, 2011 | A view from the podium
Part I- He was no Mahler, he was no Wagner. Richard Strauss’s music is an intergral and popular part of the modern concert repertoire, and yet, he remains one of our most misunderstood and underrated composers. We all know the case against Richard Strauss: he was no...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 7, 2011 | A view from the podium, Lists
I’ve been thinking for a long time about writing a series on the most underrated composers in music history. Neglected and underrated music is a recurring, if not always an explicit theme here, to be sure, in many posts. So far, I’ve shied away from producing anything...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 4, 2011 | A view from the podium, Music and Media, News and Reviews
I was a little surprised, amused,and very slightly alarmed to see something from my Twitter feed reprinted in the current BBC Music Magazine (September issue- buy your copy today). I do always try to remember that, unlikely as it seems, people do read these things....
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