by Kenneth Woods | Feb 19, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective, Nuts and bolts
The Scherzo is a damnable movement. It will have a long history of suffering! Conductors will take it too fast for fifty years, and audiences—Oh heavens—what sort of faces will they pull at this chaos…..” (Gustav Mahler, speaking of his 5th Symphony...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 12, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective, Nuts and bolts
The Bridgewater Hall- Mahler in Manchester Shortly after I posted my most recent Mahler essay, I had a comment from Mahlerian and sometime Vftp contributor, Mitch Friedfeld, who suggested I might have overlooked something- There’s another instance of a Mahler-Brahms...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 9, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective, Nuts and bolts
On its most basic level, what most musicians, musicologists and listeners call “interpretation” is, when done right, basically a 3 step process. 1- Observation. What is there in the score? 2- Examination. Why is it there? 3- Application. What...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 28, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective, Nuts and bolts
It’s probably no coincidence that the two most popular composers of the 20th Century, Shostakovich and Mahler, are also the two whose autobiographies are most intimately associated with their work. However, although their musical work may have been...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 25, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective, Nuts and bolts
The Bridgewater Hall- Mahler in Manchester My wife and I call Mahler 2 “the Mahler symphony of “this is the best moment in the piece” moments.” From the bracing opening to the shattering climax of the first movement, from the infinitely elegant pizzicato return...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 14, 2010 | A view from the podium, Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective, Nuts and bolts
The Bridgewater Hall- Mahler in Manchester Mahler in Manchester begins this weekend, as Gianandrea Noseda leads the BBC Philharmonic in Mahler’s 1st Symphony. The performance takes place at 7:30 PM on the 16th of January, 2010 in The Bridgewater Hall I promised, or at...
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