by Kenneth Woods | Feb 17, 2016 | A view from the podium, Not quite the news
Sales of concert tickets and recordings by classical orchestras, opera companies and chamber ensembles skyrocketed this week following the arrest of a cellist who was found to be carrying 113 pounds of marijuana in his car. “Dude,” said new classical fan Brian...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 30, 2015 | A view from the podium
2015 was quite a year for me- a year of very, very hard work, a year of ups and downs with some incredible highlights and some moments of rather intense frustration. I started the year talking- giving a long chat on the Gál symphonies at a gala launch event...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 19, 2015 | A view from the podium
The public debate has begun in earnest over the future of a new concert hall in London for the LSO and Simon Rattle. I have pretty high hopes for the hall itself, but I don’t expect too much from the debate surrounding it. Where big money meets the arts and...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 18, 2015 | A view from the podium, Not quite the news, Satire
The Commons Cultural Welfare Select Committee has issued a report calling for a new levy being described by both advocates and critics as a “bullshit tax.” “Government has long recognized the need for special taxation on items whose use brings certain inevitable costs...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 11, 2015 | A view from the podium
The current issue (January-March 2016) of Musical Opinion Magazineleads off its concert coverage with Christopher Morley’s rave review of the ESO’s October 10 premiere of Donald Fraser’s orchestration of the Elgar Piano Quintet. The ESO’s recording of this “worthy...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 10, 2015 | A view from the podium
I was saddened this week to learn of the sudden retirement of conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the age of 86. (For more detail see The Strad and the New York Times news items, and this tribute from the Berlin Philharmonic) Harnoncourt has long been a bit of a Marmite...
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