by Kenneth Woods | Apr 4, 2011 | A view from the podium
Welcome back to our survey of the Real Top 20 Conductors. We are down to our final five spots, and making the final decisions about who is in and who is out is getting ever more fraught. No matter how you cut it, this is a silly exercise- what could be more impossible...
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 | Mar 26, 2011 | A view from the podium, Lists
Part three of our survey of the real 20 greatest conductors of all time is now ready. Part one is here, part two is here. We hope that you will appreciate the many careful minutes of preparation and consideration that went into this list, and the dozens of...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 25, 2011 | A view from the podium, Lists
Welcome back! We hope you are enjoying our survey of the real 20 greatest conductors of all time- you can read part one here. On to numbers 6-10. Who are your favorites? Do share your comments. Remember, all rankings are potentially arbitrary and or perverse. 6 ....
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 25, 2011 | A view from the podium, Lists
The current issue of BBC Music Magazine has a featured list of the “20 Greatest Conductors of All Time,” including one fantastic misprint in the press release version of the list now circulating- “Terenc” rather than “Ferenc” Fricsay 1. Carlos Kleiber (1930-2004)...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 21, 2011 | A view from the podium
Perfection It’s a powerful word. Can it apply to music? Should it? Even when it does, is it the point? Is perfect music inherently better music? I don’t think a performance can be perfect. Technically flawless- yes. Magical- yes. Perfect? No. All too often, the price...
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