Finally getting it

by | Nov 23, 2009 | A view from the podium

We had our first rehearsal last night of Mozart 40 with the SMP. Wow. Is it his best symphony? His best piece? Is this the greatest symphony ever written? Is it the greatest piece of music ever written? Whatever it is, it makes you feel like it must be all those...

Terrorists

by | Nov 20, 2009 | A view from the podium

“The piccolo player seemed to be having a rough night. I might even go so far as to call her a terrorist.” With this remark from a colleague in one of my orchestras to a recording of one of our recent performances, a new term entered my musical lexicon. I’d never...

Teach them to finger themselves

by | Nov 19, 2009 | A view from the podium, cello

I’ve been delighted to see how many responses I’ve had to my last post on fingerings and bowings. By a complete coincidence, I found this morning I have another comrade in arms, Alban Gerhardt, who writes – I don’t know how it sounded out there in the hall...

Ischia Festival 2010- dates announced

by | Nov 15, 2009 | A view from the podium

Chamber music played with passion, coached professionally, in a truly stunning Mediterranean setting May 8-15, 2010. The Location The fabled southern Italian isle of Ischia – dreaming with Capri in the timeless blue waters of the Bay of Naples, is home to the...

What anxiety dreams tell us?

by | Nov 10, 2009 | A view from the podium

While in that fertile last hour of morning sleep before the alarm went off th other, I had strange and troubling dream. I’ve been trying to allow a bit of time lately to go back through pieces I’ve conducted this year using my own parts and make some small revisions,...