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 17, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective
Hi readers- Peter Davison and I have continued to chat about the meaning of the Rott references in Mahler 3, which were further spurred along my the question of sin raised in my Mahler 4 post. He’s made some more very interesting discoveries, especially about the...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 17, 2010 | A view from the podium
(The ghosts of Leningrad, now St Petersberg, as captured by the great Alexey Titarenko) For all that readers are seeing a lot about Gustav Mahler on these pages, the work on my desk right now is Dmitri Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony, which I am conducting next week. I...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 16, 2010 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective
Gustav Mahler is the composer of contradictions and paradoxes. He is the composer of ambiguities, contrasts, complexities and cognitive dissonance. Nothing could make this truth more evident than the move from the 3rd Symphony to the 4th. * The reasons...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 14, 2010 | A view from the podium, Music and Media
There is a great article in today New York Times on guitar demigod, Jeff Beck. (Cool- Jeff Beck) “You look for the guys who can kick you” as a musician, “and Jeff can be filthy, stinky that way,” Mr. Walden said in an interview here. “He’s not just melody, or a guy...
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 | News and Reviews
The latest on Orchestra of the Swan from Classical Music...
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 29, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective
Tomorrow I am conducting a Viennafest concert with the Surrey Mozart Players. It’s been several years since I did a proper Viennafest show- the last time was in 2005. I programmed that event partly as a warm up for our first Mahler symphony (the 2nd) which we did at...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 28, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective
The Bridgewater Hall- Mahler in Manchester The Hallé perform Mahler’s 2nd Symhony,’Resurrection ,’ this Thursday, the 28th of January at 7:30 PM in the Bridgewater hall, under the direction of Marcus Stenz. As you are getting ready to hear this week’s...
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 17, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective, Music and Media
The Bridgewater Hall- Mahler in Manchester Our first “conductor conversation” for Mahler in Manchester took place on Friday at Studio 7 in Manchester. I met Gianandrea after his final rehearsal of Kurt Schwertsik’s Nachtmusiken- the orchestra was on...
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...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 13, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective
Even today, the First probably remains Mahler’s most popular piece- a generation ago, it was probably his only popular piece. How times have changed. It was the first Mahler work I encountered as a young cellist, and it made quite an impression on me. A...
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