by Kenneth Woods | Jan 12, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective, Nuts and bolts
“Is Mahler’s music more difficult to conduct than that of other composers?” When I was asked this question just the other day it was by no means for the first time. It is not hard to understand why a listener might suspect that Mahler’s music is harder to conduct than...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 11, 2010 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective
We’re very excited to announce that A View from the Podium is going to be the official blog of The Bridgewater Hall’s “Mahler in Manchester” festival. You can visit our welcome page here. Mahler content is nothing new at Vftp, and you can continue to access all of it...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 9, 2010 | A view from the podium, Mahler
If one happens to be thumbing through the February issue of Gramophone, you might notice a nice mention of my Orchestra of the Swan appointment on page 14- we even got a picture. You can find me right next to the piece on James Galway. I only mention this because I’ve...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 9, 2010 | A view from the podium
* When conductors (particularly guest conductors) ask for specific things to be put into the parts, they should have the good manners to do so well in advance of the first rehearsal. And that doesn’t mean two weeks, it means THREE MONTHS OR MORE. In most major...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 6, 2010 | Mahler, Nuts and bolts
I had an email from a very gifted composer friend the other day which seemed fodder for a blog post…… Hey Ken, I recently turned on some Korean and Japanese composers to western dramatic music, and directed them specifically to Mahler. Interestingly, I told them to...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 6, 2010 | Repertoire Reports
Well- it turns out that these days, even the king has a website. My associate and I just had a look around www.bernardhaitink.com and were able to assemble a 2009 repertoire report for the planet’s greatest living conductor. It’s very much the list you would...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 3, 2010 | Repertoire Reports
My friend and colleague Christopher Zimmerman, newly appointed music director of the Fairfax Symphony and my colleague for the last five years on the faculty of the Rose City Conductor’s Workshop has weighed in with some interesting repertoire lists and thoughts about...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 28, 2009 | A view from the podium, Nuts and bolts
I remember my first encounter with Elgar 1 very vividly. I’d only known Enigma, Falstaff and the Cello Concerto for many years when I learned he’d written two symphonies. Excited and curious, I went hunting recordings and found only two- one by Haitink (which I still...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 28, 2009 | Repertoire Reports
So far, all of our 2009 Repertoire Reports have been on either conductors or orchestras, and I thought it would be very interesting to look at a report for a leading non-conductor. Pianist Stephen Hough is certainly by every measure one of the top artists in the world...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 28, 2009 | Repertoire Reports
I wanted to attempt to have a look at my 2009 Repertoire Report and see if I could identify any interesting trends or quirks. 2009 was an anniversary year for several important composers, including Haydn, Handel, Purcell and Bloch. Haydn got the most attention from me...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 22, 2009 | Repertoire Reports
This is what I’m talking about- Foster Beyers, a fairly regular commenter at Vftp and fine conductor, has submitted his list. It sounds like the conducting program at Minnesota must be a sweet setup for them to do so much opera. Thanks for contribuing, Foster....
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 22, 2009 | Repertoire Reports
Judy, a young conductor in Baltimore, has looked up to Marin Alsop for many years “more because I love her programming and her passion for connection with audiences than because she’s also a woman,” so she’s assembled a repertoire report for Marin to see just how that...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 21, 2009 | Repertoire Reports
Shelly from St Louis has taken the initiative to organize Leonard Slatkin’s repertoire for 2009 based on the listing of programs on his website. Shelly writes that Leonard has been her favorite conductor ever since he did a memorable clinic with her youth orchestra...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 21, 2009 | Repertoire Reports
The marvelous Patricia Mitchell, oboist and blogger, has taken the bait and gathered the repertoire from her home orchestra. What follows is the 2009 repertoire for Symphony Silicon Valley from their main series, excluding pops and educational programs. This is a very...
by Kenneth Woods | Dec 21, 2009 | Repertoire Reports
We thought it would be interesting to combine the repertoire reports from 2007-9 to see if there are any interesting trends which emerge. Each year tends to have its own quirks, but over 3, one should be able to get a pretty balanced sense of what my interests are....
Recent Comments