by Kenneth Woods | Oct 4, 2007 | A view from the podium
We had a very interesting moment tonight in rehearsal with the Surrey Mozart Players- I’m curious if anyone besides me even noticed it…. We were rehearsing the Saint-Saens 2nd Cello Concerto for the first time with our soloist, Parry Karp. Parry is a rare cellist who...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 2, 2007 | A view from the podium, Explore the Score
What a frustration it must be for those composers who live to see their music go out of fashion. Mahler famously said just before his death that “my time will come,” but for his contemporary Strauss, it was not easy being something of an anachronism in his later...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 1, 2007 | A view from the podium
UPCOMING CONCERT- Saturday, October 6, 2007 Surrey Mozart Players Mozart- Overture to The Impressario Faure- Pelleas and Melisande Suite Saint-Saens- Cello Concerto No. 2 in D minor Richard Strauss- Romanze for Cello and Orchestra Parry Karp, cello Poulenc-...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 29, 2007 | A view from the podium, Music and Media
By the official tally, this is my 400th post on Vftp, a milestone I can only gawk at in astonishment. Have I really wasted so much time in the last 18 months?!?!?!? The blog idea was originally suggested to me by the harpist of the OES (and founder of Harp Specturm),...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 29, 2007 | A view from the podium
Gabriel Faure (1845-1924) Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande Possibly no single literary work after Romeo and Juliet had such a prodigious impact on the world of music as Maeterlink’s symbolist drama, Pelléas and Mélisande. Within a few years of its publication in 1892...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 26, 2007 | A view from the podium, Explore the Score
Next week, the Surrey Mozart Players kick off their season (more on that soon). As the Strauss Romanze is something of an oddity, the orchestra asked if I would write some notes for the program. Richard Strauss- (1864-1949) Romanze for Cello and Orchestra in F major,...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 25, 2007 | A view from the podium
A big Happy Birthday to Sir Colin Davis, who is 80 years old today. He’s had a remarkable career, having managed to hold a major position in London almost without a break for forty-five years, going from Sadler’s Wells to the BBC to Covent Garden to the LSO. For...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 25, 2007 | A view from the podium
…deserve what you get As my musical life has taken me back and forth around the world, I’ve noticed that certain religious orders and sects place a special emphasis on the value of classical music, for which we can all be grateful. Given this, one quickly finds...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 23, 2007 | A view from the podium
It is with great sadness that I just learned of the death of Milton Stevens on July 30th, who had been the principal trombonist of the National Symphony for the last 29 years. He was 64 years old. I met Milt through the National Conducting Institute, during which he...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 22, 2007 | A view from the podium, Performing Life
The day had an unusually early start, and there were nearly six hours of driving before my rehearsal had even begun…. Of course, it would stand to reason that the gig with the longest commute would have the latest stop time, and that rehearsals would be on Fridays,...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 20, 2007 | A view from the podium, Nuts and bolts
It’s been a quiet, rainy afternoon at Vftp Intl Headquarters. I’ve mostly been perched at the piano going through the score of Schubert’s Fourth Symphony (in C minor, “Tragic”). It’s a piece I’ve been wanting to do for some years since I covered it in Cincinnati in...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 19, 2007 | A view from the podium, Music and Media
I’ve always enjoyed life in Wales since moving here a few years ago. Cardiff has a nice mixture of urban stuff in town with proximity to lots of natural beauty. However, my wife worries that one aspect of Welsh life poses as significant threat to my long-term health....
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 17, 2007 | A view from the podium
The other night in rehearsal we read through Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta for the first time. As it turns out, I have a conductor-colleague in the orchestra, and he came up to me afterwards to talk about the piece, which we’re both very fond of. He made the point that...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 16, 2007 | A view from the podium
I’ve been back in rehearsals for just over a week. Without taking any unusual care over diet…. I’ve lost a little under 9 pounds…...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 15, 2007 | A view from the podium
Biography Hailed by the Washington Post as an “up-and-coming conductor” and a “true star” of the podium, Kenneth Woods has built a reputation as a multifaceted musician whose credits range from the Mahler symphonies to collaborations with members of James Brown’s...
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