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 | 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,...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 13, 2009 | A view from the podium
“I like/dislike the leaner textures of the new Urtext edition of the Beethoven Symphonies by Jonathan Del Mar, and loathe/prefer the more robust sound of the old Breitkopf edition…” This quote is typical of many reviews I’ve come across recently, both favorable and...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 12, 2009 | A view from the podium
“The New Bärenreiter Urtext Edition is audibly different and leads to a new way of hearing and understanding the Symphonies.” From the Barenreiter website For some time now, I’ve been meaning to write a little something on the myths and misunderstandings surrounding...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 6, 2009 | A view from the podium
It was not a perfect performance of Beethoven 7, but it left me smiling broadly for reasons it has taken me some time to articulate. I was pleased in spite of the odd audience reaction- several seconds of stunned silence, before a pleasantly long clap. This has...
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