by Kenneth Woods | Jun 17, 2010 | Nuts and bolts
No matter how well you know a piece, there is always the chance that one day, you will discover something that makes you re-think the entire work. Such a thing happened a few years back when I stumbled across this little bit of old radio with George Szell and the...
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 | 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 | Dec 1, 2009 | Mahler, Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
It’s been a quiet couple of days here at Vftp- these silences are sometimes the result of not having anything to say and being wise enough to recognize it, sometimes the result of having something I need to say and not knowing how to say it or having too much to say...
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