by Kenneth Woods | Sep 29, 2009 | A view from the podium
For some time, I’ve been meaning to offer up a list of pieces that pose special dangers to conductors and librarians. These are works that exist in more than one version or edition, where an incompatible set of parts can mean more than just a frustrating rehearsal...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 26, 2009 | A view from the podium, Haydn, Nuts and bolts
It was a fine evening of music with the SMP- Schumann and Haydn make for a very good pair anytime they appear on the same program together. Both criminally under-rated, both great inventors and innovators, both with supreme wit… On top of this, they both seem masters...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 10, 2009 | A view from the podium, Mahler, Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
I have to say that, exhausted as I was coming to rehearsal from Heathrow after my flight back from Boston, I could hardly hide my glee as the SMP and I read the first movement of Schumann 4 on Monday night. It went so well, I almost complimented them, but that’s bad...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 20, 2008 | A view from the podium, Explore the Score, Favorite posts, Nuts and bolts
It’s a bit of a cliché to say that an artist bared his or her soul in a work of art. One of the few pieces I can think of for which that expression is truly apt is the Schumann Violin Concerto, which we are doing next week with the English Symphony Orchestra and...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 27, 2008 | A view from the podium
The Complete Robert Schumann Symphonies with the Orchestra of the Swan on Avie Records I voiced concerns here on Wednesday about cycles in general, and mentioned that it felt like the first manifestations of cycle-phobia were appearing in this rehearsal sequence. I...
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