“JOHN WILLIAMS’ FILM NIGHT”
June 6, 7, 10 & 11, 2014, Boston, MA
The Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by JOHN WILLIAMS
CONCERT PROGRAM (June 6 & 7)
- Sound the Bells!
- Theme from Jurassic Park
- Cadillac of the Skies from Empire of the Sun
- Flight to Neverland from Hook
- Suite from Memoirs of a Geisha
(“Sayuris Theme”, “Brush on Silk”) - Call of the Champions
- Hymn to the Fallen from Saving Private Ryan
- Dry Your Tears Afrika from Amistad
INTERMISSION - That’s Entertainment (Schwartz/Dietz, arr. Williams)
- Tango from Scent of a Woman (Gardel, arr. Williams)
- Excerpts from An American in Paris (Gershwin)
- The Varsity Drag from Good News (Henderson, arr. Williams)
- The Adventures of Mutt from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Harry’s Wondrous World from Harry Potter
- With Malice Toward None from Lincoln
- Main Theme from Star Wars
ENCORES
- Yoda’s Theme from The Empire Strikes Back
- The Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back
- The Flying Theme from E.T The Extra-Terrestrial
LISTEN TO THE FULL CONCERT:
VIDEOS
- Main Theme from Star Wars (featuring Williams’ introduction) – (audience video recording)
EXTERNAL REVIEWS
- Boston Globe – When Keith Lockhart conducts the Boston Pops, his approach is that of a genial host. Laureate conductor John Williams, on the other hand, is more soft-spoken when he deigns to speak at all. At Friday’s sold-out Film Night concert at Symphony Hall, he largely let the program do the talking for him. Then again, such humility may have been a smokescreen. Conducting his own compositions almost exclusively (with a brief sideline of movie dance music), Williams may not have talked much, but he said plenty. – Full review
JWFAN REVIEWS
Report by Thor Joachim Haga (full report with pictures in our forum)
Into the hall we went, and I was placed right in front of the stage. Great closeness (only 3-4 meters from the podium), but too much to the side so I had to turn my head 90 degrees to see Williams (partly obscured by a cellist). Next time, I want the same closeness, but more in the middle. But it was fantastic to see the man up-close – all his gestures, facial expressions etc. Something I didn’t experience at the Hollywood Bowl two years ago, where I was seated, like, 50 kilometers away. The fact that there were two other strangers sitting at my table didn’t mean anything. They were nice to talk to, and we mostly focused on the music anyway.
The highlight for me was hearing Williams perform the JURASSIC PARK theme – my all-time favourite score. The combination of that, and the closeness to the man himself almost made me tear up a bit. All the other selections were brilliant and have been covered by others already. “Cadillac of the Skies” from EMPIRE OF THE SUN reminded me again how gorgeous that score is, especially when it taps into elements of the ‘religious sound’. I couldn’t hear the choir very well from my position, but it was a nice colouring to the orchestral palette. That goes for the other choral pieces too.
I wasn’t particularly interested in the segments from the Broadway/musical/dance world which opened the second half, so I focused 90% on Williams instead of the big screen. But fun to see his own arrangement of “The Varsity Drag” in concert (which he did in the 50s). I never expected that.
Three encores – “Yoda’s Theme”, “The Imperial March” and the “Flying Theme” from E.T. That’s a great bonus.
After the concert, we waited for like an hour outside the stage door again, with an incredibly large crowd. My hope of getting a personal photograph with the man quickly faded, especially after the stage manager came out to say that he was feeling a bit under the weather and would just be rushed to the car. And rushed he was – he barely had the time to wave to the crowd, as the security guards practically pushed him into the car and off he went.
