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A LIFE IN MUSIC - NEW 2018 London Symphony Orchestra album of John Williams material


Miguel Andrade

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Listened to it a couple of times. What a waste of time and money. Wish they'd recorded some rarer JW scores. Not sure the world was crying out for another's re-recording of Star Wars

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That's a great idea! Many times over the past years, I have already been thinking about which symphonies JW could record because I would really love to hear his interpretations of these classical masterpieces:

- Beethoven 5 and 7

- Shostakovich 5

- Tchaikovsky 4

- Mahler 1 and/or 2

- Dvořák 9

... and many more, of course! :lol:

 

Concerning the A Life in Music release, I can't help wondering why the hell didn't they also use the choir for Jurassic Park? Probably those choral lines weren't a part of the usual concert arrangement they recorded? Can't think of any other plausible explanation, especially since the choir was already aboard for Saving Private Ryan.

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Well, I just listened to the album for the first time.

 

It really is just a quick runthrough of basically his biggest and already most played concert arrangements, sounding pretty much like they've always sounded before, and then it's over!

 

Really nothing special here, IMO.

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Listened to the album, I was happy to listen to the Harry Potter track, it will never be enough re-recorded. Fun to hear to Superman too... well that's a so short album, but it's a good one, I'll order it when returning back home.

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Why did this Cd take so much heat initially? Was it the god-awful cover?

 

Anyway, I can’t hear any fault in these recordings, other than as a seasoned JW fan I’d want a different selection.

 

Performance is fine, recording too, as is the selection of “hits.”

 

So in conclusion: this CD isn’t for the old guard. Had this been my introduction to JW in my teens, as I am sure many who pick this up will be, I’d have loved it. A new JW fan is born everyday.

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Not ordered yet, I want to buy it with the new Solo CD, but I have 20 $ to add to my cart to get free shipping on Amazon.

 

I'm so disconnected, I even don't know what to add to my order for the moment :-)

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On 6.5.2018 at 1:32 PM, Maglorfin said:

I can't help wondering why the hell didn't they also use the choir for Jurassic Park? Probably those choral lines weren't a part of the usual concert arrangement they recorded?

 

That's right on target. Nobody seems to have bothered to make this anything 'special', or going an extra mile. As it is, i cannot be arsed to even listen to such releases if they do not feature at least one or two novelties (say what you will about the Pragues, they usually take care of that).

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I'm forced to agree with Admiral Cartwright...er...Pub. This is a really lazy release. I was all for this before I saw the track listing. Now, I just walk right on past it, at my local supermarket, because that's exactly what it is: a supermarket impulse-buy, for supermarket CD-buying people.

Honestly, it's below JWfaners.

Not even the LSO, can save this.

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13 minutes ago, publicist said:

As it is, i cannot be arsed to even listen to such releases if they do not feature at least one or two novelties

The re-arrangement of the Theme of Schindler's List for Cello is a novelty and I'm so surprised that almost nobody here mentioned it yet. IMHO, it sounds so different and nice(r)!

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On 6/5/2018 at 1:32 PM, Maglorfin said:

Concerning the A Life in Music release, I can't help wondering why the hell didn't they also use the choir for Jurassic Park? Probably those choral lines weren't a part of the usual concert arrangement they recorded? Can't think of any other plausible explanation, especially since the choir was already aboard for Saving Private Ryan.

 

They recorded using Hal Leonard's official Signature Edition, which doesn't require choir. As far as I know, the choir is featured only in the film, but never in concert performance.

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34 minutes ago, lemoncurd said:

The re-arrangement of the Theme of Schindler's List for Cello is a novelty and I'm so surprised that almost nobody here mentioned it yet. IMHO, it sounds so different and nice(r)!

 

I hope the score for this will be published, to enable easier comparison of the different versions.

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36 minutes ago, lemoncurd said:

The re-arrangement of the Theme of Schindler's List for Cello is a novelty and I'm so surprised that almost nobody here mentioned it yet. IMHO, it sounds so different and nice(r)!

 

Slipped by, since i rarely listen to that particular score anyway.

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The cello version of the SL theme is quite nice. The whole album is a good listen, even if it is yet another JW greatest hits album. The only real negative about the content of the album is the awful cover art. Of course we all wish they recorded some less covered areas of JW's catalog but this is a mainstream album intended to please general listeners. 

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There's more than 20 minutes of space on the disc to fill up with interesting less-known material to intrigue and maybe challenge general listeners with after you pleased them with spoonfeeding them the exact same things that were pushed on them for 20 years.

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Well it's a good companion to Keith Lochkart's latest gem (I never recall the name... Pop-Corn... Music... Action?).

 

I would say to a new new new JWfan to start with these two albums without any hesitation.

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7 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

So who thinks there's a chance they'll do a follow-up album? I can't even begin to describe how badly I want more LSO re-recordings.

 

Can't you just enjoy this album... it was released 10 days ago!

 

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « where he is yoda »

 

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

Of course they will

 

Unless you want to share a precious information with us, you are talking through your hat.

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Huh?

 

You don't think it's obvious they will record another album after this one was a top 20 chart hit for them?

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15 minutes ago, Jay said:

Huh?

 

You don't think it's obvious they will record another album after this one was a top 20 chart hit for them?

 

Jay, it's not the first time you mix your whishes, that we may call obviousness or not... with reality.

 

Rigor... rigor... rigor.

 

A little hint, you are the moderator of JWfan, don't answer to people like if you run Sony... or Classical FM. You're not. ;)

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3 hours ago, Jay said:

You don't think it's obvious they will record another album after this one was a top 20 chart hit for them?

 

To quote Chancellor Gorkon: "I shall look forward to that".

Yes, folks, Morderna Kitchens presents JOHN WILLIAMS: A LIFE IN MUSIC-DEEP CUTS featuring an all-new 20min recording of the IMAGES SYMPHONIC SUITE, with previously unreleased moaning! :lol:

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10 hours ago, lemoncurd said:

The re-arrangement of the Theme of Schindler's List for Cello is a novelty and I'm so surprised that almost nobody here mentioned it yet. IMHO, it sounds so different and nice(r)!

I mentioned it as much as I could!

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11 hours ago, TownerFan said:

 

They recorded using Hal Leonard's official Signature Edition, which doesn't require choir. As far as I know, the choir is featured only in the film, but never in concert performance.

 

John Mauceri recorded the main theme, just like it's heard on the soundtrack CD, with choir, on one of his Hollywood Bowl Orchestra albums (I believe it was on Hollywood Nightmares).

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12 hours ago, Miguel Andrade said:

John Mauceri recorded the main theme, just like it's heard on the soundtrack CD, with choir, on one of his Hollywood Bowl Orchestra albums (I believe it was on Hollywood Nightmares).

 

Yes, you're right. That album was recorded in 1994 and it's likely Mauceri used a copy of the manuscript score from JW. Hal Leonard's Signature Series version was published only several years later and it doesn't feature choir (not even as optional), probably to make it more easily performable by orchestras around the world.

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Yeah. To my knowledge it's the only recording of the main theme outside of the soundtrack. And given how Mauceri and Williams are close, you're most likely right that he used the original manuscritp.

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On 14. 5. 2018 at 10:07 AM, TownerFan said:

They recorded using Hal Leonard's official Signature Edition, which doesn't require choir. As far as I know, the choir is featured only in the film, but never in concert performance.

 

Yeah, I suspected as much. Still, they could have somehow obtained choral parts from Williams or his agency. After all, this is the LSO, for crying out loud! I'm certain it could have been done in matter of hours. But it seems nobody really cared about it, seems like making it a little bit more worthwile was not an option and/or of little interest to those involved. Their bad.

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I never fake.

 

But wait for the Photoshop art in the booklet, you'll fall right on the ground! :wizard:

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Marketing team meeting:

 

"'Composer'? You think we put 'composer' on our shrink wrap sticker and that's gonna move units?! People're gonna look it and think it's about some cow-lookin' notebook or sum'in'! You're thinkin' small-time, baby, that's not gonna get us on the charts! Slap 'song-writer' on it...you'll see."

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I think the album is a near perfect compilation/‘Greatest Hits’ album of the music of John Williams. 

 

It misses The Imperial March and music from Close Encounters though.

 

Some here really miss the point of the album. It is -obviously- designed for people who just want 1 CD of Williams. Just the hits.

 

It is not made for JWFanners who wanted to see The Tennis Game from The Witches Of Eastwick recorded, because they already have 27 recordings of the Star Wars Main Theme.

 

When people want to own just 1 Beatles album they usually want the hits, not the obscure stuff. They want Yesterday, Let It Be, Help, etc. Not songs they’ve never heard of.

 

When it comes to John Williams, yes people want Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Harry Potter.

 

The album perfectly alligns with the interest in the upcoming concerts (again; surely not just JWFanners are going).

 

It’s good marketing and the sales confirm that.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Sandor said:

I think the album is a near perfect compilation/‘Greatest Hits’ album of the music of John Williams. 

 

It misses The Imperial March and music from Close Encounters though.

 

Some here really miss the point of the album. It is -obviously- designed for people who just want 1 CD of Williams. Just the hits.

 

It is not made for JWFanners who wanted to see The Tennis Game from The Witches Of Eastwick recorded, because they already have 27 recordings of the Star Wars Main Theme.

 

When people want to own just 1 Beatles album they usually want the hits, not the obscure stuff. They want Yesterday, Let It Be, Help, etc. Not songs they’ve never heard of.

 

When it comes to John Williams, yes people want Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Harry Potter.

 

The album perfectly alligns with the interest in the upcoming concerts (again; surely not just JWFanners are going).

 

It’s good marketing and the sales confirm that.

 

 

 

This!

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On 5/14/2018 at 3:21 PM, Miguel Andrade said:

 

John Mauceri recorded the main theme, just like it's heard on the soundtrack CD, with choir, on one of his Hollywood Bowl Orchestra albums (I believe it was on Hollywood Nightmares).

 it has the choir but sounds way different than the choir on the OST

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