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John Williams & the Vienna Philharmonic: January 18/19 2020


Ricard

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I think I will wait for Thursday. Let's be optimistic.

And I have asked a friend of mine who plays at the Vienna Philharmonic for an backup if all seats are gone.

So, in addition, I'm sure that not all seats are released for sale at the moment, e.g. 2018 my friend told me that the VPO had reserved 200 tickets to buy for themselves and friends; I think it was per concert, not in total. Not sure of course, how many of them have been purchased and how many have been released in the end.

 

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OK, cool, thanks for the info on prices. I could only afford tickets in the three lower categories, MAYBE the €90 one if I really save up. I see that front seats are within that range, but I'm assuming they're all gone by the general sale the day after tomorrow, at least if judging by the mayhem in this thread with seemingly everyone a member of the Musikverein.

 

But regardless of all of that, here's my bizarre situation for this that I thought I'd share:

 

On the evening of Saturday, January 18th, I'm the on-stage host for a John Williams concert with the Lørenskog marching band. Lørenskog is a suburb to Oslo, so it sounds small, but their marching band is one of the best in all of Norway. They've often won the Norwegian championships. They're already preparing an exciting programme of familiar and unfamiliar JW pieces (some of which have never been performed live before), and I was hired several months back, with a decent and much-needed pay. There's no way I can cancel it. So I have this weird situation where a John Williams-related event is cancelling out the chance to see the actual John Williams live!

 

I've been looking into options of flying out after the concert, or early Sunday morning, but there are absolutely no flights that would correspond. The strange matinee times of the concerts are further hindering me. It's like a higher power really wants to prevent me from going. That being said, I'm curious if Marian ends up with some extra tickets, or if I'm at all able to get some tickets myself on Thursday. I'll definitely look into it, just in case.

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26 minutes ago, Thor said:

On the evening of Saturday, January 18th, I'm the on-stage host for a John Williams concert with the Lørenskog marching band. Lørenskog is a suburb to Oslo, so it sounds small, but their marching band is one of the best in all of Norway. They've often won the Norwegian championships. They're already preparing an exciting programme of familiar and unfamiliar JW pieces (some of which have never been performed live before), and I was hired several months back, with a decent and much-needed pay. There's no way I can cancel it. So I have this weird situation where a John Williams-related event is cancelling out the chance to see the actual John Williams live!

 

Sounds like a perfect pitch for a very funny comedy :) You should write and produce it.

 

I very much hope you'll be able to come either way, Thor. I think this is a bucket list item for almost every JW fans.

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Allright, I have bought tickets for the balcone loge - will I see anything since it has restricted view? Is there any photo from the balcone segment?

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31 minutes ago, TownerFan said:

Sounds like a perfect pitch for a very funny comedy :) You should write and produce it.

 

I very much hope you'll be able to come either way, Thor. I think this is a bucket list item for almost every JW fans.

 

A tragicomedy, perhaps! ;)

 

Seeing Williams with the Vienna Philharmonic, yeah -- most certainly a treat, although I'm not sure I would stretch it to 'bucket list' level. On that level was seeing him live AT ALL, and I'm thankful to have done that twice before (Hollywood Bowl, which was a disappointment, and Boston, which was a huge winner). I'm sure that if I hadn't, I'd definitely cancel my own gig no matter the repercusions. But as it is, I'm kinda OK with letting this go, even if it's rather painful.

 

I'll probably have to experience this event through your eyes and ears.

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I noticed when last year's Vienna shows were scheduled Itzhak Perlman was due to perform at the Musikverein on the same day as the first JW performance, though it stated on the site a few days before the JW announcement that Perlman had cancelled. It would have been amazing if they'd have had performed together for that show! 

 

Looks like he's in the US this time around :(

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Unbelievable, yay! \o/

 

/me is very, very excited.

 

... dark thoughts kick in ...

 

Uh oh! /o\

 

Here we go again.

 

Let's just hope the best,

see you all there!

 

ML

 

PS: ...and yes, we should do a group photograph for sure - will activate our daughter's smartphone for that - this concert is the perfect birthday present since she will be 18 two days prior!! Can you believe that? :-D

 

PPS: I think she already had contact with you, Stormlord, when we tried to meet last time regardless, am I right?

 

9 hours ago, TownerFan said:

It's been tough, but I secured my 4 tickets for Saturday! Row 21, couldn't get anything else closer to the stage in the same row, but I won't complain at all.

Same here - I bought 4 tickets for the three of us, whole family at about the same distance as you are seated, but on the lower balcony ("Loge"). Last time I wandered in here and bought tickets weeks (!) after they went on sale in 2018 we ended up in the 7th row, dead centre. *scratcheshead*

 

I am not complaining either, as it's a dream come true after the fact, PLUS:

 

As I've mentioned above, it's our daughter's birthday present and I have grabbed an additional seat (becoming available _again_ later on!) for her and me to sit there before or after the break, right next to the orchestra, "Loge"! You can see the Maestro conducting on the same level, directly from the right. (will have to check at the last moment if he surely will do so in both halves of the concert)

 

So for sound/family we have the "Loge" and for experiencing the Maestro very, very close the other seat. This will be fun.

 

See you there, TownerFan!

 

ML

 

PS: I need a White Russian now/later on! ;)

 

7 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

No, but I'm thinking of taking him to the Musikverein for a photo on the day of the concert.

Yesss, he has to end up on the group photograph! Haha.

 

See you there, Marian!

Martinland, Romy and Crudla

 

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28 minutes ago, Martinland said:

 

 

ML

 

PS: ...and yes, we should do a group photograph for sure - will activate our daughter's smartphone for that - it's her birthday present since she will be 18 two days prior!! Can you believe that? :-D

 

PPS: I think she already had contact with you, Stormlord, when we tried to meet last time regardless, am I right?

 

 

Yep! Told you this could happen :)

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3 hours ago, Thor said:

On the evening of Saturday, January 18th, I'm the on-stage host for a John Williams concert with the Lørenskog marching band. Lørenskog is a suburb to Oslo, so it sounds small, but their marching band is one of the best in all of Norway.

/o\

 

Sounds like a cool event and job/gig nonetheless. Luckily this would not have been your first exposure to the Maestro. *phew*

 

This is all ... so ... bizarre: In June our daughter and I attended a unique orchestral concert in Hull/Middle England to celebrate the ending of her Commodore home computer childhood with me (orchestral versions of famous chip tunes), that in turn lead to an amazing rock and dance event (held by the Commodore demo scene) in - hold on to your potatoes, Thor - Bergen/Norway, held on last Friday/Saturday - also on an 18th like this concert, where I literally danced off my shoes and socks for two nights' events in a row (and even participated w/ a live Theremin remix in the compo), and furthermore the main composer of aformentioned orchestral concert was present and on stage too in this club in Bergen.

 

I in turn brought sunshine with me from Austria since they had had 3 weeks of rain there before (third most rainiest city in the world!) - so I got incredibly lucky with the weather too. T'was fabulous, never been to Norway but enjoyed it immensely (nice country you have there, Thor, mountains _and_ ocean, friendly people; pricey though), which is an understatement still...

 

...and now we are attending this together with our daughter (in the holiest of holies as far as classical music is concerned), who wasn't even born when we first experienced the Maestro and the LSO in 1996! <3 <3 <3

 

I'm soo happy.

 

ML

 

1 hour ago, moz_1983 said:

I noticed when last year's Vienna shows were scheduled Itzhak Perlman was due to perform at the Musikverein on the same day as the first JW performance

I noticed this too - I even kept the newspaper clippings! 

 

/me is seriously considering to attempt another try at reserving seats for Saturday the day after tomorrow at 9am precisely. So if I end up w/ seven tickets I suppose it will not be a problem to get rid of at least three, right? *smirk*

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3 hours ago, Thor said:

That being said, I'm curious if Marian ends up with some extra tickets, or if I'm at all able to get some tickets myself on Thursday. I'll definitely look into it, just in case.

 

I'm afraid I've already used up my membership contingent by helping out other friends via phone who couldn't get through on the website. That said, tickets for at least Saturday seem to be going quickly, but I hope at least some seats and standing area tickets will be left by Thursday. It would be cool if you could make it. Get an impersonator to replace you at that gig of yours or something... do they know what you look like?

1 hour ago, Modest Expectations said:

It would be nice if all attending JWFan members, whether regulars or occasional posters, gathered for a group photo after the concert. :) 

 

Definitely!

 

I'm just going to silently ignore the beer speculation....

1 hour ago, Remco said:

It looks like Anne-Sophie Mutter will be the soloist in the first half...?

 

How so? It definitely looks like four pieces from her album are on the programme, but nothing indicates that she would be there to perform hem herself.

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25 minutes ago, Martinland said:

This is all ... so ... bizarre: I attended a unique orchestral concert in Hull/Middle England with our daughter to celebrate the ending of her Commodore home computer childhood with me (orchestral versions of famous chip tunes), that in turn lead to an amazing rock and dance event (held by the Commodore demo scene) in - hold on to your potatoes, Thor - Bergen/Norway, held on last Friday/Saturday - also an 18th like this concert, where I literally danced of my shoes and socks for two nights' events in a row (and even participated w/ a live Theremin remix in the compo) and the main composer of aformentioned orchestral concert was present and on stage too in this club in Bergen.

 

Sounds like a fun event. Was Christian Hülsbeck there?

 

Quote

...and now we are attending this together with our daughter (in the holiest of holies as far as classical music is concerned), who wasn't even born when we first experienced the Maestro and the LSO in 1996! <3 <3 <3

 

I'm glad for you and your daughter, Martin; that you're able to make this happen. Also happy for anyone going, especially those that haven't seen JW live before.

 

6 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Get an impersonator to replace you at that gig of yours or something... do they know what you look like?

 

Ha, ha. Well, I was hired by one of the band's clarinetists, who is a friend of mine (and also one of the staff members at Celluloid Tunes), so there's that personal connection. But I'm tempted to get a ticket "just in case" (would be easy to sell). I will at the very least check in with the venue's website on Thursday morning, and see what's left.

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3 hours ago, Jay said:

Dude, what?  Are you that far beyond this hobby these days?

 

I guess. There's been an overkill of content lately and Star Wars just bores me these days. I even have a hard time getting into the ST scores.

 

Anyway, I got two tickets for this. Hurray! We'll be up on the balcony above the orchestra, but it looks like we'll have a good view of Williams conducting, so yay!

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6 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Sounds like a fun event. Was Christian Hülsbeck there?

 

*Christopher. Though he's been going by "Chris" ever since I first read of him (in an older C64 magazine from 1986 where he first released Shades).

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3 hours ago, St0rMl0rD said:

I'd actually prefer the Olympic Fanfare.

 

I'd love to hear that performed by the Philharmoniker, even though I've at least heard it played by the LSO at least. But Sound the Bells is an inspired alternative - although if I had my pick, I would have gone for Summon the Heroes or the Liberty Fanfare.

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OK so I'll be arriving in Vienna on Friday evening and staying until Monday morning. Flights and hotel are both booked now so I won't be changing my mind. I have two sets of tickets and might be accompanied by a family member. If they decide not to go (and I should know by tomorrow), I will have a spare set of tickets for both concerts to sell.

 

I think this is a rather nice present for my 35th birthday (16th of Jan). :)

 

Karol

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40 minutes ago, Thor said:

Sounds like a fun event. Was Chris Hülsbeck there?

31 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I first read of him (in an older C64 magazine from 1986 where he first released Shades).

Oh yes, it was absolutely amazing as was "8-bit Symphony". No, he attended and jammed last year, when Back in Time Live happened in Bergen for the first time; together with Reyn Ouwehand. This year it has been Jeroen Tel, the band FastLoaders, Matt Gray (of Last Ninja 2 fame), and Rob Hubbard, plus original tunes and remixes galore. Yes, which I typed in, Marian, hehe.

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12 minutes ago, Ignasi Nogues said:

Hi all.

Thanks for all the information.

Can somebody who has membership can tell me what kind of prices are there on saturnday or/and sunday?

 

Thanks,

Ignasi


Saturday:
image.png

 

Sunday:
image.png

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1 minute ago, Ignasi Nogues said:

Thanks so much Biodome! 

And do you know how many tickets you can buy with one membership?

 

Thanks again!

 


I can't confirm it personally, but some people earlier in this thread said that the limit is 4 tickets for each performance.

Today I picked 3 tickets for each performance, and that went fine.

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4 minutes ago, Biodome said:

I can't confirm it personally, but some people earlier in this thread said that the limit is 4 tickets for each performance.

 

Yes. Member pre-sale is limited to 4 tickets per membership per concert. When the general sale starts on Thursday, you can buy as many as you like. (More or less; I imagine they might get suspicious if you try to buy 20 tickets or something)

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I still can buy some tickets on my account, so if anyone is interested - I can imagine of borrowing you my account, so you might be able to buy tix for yourself and after that I will take my account back. 

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I think I've decided. If a standing ticket (€8) is available on Thursday, I'll buy that just to have one in case something happens to my colliding gig and I suddenly get free. Then if Williams does come, it should be easy to sell. If he doesn't come, I probably won't be able to sell it, but then I'm just losing the cost a beer in Norway. So no biggie. It's a terrible thing to be standing up for more than two hours, in a crowded area where you have no guarantee of standing with a clear view, but it's better than nothing.

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16 minutes ago, Thor said:

to be standing up for more than two hours, in a crowded area where you have no guarantee of standing with a clear view, but it's better than nothing.

Guess what we did on June 20 to see Dudamel conduct the Philharmonic during "Sommernachtskonzert" at "Schloß Schönbrunn"? It even showered right before the concert and they nearly, only nearly opened the gate to let us take some empty seats since we already arrived at 5pm and were as close as you can get for free. So that's more than 5 hours of standing. Was totally worth it. :-D

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