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ACROSS THE STARS - Williams / Mutter collaboration album


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Getting ready for listening hour (i.e. after kids are in bed)...

 

Same packaging as Bespin, but what is this code on the DVD? At first I was confused it might be some kind of zone thing but I see NTSC along the disc edge.

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31 minutes ago, The Five Tones said:

Same packaging as Bespin, but what is this code on the DVD? At first I was confused it might be some kind of zone thing but I see NTSC along the disc edge.

 

It's the (voluntary, i.e. "freiwillig") German rating certificate. "0" obviously means no age restriction.

 

(Which unlike with US ratings doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't include Williams in the nude, since we Europeans aren't as bothered by nudity as the Americans. You can assume that it won't show him committing excessive acts of violence though)

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2 minutes ago, Amer said:

Thanks for the heads up. I picked up another title I had been wanting for quite some time. 

 

Now in the age of declining CD sales, it's important to support the independent stores, like Presto Music, Europadisc, and ArkivMusic, to avoid Amazon getting a complete monopoly.

 

What did you pick up?

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I apologize but I haven’t been following this as close as most.  Is there anything that was recorded that’s not included on the deluxe edition?

 

 

On 9/18/2019 at 1:44 PM, Jurassic Shark said:

You've never had to purchase more CD shelves due to a growing collection?

 

 

Speaking for myself, with all the reissues the that have been going on, or titles being expanded, I’m just removing and replacing lately. Haven’t bought new shelving in 10 years or so

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22 minutes ago, Mr. Manfrenjensenden said:

I apologize but I haven’t been following this as close as most.  Is there anything that was recorded that’s not included on the deluxe edition?

 

 

 

As far as we know, the Deluxe Edition does include all of the material that was recorded last April in LA. The only piece written, but not recorded due to the timing of the piece and Ms. Mutter being able to learn it, is the Devil's Dance from The Witches of Eastwick. This was premiered at Tanglewood in July, and it was also played at the Munich concert 2 weeks ago. (If you want to hear that, it is in the encore section of our latest John Williams Podcast 45 special on The Indycast - sorry for the shameless plug!)

 

 

23 hours ago, Jay said:

My copy arrived today

 

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My version from Amazon, which arrived yesterday, also has the Made in Germany sticker. Same location as the photo, and same UPC too.

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47 minutes ago, Thor said:

I'm not getting it, but it looks like a damn fine set. Very lavish and all.

 

I would call it "nice." The layout and look are very good - "lavish" is a good word. The red color works well in the larger format, and the cover is very nice bigger.

 

I have not watched the DVD yet, but I am happy to have it and plan to digitize it too.

 

The extended liner notes are odd. A lot of the material was in the standard CD (in english and German). That's fine and to be expected. Added was a list of films in chronological order of composition with short descriptions. However, Munich is not listed. Nor is A New Hope. So, 2 of the "bonus" tracks are not covered as films on the movie list. (However, they are referenced in the written notes.) 

 

The biggest and oddest omission to me is that Markings is not referenced at all. It's the piece that is actually newest in terms of composition (2017) from the rest (Rey's Theme being the next youngest from 2015). However, besides being on the track listing, the booklet does not cover it. Why not include the original notes from Tanglewood (or even that it was premiered at Tanglewood)? Strange. I could have easily handled one less glossy photo in exchange for memorializing that track. Of course, Markings is the odd track here, having not been composed for a film.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have the set for my collection, and I have the LP on order too. However, I think it could have been more special with a slipcase approach. La-La Land has had some stellar packaging in recent years, and if an indie film score label can design and print those, surely DG could too.

 

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Mr. Manfrenjensenden said:

I apologize but I haven’t been following this as close as most.  Is there anything that was recorded that’s not included on the deluxe edition

 

 

Besides THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK cue as mentioned above,  the photos captured at the recording sessions indicated the music sheets of 'Han Solo and The Princess' From THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. We don't know for sure if these were recorded or left out entirely from the sessions. 

 

 

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Just a guess, but since no further  mention was made of the piece in any of Anne-Sophie's tweets, the piece was dropped before recording. Perhaps Williams thought there were enough Star Wars pieces already, and since he'd recently worked on a new concert version. Anyway, for sure the arrangement exits. Anne-Sophie mentioned a possible world tour in a couple of years. Maybe Williams will add a couple of pieces and resurrect that one. Lots of maybes!

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4 hours ago, Amer said:

 

 

Besides THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK cue as mentioned above,  the photos captured at the recording sessions indicated the music sheets of 'Han Solo and The Princess' From THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. We don't know for sure if these were recorded or left out entirely from the sessions. 

 

We know for sure that Witches wasn't recorded.

 

8 hours ago, Thor said:

I'm not getting it, but it looks like a damn fine set. Very lavish and all.

 

I much prefer this over the Cinema Serenade albums, which had good selections, but rather boring arrangements and execution.

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10 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I much prefer this over the Cinema Serenade albums, which had good selections, but rather boring arrangements and execution.

 

I don't own those either, but I sampled them back in the day. I feel the other way around. First of all, I prefer Perlman over Mutter in general. Also, those albums contained many other things than just Williams. I'm not generally drawn to Williams compilations that just contain 90% -100% of his overplayed 'evergreens'.

 

I've played the Mutter album (which I own digitally; enough for me) twice so far. It's not something I'll return to very often, I think. But it's certainly something that would look nice on a shelf.

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On 9/27/2019 at 6:21 PM, Tom said:

This arrangement is very similar (borderline the same) as the version of the Memoirs cello suite. Have you heard the latter? 

 

I have. Many times. I’ve tried to use it as a sort of “gateway” to liking the score. But every time I put it on, I feel it’s a chore to listen too. I get bored.

 

But I think The Chairman’s Walz by Mutter is outstanding!

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Little shout-out to the slight rearrangement of the third phrase in the "playful" section of Yoda's Theme. Was re-listening and that just hit me for some reason, love how the strings sing that counterpoint, so graceful.

 

 

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15 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

Little shout-out to the slight rearrangement of the third phrase in the "playful" section of Yoda's Theme. Was re-listening and that just hit me for some reason, love how the strings sing that counterpoint, so graceful.

  

 

 

I LITERALLY JUST NOTICED THAT ABOUT THIRTY SECONDS AGO!  What an amazing coincidence. 

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Im trying to decide what physical edition to own .The big-ass-package-doesn't-fit-on-my-c.d.-shelf-deluxe-edition or the normal-size-incomplete-version

 

of course they want us to buy both and put the expanded disk inside the regular jewel case

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It's such a simple thing but I'm loving the Vader chord reference inserted between the first two statements of Across the Stars. A detail like that might've been redundant at the time of scoring when the Imperial March was already in AOTC (which on the other hand I didn't like) and the prior episode had a Vader quote/thematic permutation in Anakin's Theme, but it fits perfectly here.
 

 

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5 hours ago, King Mark said:

Im trying to decide what physical edition to own .The big-ass-package-doesn't-fit-on-my-c.d.-shelf-deluxe-edition or the normal-size-incomplete-version

 

of course they want us to buy both and put the expanded disk inside the regular jewel case

Or you could just put the expanded CD inside a regular jewel case without buying the regular edition. Just print snazzy covers for it (even if it is a bit early-2000's in feel).

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6 hours ago, King Mark said:

of course they want us to buy both and put the expanded disk inside the regular jewel case

 

I'm sure that's exactly what they were thinking...

 

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2 hours ago, Smeltington said:

This project is too monumental to put it in a regular CD shelf!

Well the Deluxe Edition CD is 82 minutes long!

 

But it is going on a regular CD shelf. Sideways.

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1 hour ago, Smeltington said:

I was wondering about that, actually, 82 minutes on one CD. Deutsche Grammophon's big middle finger to red book standards?

 

They've done that for many years already. They even have some titles that are closer to 90 minutes than to 80!

 

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Wow, am absolutely loving this new take on The Chairman's Waltz, with such a quicker tempo than all the previous incarnations. It's the first one that legitimately feels like a waltz—fast enough to dance to. I absolutely adore Memoirs (both the original score and the cello suite) but never quite connected to The Chairman's Waltz. I thought it was the weakest of the ideas in the score. But this has completely changed that.

 

And nice to see JW decide on a faster tempo for once, going against his ever-growing trend towards slower ones.

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As I said in the other thread, the only piece that I don't like as much is The Chairman's Waltz. It is played bit too fast and loses some of its nostalgic melancholic quality as a result. The other performance from the Geisha suite is better. But maybe it will grow on me. The rest of the album is terrific.

 

Poor Gil Shaham though... Williams doesn't even remember that he recorded Remembrances with him back in 1998... :(

 

Karol

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16 hours ago, crocodile said:

Poor Gil Shaham though... Williams doesn't even remember that he recorded Remembrances with him back in 1998... :(

 

Karol

Yeah I was thinking the exact same thing while watching the interview. :P 

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1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

He's a persona non grata now in the Williams camp.

Well Anne-Sophie revived or rather revivified (in Williams' own words) the piece in 2019 as it has been about 20 years since that recording with Shaham, Williams and Boston Symphony Orchestra, which incidentally was also for the Deutsche Grammophon label. Though others have re-recorded it in the years between. I really liked Mutter's interpretation. There is lovely sensitive fragility to it.

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Of course he has! 

 

Btw, in the recent Presto Music interview with Mutter about her JW collaboration, she said this about a possible new violin concerto written especially for her:

 

I’m always interested in enlarging my repertoire, and I have worked with so many living composers that when I came across John Williams in person I immediately thought ‘Wow, a violin concerto would be such a gift for the repertoire and for the next generation’. 

 

Am I the only one who finds this statement quite egocentric - she's totally dismissing his two existing concertos, which already are a gift for the repertoire and for the next generation!

 

Source: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/articles/2824--interview-anne-sophie-mutter-on-john-williams

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