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John Williams in Concert, Sydney, 2014


zoltan_902

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I'm looking forward to a John Williams concert in here in Sydney, Australia, this Saturday (01/03/2014):

Robertson conducts John Williams Music from the Movies

http://www.sydneysymphony.com/production-pages/2014/concert-season/robertson-conducts-john-williams.aspx

The Sydney Symphony orchestra (SSO) will play an evening of JW pieces under their new Chief Conductor, David Robertson.

I'll eagerly write a review of the concert in the days to follow.

It's the third SSO all-JW concert I have attended so far. Cynically, they tend to be a quick cash-grab for the orchestra by appealing to kids and other pop-culture buffs who wouldn't otherwise attend a symphony concert. The conductor, David Robertson, is using the concert as a way to demonstrate his embrace of American 'pops' music. I call it that, despite my deep resentment of JW music (or film music in general) being referred to 'popular'. As many will point out, 'popular' has a very stubborn musical connotation of 'inferior', and despite how far and wide JW's music has reached, it can barely be called 'popular' (in the commercial sense, despite it's immense success), and absolutely not inferior (or unsophisticated) - quite the opposite, but of course I'm preaching to the converted here.

The last JW concert here in Sydney was back in 2011 (I'm noticing roughly a 3-year cycle). It was a mediocre performance from the orchestra, who sounded almost like they were sight-reading. Broad appeal was generated by blending in the presence of prominent Aussie host/comedian, Shaun Micallef. Most of the night I wished he'd just shut-up and let the orchestra play. With Robertson (an American himself, hence the concert) hosting this time, I hope I can look forward to the orchestra playing with 'dignity'. Encouragingly, there will be voices involved, which gives me hope of Hymn to the Fallen being played (possibly my favourie JW piece). They will definitly be playing from 'Empire of the Sun' according to the press release.

Of course, in the end of the day, I'm extremely grateful for the orchestra recognising the appeal and importance of JW music (and film music in general), and I look forward to attending their concerts at any rate - no matter how much intellectual snobbery I may display in this writing!

The only step up at the moment is hoping for JW himself to come to Oz, but he seems very content with sticking to his homeland at the moment. Looks like I'll just have to try make it to Boston in June.

Review to follow!

UPDATE:

This concert was recorded for later broadcast, and will be aired on ABC Classic FM on Sunday, 16/03/2014 at 2pm Australian EDST. 92.9FM in Sydney. The rest of the world can stream it through the ABC Classic website http://www.abc.net.au/classic.

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Nice review, Zoltan! Sydney Opera House is one of my favourite buildings anywhere in the world and although I have been inside it once, alas I did not get the chance to see a concert there. It would be a dream to see a John Williams concert in that building.

It was interesting to see you mention Andrew Haveron as the violin soloist in Schindler's List. I have seen him many times leading the BBC Symphony, Philharmonia and John Wilson Orchestras here in London and he is undoubtedly one of the best orchestral musicians we have (or perhaps I should say had!). Here he is leading the JWO in the Barn Dance from the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJV4SqQdFlA

  • Schindler's List - Jewish Town - Another highlight. Concert-master/soloist Andrew Haveron did an amazing job. Again, I could barely hear him(!), even though he was mic'd. Not-so coincidentally, I'd watched a bit of Schindler's List the previous night, adding to the poignancy.
  • Schindler's List - Main Theme - Just as good as the previous. Another film-music concert staple.
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Thanks for the kind comments Omen II!

Whereabouts in the world do you live?

I've lived in Sydney all my life, and the Sydney Opera House never fails to make me feel proud of being a SydneySider. The physical design and location of the building is something out a dream, especially if you have the fortune of enjoying the Manly-to-Circular Quay ferry ride, which gives you, in my humble opinion, the absolutely most spectacular visual feast this Earth has to offer. Indeed most tourists feel honoured to attend a concert at the Opera House, but as someone who'se enjoyed a lifetime of attendance at the venue, I sadly cannot speak highly of the acoustic environment. Quite frankly, the acoustics inside the concert hall are abysmal, and this is in fact an unintended consequence of a creative/political/financial dispute at the time of the building's construction between the architect, Jorn Utzon, and the Government of the time.

Thanks for the link to the video. I have seen it before, though I wouldn't have recognised the violinist, as, it happens that during the concert, I got seats to the immediate stage-right of the orchestra (my favourite seats), and therefore saw Mr Haveron performing from behind. Anecdotally, he happens to have somewhat of a resemblance to Australian actor Kevin Harrington.

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Thanks for the kind comments Omen II!

Whereabouts in the world do you live?

I live in London, but visited Sydney a few years ago when I did indeed take the ferry around the harbour and out to Manly. I still remember my excitement when catching my first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House from the plane from Auckland as it circled over the harbour before coming in to land at Sydney. Funnily enough I have just returned a few days ago from another trip to New Zealand so was 'only' a 3-hour flight away from Sydney when this concert was on.

I remember reading about the spiralling costs and controversy when the Opera House was built, but there is no doubt that it is now one of the great architectural wonders of the modern world.

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Thanks for the kind comments Omen II!

Whereabouts in the world do you live?

I've lived in Sydney all my life, and the Sydney Opera House never fails to make me feel proud of being a SydneySider. The physical design and location of the building is something out a dream, especially if you have the fortune of enjoying the Manly-to-Circular Quay ferry ride, which gives you, in my humble opinion, the absolutely most spectacular visual feast this Earth has to offer. Indeed most tourists feel honoured to attend a concert at the Opera House, but as someone who'se enjoyed a lifetime of attendance at the venue, I sadly cannot speak highly of the acoustic environment. Quite frankly, the acoustics inside the concert hall are abysmal, and this is in fact an unintended consequence of a creative/political/financial dispute at the time of the building's construction between the architect, Jorn Utzon, and the Government of the time.

Thanks for the link to the video. I have seen it before, though I wouldn't have recognised the violinist, as, it happens that during the concert, I got seats to the immediate stage-right of the orchestra (my favourite seats), and therefore saw Mr Haveron performing from behind. Anecdotally, he happens to have somewhat of a resemblance to Australian actor Kevin Harrington.

Didn't Germaine Greer once say that the SOH looked like "copulating scallops"? :lol:

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