Ricardo224

I enjoyed Escape from the City. Sounded good and it was a nice change of pace for that particular point in the concert with its propulsive rhythms. (right after Close Encounters) And if I might add.... I thought The Knight Bus sounded great on Friday! To my ears, the CSO pulled it off! I ended up enjoying Aunt Marge's Waltz and The Knight Bus much more than I anticipated. The biggest thrill, the piece that put a HUGE smile on my face, was The Olympic Spirit (on Friday). It was my first time hearing that great Olympic march live. And we had film to accompany it! Olympic athletes, in action, were projected on the big screen while JW and the CSO performed. It was a totally unexpected and wonderful encore! Ricardo

Saturday's program: Williams The Cowboys Overture Williams Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind Williams Two pieces from War of the Worlds: Escape from the City Epilogue A Tribute to Three Legendary Composers: Goldsmith Star Trek The Motion Picture Raksin, arr. Morley Laura Bernstein Theme from The Magnificent Seven Newman Conquest from Captain from Castile ---intermission--- arr. Williams Tribute to the Film Composer Williams march from '1941' Williams Out to Sea and Shark Cage Fugue from Jaws Williams Three Pieces from Harry Potter Hedwig's Theme Aunt Marge's Waltz Harry's Wondrous World Williams Three Pieces from Star Wars Imperial March Anakin's Theme Throne Room & End Title Encores: Luke and Leia The Mission (NBC news) Raider's March

Sounds good Matt! I'll look for you right after the first half. Ricardo

Well, I don't post very often but I live in Chicago and will be attending Friday and Saturday. I'm actually a subscriber to the CSO's Friday Night At The Movies series so I'll be sitting in my regular subscription seat on Friday which just happens to be 4th row, dead center. This will be my 6th and 7th time seeing JW conduct the Chicago Symphony (8th, 9th time overall). Should be FUN! Ricardo

From the description that they gave on the BSO website, I anticipated that a good portion of the concert would be dedicated to non-Williams stuff. "John Williams and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra recreate some of the great moments in Hollywood history for this year's Film Night at Tanglewood" This description made it sound like they were going to do Golden Age stuff. Curious, What did Josh Groban sing? Did he sing film songs? Ricardo

There's some nice publicity photos on his official website. Unfortunately, it doesn't have one of him in the act of conducting. http://www.erichkunzel.com

The Cincinnati Symphony will be celebrating Erich Kunzel?s 40th anniversary (conducting the CSO) with a commemorative concert program for the 2005-2006 season. Erich Kunzel himself will conduct this mostly Brahms concert, which will also feature JW?s ?Soundings?. The program will be performed on Oct. 7 & 8. According to the Cincinnati Post, Williams will alter the arrangement of ?Soundings? to fit Music Hall (CSO?s concert home). Apparently, the original version of ?Soundings? was specifically orchestrated to work with the unique attributes of Walt Disney?s Concert Hall. The Cincinnati Post goes on to report that John Williams is expected to attend one or both nights. No information has been given about the customary pre-concert conversation. If in fact Williams does attend the concert(s), one would have to believe that Williams would take part in the conversation and discuss Soundings and the adjustments he made for Music Hall. Most likely, we will have to wait until September for further information. In a separate previous post, someone asked why Williams replaced ?Soundings? with ?Tributes? for the upcoming concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra in April. Perhaps now it can be said that Williams made the change upon realizing that his schedule would not allow him enough time to make a proper revision for the NSO?s concert hall. http://www.cincinnatisymphony.org/Events/D...t7-8CSO0506.asp

Foxfan, you already know the answer to that question. But since there was a recent article in the Boston Globe regarding the Boston Pops 2005 season, I'll give you a reinforcement. According to Mark Volpe, Managing Director-Boston Symphony, they were lucky as it is to get him to conduct the one concert at Tanglewood. Mr. Volpe says that Williams has overextended himself with film-scoring assignments. And let us not forget that Williams lives/works in California. Ricardo

It appears that the Boston Pops will not be recording any new TV shows this season. Instead, they will air classic episodes from the past. Lets hope some of those episodes feature Williams conducting some of his most popular works. I know many of us here would like to get more footage of JW in concert. I believe the 2005 season will start airing in June (well, for those markets where the show is still aired!). This is from today?s new Press Release: The 2005 Evening at Pops season will feature a special "best of" show including highlights of the series' 36-year run on PBS, featuring timeless memories from the Arthur Fiedler and John Williams eras, as well as some of Keith Lockhart's most popular shows. Evening at Pops will also present some of the series' most acclaimed episodes in a special collection of encore broadcasts this summer. The Boston Pops and WGBH TV - co-producers of the award-winning PBS television series Evening at Pops since 1969 - are repositioning the orchestra's national television presence with the goal of re-launching the Pops on public television in 2006. http://www.bso.org/itemB/pressRelease.jhtm...100002&area=com

It was previously announced that the Boston Pops would be doing music from the Golden Age for its ?Hooray for Hollywood? series this coming May. There now appears to be a programming change. This is from today?s new Press Release: HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD Bruce Hangen and the Boston Pops celebrate the music of John Williams, the most widely recognized film composer of all time, with a "Hooray for Hollywood" program on May 25, 26, 27, and 28. These concerts honor Williams' enduring legacy with music from throughout his unprecedented career, including selections from Star Wars, E.T., Jaws, Superman, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Harry Potter series, and many more. I?m sure those living in the Boston area will welcome this change. Interesting year. First, the London Symphony does a concert of JW?s music without him, and now the Boston Pops will do the same. Tickets go on sale this coming Monday. http://www.bso.org/itemB/pressRelease.jhtm...100002&area=com

It's been announced that Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops will give additional performances of the Star Wars concert at the Blossom Festival in northeast Ohio. For those that don't know, Cincinnati is in the southwestern part of Ohio and is approximately 230 miles south of the Blossom Festival (Cuyahoga Falls, OH). Those wanting to see the concert now have two locations to choose from: The Cincinnati area on July 8 and 9 The Cleveland area on Sept 3 and 4 http://www.clevelandorchestra.com/html/Pre...eases.asp?ID=73

Sounds like it was an awesome concert! I would have loved to have seen Darth Vader conducting the orchestra! However, you didn't say which piece he conducted. Was it Star Wars (main title)? That's the great thing about seeing a major orchestra like the LSO, they have the resources to add some wonderful visual elements. The smaller orchestras with their smaller budgets usually can't provide these kinds of enhancements. Of course, just getting to hear the London Symphony live in person must be a big thrill by itself! Ricardo

I'm still waiting for details on the Chicago Symphony's 2005-06 Friday Night at the Movies series. How fantastic (and fitting) that John Williams will be conducting one of those Friday Night concerts! I have to believe that the JW Friday Night concert will be on Nov 25 seeing how the other two JW concerts have already been scheduled for Nov 26 and Nov 29. Don't know how many people on this board live in or around Chicago but the Elgin Symphony Orchestra will be devoting an entire concert to JW's music in their 2005-06 season. Ricardo

What? No mention of "The Tennis Game" from Witches of Eastwick? 8O That's one of the better sports action cues from Mr. Williams in my opinion. Ricardo

From JAY's Records Official Website: Music by John Williams Lyrics by James Herbert Book by Edward Anhalt Conducted by Ian Macpherson Orchestratations by Herbert Spencer Just before the score of ?JAWS? went on to win an Oscar for best score and the movie was nominated for best picture, John Williams wrote his one and only stage musical, THOMAS AND THE KING, based on the life of Thomas Beckett. This cast album (principal members) was recorded a few years after it West End production and various original stars came back to the studios for it?s production. The orchestrator for this musical score was Herbert Spencer, who has carried on his collaboration with John Williams on most of his great classic movie scores right up to the present day. Completely re-mixed and re-mastered into Digital Dolby Surround Sound, this first CD release of the recording will perfectly compliment all other CD releases of John Williams film scores. http://www.jayrecords.com