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I don't know what you're all going on about. This is absolutely and unquestionably the best live recording of a John Williams concert in the history of John Williams concerts. Who cares if they mess up a couple of seconds of the Star Wars Main Title if they immediately make up for it by playing the best rendition of the theme ever. I would consider most of the pieces in this album to be the best recordings, some of them even more emotionally moving than the clean, studio-recorded OST versions. God, how amazing the Flight to Neverland, Close Encounters, E.T., The Rebellion is Reborn, and The Imperial March performances are! There are simply no equals to those! You can all go nitpicking the pieces if you want, of course, who am I to stop you, but for me, this is the most precious musical memory of the 25 years of my life, and I can't thank John Williams and Wiener Philharmoniker enough for making it accessible on demand in every possible format, so that I can re-experience it whenever I desire.

I agree. I find some of the comments here a bit hilarious. Most of the tracks are fantastic performances with a phenomenal sound. The mix is superior to anything I've heard, (especially compared to the cruel Dudamel album) and very well balanced. I see no point nagging on every opportunity where someone in the orchestra might've been a milisecond late or whatever. Some of the things mentioned here is beyond fair and serious criticism. These were two live performances with a top orchestra which never played most of Williams music before, not recording sessions with various opportunities for correction. Rehearsal time might indeed have been a bit short with 3 rehearsals for 19 pieces?!! I guess nobody in the audience cared about little mistakes, I certainly didn't. The audience, orchestra and Williams seemed to have tremendous fun, it could not have been better. On top, we now have some great recordings to choose from. The brass timing in the beginning of Star Wars is indeed a bit unlucky, considering this is probably Williams most well known piece, but otherwise, I like this performance very much. The blockade runner section is superior to anything from LSO or else IMO, the slower tempo makes these chords sound so grand and powerful, like an army marching. The brass section was breathtaking. Devils Dance is fantastic (the best of all pieces featuring ASM), Luke and Leia amazing, same with Adventures on Earth, Jurassic Park... I prefer the Boston Pops version of Flight to Neverland. Not sure about Rebellion is Reborn, I guess if you're used to the OST, then this sounds a bit strange. Overall, I find this album very enjoyable and we were so lucky that this once-in-a-lifetime event has been recorded and filmed, right before god damn Coronavirus hit Europe.

Come on... Why do I have the impression that after the concerts everyone was delighted? This is a live recording - minor flaws are acceptable, and fortunately I hardly hear them. I don't mind the slower pace here and there, and even if the orchestra is a bit off the pace at the start of the Star Wars Main Title, it's not something that would bother me. The performances are fantastic, the sound is perfect, but knowing that these concerts gave Williams and people gathered at Musikverein great joy is priceless. Blu-ray gave me a lot of emotions that reminded me of what I felt during those two wonderful days in January. And I know that I will come back to this concert very often and always with great pleasure. Thank You John Williams, Thank you Wiener Philharmoniker.

They should've intercut the concert with pictures of all the dead composers.

I met the Maestro whilst singing with London Voices. He was very down to earth & noble at one and the same time.

Sure. Back in my formative years, I listened so many times to the soundtracks I had, I know them pretty much "by heart" by now. I sometimes envy that period of my life, where I could spend that amount of time on a single soundtrack and get so intimately acquainted with it.

Uhhh, the live broadcast of the LA Phil doing the Jaws suite is a much better performance. It sounds bright and alive! Not leaden and sluggish like on the Vienna album.

I revisited this album following my personal disappointment with the performance of the orchestra (and the sound) on the Vienna album. I still have some issues with the mix of this album but they seem relatively minor to me now, especially when the orchestra positively *lives and breathes* this material. This Williams program was one that Dudamel and the LA Phil performed many times, even taking it on tour, and it really shows when compared to the seemingly hastily rehearsed Vienna program.

What if it's not John Williams who is slowing down, but the world that's speeding up?

I think the grandness of Rose's theme. For me, the exile theme/s serve not so much as a punch but as a varied counterpoint adding to the majesty of Rose's theme. The Vienna performance gave the piece a classical elegance I had not previously noticed.

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/amerikanischer-filmkomponist-john-williams-im-gespraech-16904749.html Some nice quotes.

Not that I was particularly taken with the film, but that a biopic requires big action scenes to not be "dead" is such a silly pre-requisite. Why must there be big battle scenes if they have no real relevance to the film's central questions? That's just Hollywood studio nonsense talk.

He's been to " Hundreds of concerts"

I gave in and listened to SW Main Title while waiting for the blu to arrive, possibly for a month+, it seems. And... that flub/sync error is pretty nasty, otherwise it's fine. I have a feeling it'll all work a lot better with the footage on blu as an "event" recording than just as another standalone album of more great-to-not-ideal recordings.

Absolutely! In my mind, this was the full evilness Emperor's theme. It remindes me more to that than to Imperial March, tbh. And is used in so many different ways! Is there any other Star Wars theme so versatile and which Williams exploited it in so many ways in a single movie? I don't think so! I have to say, my favourite is the choir heard in the beggining of track 7. That sounds tenebrous. But is not in the movie, isn't it?

Probably the timing issues in Jaws.

I am so disappointed that Williams has a slightly loose jacket. It bothers me. And that the girl on the right in the eighth row has such a sad face throughout the concert. The whole experience is ruined for me now.

"What academics neglect to tell us is that Lincoln was a politician during the day but a vampire slayer at night."

I have to say I like the energy and the almost spotless playing of the Brossé performance!

Having attended hundreds of concerts with "lesser" orchestras, of both standard repertoire and of film music, many of the JW Vienna performances come across as unusually sloppy.

What I am looking for in an album, is, first and foremost, the subjective experience. The technical stuff does matter, but so does the emotion with which the orchestra plays, the timbre of each instrument, and how well it resonates within the hall, and, let's face it, for classical concerts, there is no better acoustic environment in the world than the Großer Saal. I don't listen to these kinds of albums with the score in my hands, meticulously checking if all the notes match up. I listen to these albums lying on the couch, with eyes closed, and volume turned up, so it feels like I am there. This album is able to bring me to tears, which rarely happens with other recordings. Of course, the fact that I was there plays a big part in that as well. As I said, it's a subjective experience; I don't feel the need to take the role of an examiner.

I loved Lincoln...i think a lot of you are being very unfair to the movie

All of the complaints about the performance are valid, but I think the reason folks around here are so disappointed is because of their (perhaps unreasonable?) expectations. Yes, Vienna has one of the world's finest orchestras, but that doesn't mean they're perfect. The world's greatest hornist of all time (whoever that may be) will still crack high notes in concert from time to time. NOTHING is perfect. And let's not forget that Williams has enjoyed over 40-plus years of having his music played and recorded by the finest orchestras in LA, Boston, and London. How much better could Vienna possibly be? This was a LIVE recording, not a studio one. Maybe Williams chose tempos that were too slow, maybe the music was under-rehearsed. So what? This CD was never meant to replace the Star Wars OSTs, or the Boston Pops recordings, or any of that. It's a new CD, just enjoy it. Or not, I suppose.

For someone who seems rather out of his usual element, the interviewer is asking some rather good questions. And Williams is opening up, at least a bit, with a couple of half statements that elaborate on his standard responses. For example, I wasn't aware that he was already craving "more" during his time as (mainly) a jazz musician.

Pace @Thor, I think there are actually a few interesting new nuggets in this interview. It's the first time I've heard Williams refer to writing 3 cues for 3 different perspectives in JFK, for example. (And goodness knows I've researched that score enough by now -- in fact, I think JW may be misremembering.) And it's neat that the first score he thinks to mention when the topic of singing comes up is Empire of the Sun, and the wordless choral writing at that, rather than "Exultate Justi." And there's the obvious but still quite skillful dodge of the political prompts the interviewer starts with. It's remarkable to me that, even at 88, Williams still rigorously retains that "above it all" air, in public at least. Even if this were nothing but the old "but they're all dead" anecdotes, I'd still be grateful. It's 2020, he's 88, the world's on fire -- it's just wonderful to hear from him.

I wrote about it in a thread similar to this before, but basically he came to conduct the USC Symphony and I was friends with the musicians and in the composition school so skipped class to hang out at the rehearsals and back stage with them. He was working with the orchestra for around five days and I attended every rehearsal and sat on stage sometimes too. At first, he was very intimidating to me, he didn't mean to be, was just very focused. For example, if the rehearsal was at 10am, he was in his trailer until 10:00 and then walked straight to stage. No chit chat, no tuning (they were tuned at 9:59 to be ready by 10. I was backstage and said hi the first day, he said hi and was immediately on stage, didn't chat. My nerves calmed as the days went on and I realized he isn't a demigod but was quite human, very modest but extremely professional and on his game. He worked the orchestra just like every other orchestra such as the LSO or LA Phil, or whoever. The last day, he was most relaxed and mingled. He answered questions, took pictures, seemed relaxed. He even gave us career advice. A true pro and a gentleman. I wrote a lot more specifics whenever this topic came up before and posted pics I took. Will have to look for that.

I've been thinking that, as we go through life, our taste in music (as in most things) changes. This being the case, it stands to reason that our taste in films and film music, and even composers, will change. My question is: how have JWfaners' tastes changed, over the years? Would a top-ten from say twenty years ago be the same as a top-ten now? I've deliberately not "narrowed it down" to any particular top-ten, and the question is framed within the film/film music universe, but it could mean anything.

Same but if you replace the Lynel with the homeless dude outside of my local supermarket.

I give it up. You simply want to dislike it. It's very much together. And the flutist is playing well and in time.

I thought my sarcasm was obvious but I'm not sure anymore.

Maybe Williams was reading Wookiepedia https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darth_Tenebrous

Midsommar 2?

It's perfectly suited for a History channel documentary.

At least this was watchable.

How does it hold up?

Not available - it's clearly on another level of the internet.

Needs a shot of adrenalin.

The Suite from Jaws is my favorite piece on this. I know that may seem lame, but whatever. It's always been one of my favorite concert pieces by JW, and this just solidifies it. It's perfect.

Came out in 2005, wonder if it's the 2005 rule? Or just too many notes! Too many notes + the Year 2005 = C&C collectors worst nightmare.

Lets rest this case. You have your opinion, I have mine. I prefer to enjoy this Blueray with its handful of (performance) flaws.

To some people, good timing is a very important factor in a performance. For others, it's not that important. What you describe as overly critical is just a difference of opinion regarding what's important. You tell me.

There is a short interlude during " Love Theme from SUPERMAN( end title) where the strings play a beautiful passage with plucked bass😍 before returning to the main melody. 2:02-2:15 Pure BBlBliBlisBlissBliss.

Dunkin' Fanfare Scherzo for Dunkin' and Orchestra

It's possible JW has consumed a lot of Dunkin' Donuts coffee while in Bahstin, if he is a coffee drinker. Not in LA, though.

Just received the Blu-ray today. Not a fan of digipacks in general, I will have to be very careful with it. Anyway, glad I got my copy. Now waiting for the vinyl to arrive I agree

Ordered my copy from an Australian distributor for the first time, should have it later this week! All the performances from the clips sound great, what shrill horns @bollemanneke? The thing is, earlier in my life I used to find all sorts of problems with concert pieces, flubbed notes, the tempo, players out of sync etc. and I think most of my displeasure with them was because I had such a vivid recollection of the recorded pieces that I was constantly comparing them and obsessing over minor details and I'd let that cloud my judgement of the entire thing. Now I would say I've come to let go of all that and have become more open to experiencing these different interpretations with different orchestras etc. The performance is the art, the players, the energy and the spirit of it all that is what makes these worthwhile.

From reading the reviews around here, apparently the performances were so awful that nobody applauded, they just sat in stunned silence, absolutely horrified at the tempos.

I love John Williams as much as anyone really can I think, but we should all be able to agree that the 6 Middle-earth films of Shore's are the scoring achievement of our lifetimes. Every time I pull any of them out, I am reminded of this fact. It just really smacks you in the face sometimes how good they really are. Oh, I was listening to Riddles in the Dark and then watching the scene. Sorry, context. The History theme gets some incredible variations there.

I can't argue with that one - I used it at my wedding!