Omen II

This was the thirteenth different John Williams-scored film I have seen live in concert (all of them at the Royal Albert Hall) and I must say that it was a thrill to hear the music 'properly' without the muddy sound of the soundtrack releases to date.  That it was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (led on the Sunday evening performance by Carmine Lauri) made it extra special.  I heard and saw details in the orchestration which I had not noticed previously, which is one of the tremendous benefits of the live in concert format.
 
I mentioned double bass player Patrick Laurence earlier in this thread as probably having played on the original soundtrack, so it was good to see him on stage with the rest of the double bass section.
 

Battle of Britain is another film which had two great scores, the replacement by Ron Goodwin and the original by Sir William Walton whose Battle in the Air was the only piece to survive in the film as released.  I like to play both scores around this time of year (Battle of Britain Day in the UK is 15th September) as a tribute to those brave men from the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and its European allies (biggest shout to the Poles and the Czechs) who saved our country from Nazi invasion in that summer of 1940.
 
Walton's score is more overtly patriotic than Goodwin's but that is no bad thing.  The march at the end makes me want to fly a Hurricane at a Dornier and damn the consequences!
 
 

This was the thirteenth different John Williams-scored film I have seen live in concert (all of them at the Royal Albert Hall) and I must say that it was a thrill to hear the music 'properly' without the muddy sound of the soundtrack releases to date.  That it was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (led on the Sunday evening performance by Carmine Lauri) made it extra special.  I heard and saw details in the orchestration which I had not noticed previously, which is one of the tremendous benefits of the live in concert format.
 
I mentioned double bass player Patrick Laurence earlier in this thread as probably having played on the original soundtrack, so it was good to see him on stage with the rest of the double bass section.
 

Battle of Britain is another film which had two great scores, the replacement by Ron Goodwin and the original by Sir William Walton whose Battle in the Air was the only piece to survive in the film as released.  I like to play both scores around this time of year (Battle of Britain Day in the UK is 15th September) as a tribute to those brave men from the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and its European allies (biggest shout to the Poles and the Czechs) who saved our country from Nazi invasion in that summer of 1940.
 
Walton's score is more overtly patriotic than Goodwin's but that is no bad thing.  The march at the end makes me want to fly a Hurricane at a Dornier and damn the consequences!
 
 

Another really great performance by (I think, they didn’t have programmes) the Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. A few thoughts:
 
I really didn’t miss the choir in the Emperor passages and it was great to be able to hear the underlying orchestral parts. Have any of those sections been reworked to compensate for the lack of choir or is the choir just omitted? This seemed to have more instances of cues crashing into each other/overlapping between scenes than the first two. Must be especially horrible to perform as you lose musicality and timing when a short passage tramples over another section. Great to hear the score in obviously superior quality to the various soundtrack releases. Especially passages like the superstructure chase which I assume will always sound naff given the recording issues. As a prelude to the second half, they played an excerpt from Carbon Freeze from Empire. Bit odd. They performed the percussion passage as the heroes are taken to the Ewok village which I’m pretty sure isn’t on any version. I mean it’s just some percussion so you’re not missing much but it was nice to hear. Performing the Ewok horn calls on trumpet was a nice touch. The orchestra only version of Victory Celebration I actually liked more although it sounds oddly more wistful and melancholy like that. I still can’t understand how the join with the end credits is so bad though…

Just came out of this. As predicted, this was a much better experience than last year in Nottingham and I would argue a better one than The Empire Strikes Back a couple years ago. It might be just the venue, the LSO or Dirk Brosse. Probably all three. Yes, the score is a weird Frankenstein monster. But for whatever reason it came together better. 
 

 
Karol 

Anthony Hopkins' cat Niblo has died.
 

The Towner of London! 

British people just don't appreciate John Williams 

Terrific ROTJ concert at the Albert Hall last night; sat front row so the LSO cellos were literally ten feet from me! 

My friend and I wondered: what is keeping Williams himself from the Albert Hall / LSO? 
 
In any case, a treat, as we hope for Milan tickets. 

Apparently, one of the final awards approved by the Queen

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11244771/Queens-final-knight-John-Williams-honoured-creating-music-blockbuster-films.html

The Imperial State Crown is one of the only two crowns in regular use by the British monarch, the other being the St. Edward’s Crown.  Both can be seen among the Crown Jewels kept at the Tower of London on public display.
 
The current Imperial Crown is a remodelling of an original made for Queen Victoria in 1838.  It contains a sapphire said to have been worn by Edward the Confessor, as well as the Cullinan II diamond and pearls reputed to have belonged to the first Queen Elizabeth.  It is worn at the state opening of Parliament as well as following the coronation.

The Imperial State Crown is one of the only two crowns in regular use by the British monarch, the other being the St. Edward’s Crown.  Both can be seen among the Crown Jewels kept at the Tower of London on public display.
 
The current Imperial Crown is a remodelling of an original made for Queen Victoria in 1838.  It contains a sapphire said to have been worn by Edward the Confessor, as well as the Cullinan II diamond and pearls reputed to have belonged to the first Queen Elizabeth.  It is worn at the state opening of Parliament as well as following the coronation.

We do love a good queue do us Brits.  In fact we invented the queue, refined and perfected it over many centuries and still lead the world in this ancient and noble art.  Most of the people in the queue to file past HM The Queen probably do not even know what they are queueing up for, but considered it too good an opportunity to miss when they spied a column of people snaking through central London.
 
Queue jumping in the United Kingdom remains one of the few offences for which capital punishment is the ultimate sanction available (used only when loud tutting and eye rolling does not have the desired effect).

We do love a good queue do us Brits.  In fact we invented the queue, refined and perfected it over many centuries and still lead the world in this ancient and noble art.  Most of the people in the queue to file past HM The Queen probably do not even know what they are queueing up for, but considered it too good an opportunity to miss when they spied a column of people snaking through central London.
 
Queue jumping in the United Kingdom remains one of the few offences for which capital punishment is the ultimate sanction available (used only when loud tutting and eye rolling does not have the desired effect).

I went to welcome HM Queen Elizabeth II on her final journey to London at RAF Northolt this evening.
 
Thousands upon thousands lined the roads in the rain for a glimpse of the hearse and to pay their respects.  I felt that it was the least I could do for her seventy years of dedicated and selfless service to the UK and the Commonwealth.
 

I went to welcome HM Queen Elizabeth II on her final journey to London at RAF Northolt this evening.
 
Thousands upon thousands lined the roads in the rain for a glimpse of the hearse and to pay their respects.  I felt that it was the least I could do for her seventy years of dedicated and selfless service to the UK and the Commonwealth.
 

I went to welcome HM Queen Elizabeth II on her final journey to London at RAF Northolt this evening.
 
Thousands upon thousands lined the roads in the rain for a glimpse of the hearse and to pay their respects.  I felt that it was the least I could do for her seventy years of dedicated and selfless service to the UK and the Commonwealth.
 

Rest in peace, you dear, dear woman.

The entire world mourns Elizabeth, the specific person, but also I think we are mourning our connection to this generation that came of age around WWII.  All four of my grandparents were born right around the same time as her, and I only have one left.

To be fair, ClassicFM is just about the only website other than JWFan that routinely has Williams among history's greatest composers.
It's an easy target, but I dunno... am I the only one here who can't be bothered to see them as the blasphemous antichrist?
 
Btw. Williams seemed very alert and witty in his answers, which bides well for the Indy score.
 

In a couple of months, I'll be celebrating my '30th anniversary' of being a John Williams fan and collector.
 
Growing up with films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones and E.T., I've been intrigued by Williams' music since childhood, but it was during the Spring of 1993 that I became a true and devoted fan.
 
My life was very different 30 years ago. I was still living with my parents, attended the final year of high school, had hair on my head and I had no idea how my life was going to turn out. 
 
I look back on 30 years filled with significant events, ranging from wonderful to not so great. I became a teacher and headmaster, got married to a beautiful wife, bought a house, lost my stepfather and grandparents, traveled the world, became father to an autistic son and successfully overcame an episode of depression.
 
The music of John Williams has been an integral part of my personal journey and has always had a positive effect on me. 
 
Today I had some photos taken of my entire collection, something I've been wanting to do for years. I hope you will enjoy them and here's to the next 30 years! 
 
 
 
 

Helen, she's 16 months and Ginger who is 7 months. She's the bigger Boston Terrier of the two

Booked E.T. performance in Manchester in October. Going with two of my friends. Both love the movie but neither of them has ever been to a concert like this before. Can't think of a better way to introduce them to the concept. I've seen this twice already and there aren't many films that work as well as this one with live orchestra. Plus couldn't think of a better way to celebrate film's 40th anniversary. 😀
 
I hope The Halle orchestra is up to the task. Heard them a couple of times live playing classical concerts and they were rather good.
 
Karol