Jump to content
Issues with GMAIL - UPDATED ×
Issues with GMAIL - UPDATED

diskobolus

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,828

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by diskobolus

    Goblet of Fire Track List -- SPOILERS

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1. The Story Continues

    2. Frank Dies

    3. The Quidditch World Cup

    4. The Dark Mark

    5. Foreign Visitors Arrive

    6. The Goblet Of Fire

    7. Rita Skeeter

    8. Sirius Fire

    9. Harry Sees Dragons

    10. Golden Egg

    11. Neville's Waltz

    12. Harry In Winter

    13. Potter Waltz

    14. Underwater Secrets

    15. The Black Lake

    16. Hogwarts' March

    17. The Maze

    18. Voldemort

    19. Death Of Cedric

    20. Another Year Ends

    21. Hogwarts' Hymn

    22. Do The Hippogriff

    23. This Is The Night

    24. Magic Works

    Revised track titles with about 5 minutes of effort:

    1. Harry's Fourth Year

    2. The Riddle House

    3. The Quidditch World Cup

    4. Glimpses of Death Eaters

    5. Magical Arrivals

    6. The Four Champions

    7. Rita Skeeter

    8. Return of Padfoot

    9. The Forbidden Forest

    10. Accio Firebolt!

    11. Dance Lessons

    12. The Unexpected Task

    13. The Yule Ball Waltz

    14. Underwater Secrets

    15. The Black Lake

    16. Hogwarts' March

    17. The Triwizard Trophy

    18. Flesh, Blood, and Bone

    19. A Prophecy Fulfilled

    20. The Parting of the Ways

    21. Hymn for a Fallen Hufflepuff

    22. A Thousand Years of Courage

    23. Fairy Lights

    24. Dark and Difficult Times

    Tanglewood review

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Sorry it took so long.

    --

    One of my favorite musical venues is Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Pops. Its wide, sweeping greens, numerous performance arenas, and beautiful views of the Berkshire Mountains make it a magical place for musical exhibition. For concerts taking place at the outdoor Koussevitzky Shed, thousands of music lovers make the Tanglewood lawns their picnic area, bringing elaborate setups complete with real furniture, food and wine, and even light fixtures.

    There were tens of thousands of people in attendance for this film music concert, which John Williams has conducted as an annual tradition for many years. Williams recently composed the scores for the films “Star Wars Episode III” and “War of the Worlds,” and is reported to be working on the scores for Spielberg’s upcoming “Munich,” as well as Rob Marshall’s “Memoirs of a Geisha.” Unfortunately, Williams left the Harry Potter franchise after scoring the first three films. As terrible news as this is, I found some consolation in experiencing his live concert this year.

    The program opened with Alfred Newman’s ubiquitous “20th Century Fox Fanfare.” Hearing it live from the Boston Pops is a completely different experience than in the theater. Huge snare drums and horns projected out over the lawns, startling me. It was an enormous sound. Williams immediately followed with Korngold’s march from “The Adventures of Robin Hood.” The piece begins with a cymbal crash, leading into the main theme in the horns. Supported by tambourines and other percussion, it gives way to low brass lines and then a sweeping melody in the strings. Played tightly and boisterously, the piece was a fine opener, but there are other equally fine opening pieces Williams has used before, such as Herrmann’s “The Death Hunt” from “On Dangerous Ground.”

    Williams followed with three pieces in tribute to three composers who recently passed away. Jerry Goldsmith’s “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” was marvelously performed — the horn fanfares impeccably played, driving forward at exactly the right tempo. It was quite a treat to hear Williams performing Goldsmith. Raksin’s “Laura” followed, which Williams frequently draws out from his repertoire, featuring concertmistress Tamara Smirnova, whose projection is so considerable I’m positive I can hear her instrument even when she’s playing with the other violins. Finally, Elmer Berstein’s “Magnificent Seven” was quite good, both energetic and lively.

    The rest of the first half was a tribute to Stanley Donen, a long-time film director who has worked with Fred Astaire and other legendary actors and actresses. Donen, who appeared on stage to share anecdotes of his films, chaffed with Williams comically, drawing laughs from the audience. Williams accompanied footage (projected overhead) of five songs from five films, in each demonstrating his incredible skill of perfectly synchronizing the orchestra with the film. In “Bless Your Beautiful Hide” from “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” the orchestra matched leaps, jumps, and steps with the dancers on screen — the musicians’ notes exactly accompanied every footfall; it was simply astounding to watch and hear. Williams accomplished similar feats scoring Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain.” My favorite of these songs was Fred Astaire’s dance in “Royal Wedding,” in which he dances up the walls and on the ceiling in his apartment. Donen lovingly explained this choice — he wanted to physically show Astaire completely in love with a woman, and hence the dance on the ceiling. The entire room, including the furniture and the camera shooting it, had to be bolted down onto an apparatus that turned like a hamster wheel, with Astaire dancing inside.

    The second half began with Williams’ march from “Superman,” which was slightly under tempo, but still marvelous to hear live. Then came Josh Groban, a young, up-and-coming star vocalist, who performed with Williams at Symphony Hall in 2001. His performance here might have been more enjoyable if hundreds of self-named “Groban-nites,” his fan base, were not at the concert. Grown men and women, they crowded the shed wearing name badges and clutching glow sticks, and wouldn’t stop shouting when Groban came on stage.

    Groban’s first song was his best, the love theme from “Cinema Paradiso,” which Williams loves to perform as a purely orchestral piece. Impressively, Groban sang the Italian lyrics well, though he just couldn’t go wrong with one of the most beautiful themes ever written. He followed with “Mi mancherai” from “Il Postino,” which was enjoyable, “Gira con me,” and, revoltingly, “Remember” from James Horner’s score for “Troy.” When Groban sang Don Maclean’s “Vincent,” the Groban-nites broke out the glow sticks over their heads, attempting to wave them together in a synchronized fashion, but failing miserably. I was strongly reminded of seven-year-olds at a birthday party who did similar things at a theater screening of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” In general, Groban has a pleasing voice, but he failed to hit his highest notes and seemed to jerk his head awkwardly when doing so.

    Williams followed up with more of his own music accompanying a film montage. He opened with “Journey to the Island” and “The Raptor Attack,” both from “Jurassic Park.” The transition to “Holiday Flight” from “Home Alone” was a bit awkward since the “Jurassic Park” footage continued for a few extra seconds. I was hoping for “Somewhere In My Memory,” but we didn’t get it. Some great footage from the mothership scene in “Close Encounters” was next, but strangely, the music for the rousing finale was cut short right at the climax and clumsily transitioned into the five-note communication theme. The montage concluded with a mediocre second half of “Harry’s Wondrous World.” As usual, Williams accepted the encore invitation with the “Flying Theme” from “E.T.”

    This concert was quite satisfying, and far superior to the choked film concert Bruce Hangen gave at Symphony Hall in May. When the Maestro is around, there’s no fooling around.

    The Boston Symphony Orchestra begins its 2005–2006 season at Boston’s Symphony Hall on Sept. 30.

    Potterdom Film/Score Series Thread

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Gof soundtrack out November 8th..

    from leaky cauldron:

    Thanks to Geraldine, we now know that the soundtrack for the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is due to be released on November 8th. If you would like, you can pre-order this soundtrack today via links in our Cauldron shop, and help support the Floo Network at the same time. We also want to let you know that we have the new movie tie-books and Goblet Lego sets also available for pre-order in the shop as well. We greatly appreciate your support! ;)

    Brief Tanglewood Concert Opinion

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Well I was there, and I have to say it was a fantastic concert, the music was much better than last year's Film Night and enormously superior to the Pops concerts in May. ST:TMP was amazing, so was the Fox Fanfare, and I got Stanley Donen's autograph. Met up with Foxfan, too. Formal review coming in a few days.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.

  I accept