ChrisAfonso

I'd guess even though he will not get paid a share of the nonexistent sheet music rental or purchase, he gets performance royalties from the usual performance rights organizations?

I feel sorry for this guy: He's the only one

That's interesting, because I've heard the exact opposite reasoning - that the cellos project better towards the audience when they sit in the middle (good when they have a lot of melodic lines), and thus someone else has to sit on the outside. Whether that's the violas or second violins will then depend on the preference for having antiphonal vs homogeneous violins. Which one's true, no idea - depends on the hall, maybe.

I would be thrilled if he'd come back next year with a programme of, say for example, the Geisha suite, Five Sacred Trees, and a lengthy suite of War of the Worlds film cues. Something completely different. Of course for an occasion like this first Vienna concert ever it absolutely makes sense to do a best-of selection containing all the favorites (thankfully with quite a few welcome surprises thrown in the mix!). But in general it seems to me that the common program selections for concerts with film music are akin to every Beethoven concert containing the first movement of the fifth symphony and ending with the Ode to Joy. (Slight tangent following:) I've heard more than once from more classically-minded listeners that (regardless of the musical quality) the music for e.g. Indiana Jones were very monotonous with only the same theme being repeated over and over - and being surprised to hear that in the actual score the Raiders March is used very sparingly and the variety of music is much greater. That's a thing that I hope the proliferation of live-to-projection concerts helps with, making more of the audience aware of the actual scope and musical diversity within the score.

This weekend was quite an experience! Hard to put into words. On Saturday I had a stalls seat, which was great to watch Williams work his magic (I loved how he often didn't do that much and let the musicians play, but added little gestures here and there to shape a phrase or an accent) and see the energy with which the musicians played. On Sunday I was in the standing area, which meant I couldn't see much, but this had the upside of being much more able to just lean back and take in the sound of the music (which was great even way back there under the balcony) without getting fixated on all the little details catching my eye the day before (watching how certain things are played, how the players react to the conducting, etc - which is its own kind of fun, but woods and trees and all...). And the sound really was magnificent! The pieces that moved me most were Hook (the magic of the beginning of the concert, and realizing this was actually happening), Close Encounters (just this sublime journey from chaos to triumphant harmony), Sabrina (how so many people can produce so intimate a sound, especially in the melancholic middle section), and War Horse (that aforementioned brass chorale!). And I was really happy they included the Duel from Tintin, which is just great fun with all it's twists and turns, especially with Mutter coordinating the wild bouncing bows passages with the violin section! I greatly enjoyed meeting a lot of fellow film music friends after the concerts, even if only briefly, and sharing this moment of history (which it surely is)

Hope everyone arrived smoothly or will in the next hours! This will be a day to remember!

This. But in truth, it's a close finish with a lot of contenders.

I really love this piece, there's a real sense of melancholic resolve conveyed. It does everything for me that "The Rebellion is Reborn" falls short at. The character of the theme in the second half reminds me a bit of Brahms.

Just listened to the new episode and enjoyed it a lot! Many thanks to Maurizio, Tim, and Mike to offer us this new peek behind the scenes, and great discussion of music old and new

Is Nevada Smith related to Indiana Jones? ... Seriously, I've never heard (of) any of these, will be sure to check out the samples next week.

I'll just join the pack... One of my favorite scores from my youth, and 3 Williams scores I never heard yet (other than a main title or two)

After the first full listen (to this set in particular, but also the score in general after many years (on cd or in the film)), the thing that caught my attention the most was the different (shortened) beginning of "A New Beginning" (no pun intended). As the preceding cue ends on an A-major chord, the first few bars of this cue seem to imply an A-minor tonality, with the sparse accompaniment and all, before the arrangement becomes fuller and reveals that the beginning was actually meant as F-Major (maj7). Compared to the album version, which via the longer intro makes the tonality clearer from the start, this initial ambiguity adds nicely to the melancholy character of the cue.

For everyone who's a Musikverein member, apparently you can buy additional tickets today (I reached the limit yesterday with 4 per concert, but was able to buy another ticket today).

Yes, they seem to be the same. I got a few standing room tickets for Sunday at 8€ apiece (in addition to expensive seats on Saturday).

Yes! I've awaited this one for decades!