Will

Jaw-droppingly good: I think this might overtake the New World symphony as my favorite Dvorak composition!

FANTASTIC concert! JW looked great — so energetic in his conducting.

It's official -- JW will conduct the second half! https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2024/02/22/An-Evening-with-John-Williams-and-Yo-Yo-Ma-0700PM

Yeah that is surprising and a bit disappointing -- but still outweighed in my view by the fact that we will (I hope) get to hear JW talk between pieces, etc. I was worried we wouldn't hear him speak much (if at all) if he only did the first half!

WOW, really hoping he does the second half in New York too!!

Yeah I've been wondering about that. I'm not sure if there's much (any?) precedent for JW conducting only the first half. Definitely hoping he does encores after the second half--would be weird to have the concert end without its star performer!

Looks like Helena’s Theme got removed from the program? That’s unfortunate — maybe it’ll be an encore.

I haven't seen the film, but I did watch this clip on YouTube and ... wow, "Let's Fly" works so well in the film: Powell's music gives the scene an almost balletic grace. Beautiful marriage of picture and score.

Program notes: https://www.philorch.org/globalassets/philadelphia-orchestra/pdp/program-notes/book-26_john-williams-with-yo-yo-ma.pdf

I wonder if "Tributes! For Seiji" will be added to the program in light of yesterday's news. It's a lovely piece.

Yep, fortunately I was later able to snag one! By the way, there appear to be a few (rather pricey -- $500) tickets on sale right now on the official website. Just FYI in case anyone is still looking.

Some interesting influence here that I just discovered!

Can really hear some influence on JW's writing!

I got one!!! It's high up in the balcony and has a somewhat obstructed view, but just grateful to be going.

Welp, Carnegie now tells me that concert only tickets have sold out. Not sure how that could’ve happened — I’ve been checking the website virtually every day!

Very nice video breaking down the second of the three race scenes in the film (heard on the album as "Poughkeepsie" -- see order in my post above): As I recall, the entirety of "Poughkeepsie" (except for maybe the opening quiet passage) is heard in the film. The piece starts during the lead-up to the race and then covers the race itself too. You can see some nice video of Desplat speaking and conducting beginning at 10:32 in the above video.

Yeah, perplexing. To be clear, this is the part that I think goes unheard in the film: A real shame. (I also really like the prior portion -- the one that gets repeated -- but the awkward tracking disrupts the flow.) Unfortunately it's hard for me to remember exactly where some of the album tracks fit chronologically (in part because, in a few cases, the album tracks seem to combine multiple distinct cues). But I'm fairly certain about these ones (in order): The Boys in the Boat The Team Pacific Regatta First Win Boat Ride** Poughkeepsie Check From Cal Berlin Qualifications Olympic Final We Were Never Eight USA Rowing Team (Alternate Version) The end credits are just an edited-down version of the first track, FWIW. **I think this is the right placement for the portion that underscores the big kiss scene: The delicate portion at the start of the track was probably intended for a romantic boat ride scene earlier in the film, but seemed to have been replaced with a tracked piano portion of "Love Letter."

Just saw the film today! Really enjoyed. I've listened to the score so many times by now that it was great to see where it fits into the movie. Sadly, "We Were Never Eight" is rather awkwardly edited in the film, with the ending passage (the power anthem version of the main title theme) jarringly replaced by a tracked repeat of the big statement of the team theme from earlier in the cue. But the score is otherwise treated quite well, on the whole. It obviously really shines in the main title cue ("The Boys in the Boat"), and it also plays virtually unobstructed by SFX or dialogue in "Training." Although the opening of "Boat Ride" seems to be unused in the film, the sweeping romantic portion is used to wonderful effect in a kiss scene midway through the film (I won't spoil it for those waiting to watch). Interestingly, it seems that "USA Rowing Team (Alternate Version)" is actually the version used in the film! And the "Film Version" is unused. I wonder if that indicates a very late change by the director, after the album had already been finished... The OST seems to not be in chronological order -- for example, "Poughkeepsie" (the last track on the album) is used midway through the film, and "We Were Never Eight" is the second-to-last cue in the film despite appearing midway through the album. Anyway, an excellent score for a great film. So glad that Clooney gave Desplat these opportunities for his music to shine, and Desplat hit it out of the park.

Here we go! What a pleasant surprise -- I was not expecting ESPN to keep using this incredible theme (which might be my favorite piece JW has written in recent years). As others have noted, this version is not really any cleaner than the one that aired last year, but it's still awesome. ESPN also used at least one of the bumpers JW wrote on the broadcast (you can hear the first half-second or so of the bumper at the end of the clip above). UPDATE: Here is the portion of the bumper from tonight's broadcast, which was also used last year. Be warned: It's covered under loud dialogue. But it's fun and reminds me of JW's NBC News work:

Welp, I was listening to KoTC today and something sounded familiar... Turns out the moment I praised above was basically copy-pasted from 2M13R Remembering Henry Sr. & Leaving Campus: I'm sure many of you noticed this long ago (indeed @Falstaft notes at the start of this thread that the main theme variation that follows is partly pulled from 2M13R) but I had not until today -- really emphasizes just how much of this score (even on the OST) is old material, and does make one question whether Ross had a greater role than we were led to believe. Of course, it's still a great passage! And well chosen as a lead-in to the main theme, I think.

I mentioned above that I love how Desplat adapts the main title theme throughout the score in surprising ways. My favorite variation is probably still the one in the opening track, but this one from the end of "We Were Never Eight" is really amazing: Goes from the flighty, delicate version in the opening track to this muscular, almost power anthem-esque rendition -- and Desplat makes it sound very natural in both contexts!

This is a wonderful score -- I fully agree with @Jay that it's one of Desplat's all-time best. Virtually every cue is enjoyable to listen to, and the themes are nicely woven throughout (I particularly liked hearing how Desplat adapted the main title theme into very different contexts, e.g. in "Training"). At first the electronics in "We Were Never Eight" bugged me a bit but after a few listens I've definitely come to love it. Some similarities to the victorious "Florida" from Nyad, but at much grander scale and with considerable melodic elegance. One cue I haven't seen mentioned yet is "Boat Ride" -- begins with beautiful, delicate orchestrations that remind me of the best parts of Little Women. And the romantic portion really soars in a way you don't often hear these days (sort of reminds me of John Barry, though obviously Desplat has his own unique voice): Anyway, a real home run from Desplat -- definitely joins Dial of Destiny and Migration in my list of the year's top scores!

2:14-2:30

Yes -- and really great to hear the new inserts (I think?) in "The Ultimate War"!