Matt S.

DG can only release what the orchestras perform. I mean, I assume Williams decides the concert programs, not the record label. The way it looks to me, DG has been very conscious of what has already been released and has done their best to satisfy everybody. As far as Vienna II is concerned, they digitally released the 3 tracks that were unique to that concert. And the first Vienna concert single CD contained the one Mutter track that didn’t make it onto Across the Stars (Devil’s Dance). I agree that a greater variety would be great, but I don’t think it’s going to happen beyond the one lesser-known piece he usually throws into each show.

Adventure on Earth

Somewhere in My Memory and Star of Bethlehem are the same as the versions on the Home Alone 2 album, as mentioned without children’s voices, which are the standard Hal Leonard Signature Editions. Holiday Flight is a bit unique in that it uses the slightly reworked melody from HA2. FWIW, the Boston Pops also later recorded Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas from HA2 under Keith Lockhart (the Holiday Pops album).

I hope this means they’re aiming for a Tanglewood summer 2024 premiere! Even better would be if they repeat what they did with ASM’s concerto; replay it that fall in Boston and record it there as well.

I don't think that was the reason this pianist was there, however. As Keith explained at the Friday concert, the Pops Esplanade Orchestra was about to head to Japan for a tour, and these artists, Hayato Sumino and Mone Hattori, would be appearing with them; as a courtesy, they brought them to Boston to perform with the orchestra ahead of time (and consequently make their North American debuts). As for JW's piano concerto, I can't possibly imagine it being premiered at an off-season concert by the Pops' backup orchestra.

I went to the Friday night concert; the violinist Mone Hattori also played an encore with the orchestra after her two programmed selections; it was piece written by her father who is a television and film composer in Japan. I don’t know if they played any encores at the Saturday concert, but it doesn’t look like The Fabelmans was performed. The one encore after the end of the full concert on Friday was The Cantina Band.

Throne Room & Finale to bring the concert to a proper close?

“Carbon Freeze & The Imperial March”? Is that the same as the version on the Gerhardt TESB recording? If so, cool!!

He’s no longer with us, but David Ogden Stiers would have been perfect for this.

Not exactly; I took a pair of scissors and cut up that atrocity so it would fit! 🤣🤣

Spared no expense!

I’m really looking forward to seeing this in Boston next month! On one hand I’m disappointed there are so many shortened pieces (which I usually find very irritating!) but I totally understand why they needed to do that in order to get in as much material as they can. To be fair, each trilogy should have its own full-length concert. That would be incredible! One can dream…

I'm going to the Sept 23 concert in Boston. I agree with @Tom, they will mostly likely only play the title track from Episode IX. The program is probably easy to determine, considering they must play at least one piece from each film, and the show can't be more than two hours. There probably won't be time for any serious deep cuts like The Forest Battle or Speeder Chase. I just wonder if they'll go in order (Episode I - IX) or break it up. I'm sure The Imperial March will be saved for the encore. 20th Century Fox Fanfare Main Title Anakin's Theme Duel of the Fates Across the Stars Battle of the Heroes Princess Leia's Theme The Asteroid Field Yoda's Theme Parade of the Ewoks Jabba's Theme Luke and Leia March of the Resistance Rey's Theme Scherzo for X-wings The Jedi Steps (concert version) Rebellion is Reborn Rise of Skywalker Throne Room & Finale Encore The Adventures of Han The Imperial March A playlist of these selections comes to about 1 hr 25 minutes, which sounds about right for a 2-hour concert, including whatever narration there will be. But if anything my list is probably too long; I would probably remove Jabba's Theme and The Jedi Steps... I wouldn't have included The Asteroid Field either, but considering they played it at Film Night, that makes me think they pulled it out of the drawer for a reason! The Adventures of Han is a total guess, as it's not part of the nine-film series, but I think it would certainly work as an encore.

Tonight in Boston…

Merchandising, merchandising! Where the REAL money from the movie is made!