Quppa

A Bond-related titbit from this Thomas Newman interview:

The earlier Rolling Stone article only mentions that Eilish co-wrote the song with her brother, but I hope Zimmer & co will at the very least produce something like Thomas Newman's Komodo Dragon track from Skyfall. That is, of course, provided that Eilish's song is amenable to the task - I think even John Barry would have struggled with Die Another Day (which I happen to like) or Another Way to Die (not my favourite!).

Arnold reiterating that he was never approached:

I went into Spectre with high expectations based on the cast and crew and was disappointed, but maybe my low hopes for this troubled production will be exceeded. Searching for silver linings here: I'm kind of glad David Arnold wasn't asked back as a last minute replacement - better he be involved from the outset, and ideally working in tandem with the title theme writer(s). Zimmer didn't return to Mission: Impossible or Spider-Man, so here's hoping we'll get someone more appropriate to usher in the post-Craig era.

I saw the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's performance of Home Alone last night and thought they did a great job. I was worried about 'Setting the Trap' based on previous comments, but it was well executed. 'Making the Plane' was more of a struggle. I think the highlight was hearing the choir in the second half - it would have been even better if they could have somehow slotted in the full version of 'Somewhere in My Memory' (we also got 'Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas' as the encore, which was lovely - it's my least favourite of the 5 (?) songs Williams wrote for the 2 movies, but it worked really well as a live performance). I hadn't realised how sparsely scored parts of the film were - definitely a contrast to some other LTP concerts. The conductor always - understandably - encourages the crowd to 'participate' by clapping throughout the performance, but personally I'd rather just listen to the music.

Regrettably there was no announcement They only advertised Home Alone (13/12) and Skyfall (23/04).

I'm enjoying the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's ROTJ concert this evening. Jabba's Baroque Recital wasn't performed live during the film, but they had two people playing it outside the concert hall beforehand (amongst other pieces arranged in a similar style). I'm hoping they'll announce The Last Jedi dates at the end.

Well, I'm counting myself lucky that the London concert is still going ahead in some form - I'd be feeling much worse if I'd made the trip to Vienna for no reason at all. I suppose a trip to the US in the near(ish) future is my best bet for seeing him conduct.

They'll refund the full price of the ticket (excluding booking fees) for anyone so inclined (I'm still going, of course).

Edit: Beaten to the punch. I wish Mr Williams a quick recovery. Very disappointing to have traveled from the Antipodes and for this to have happened, though it was always a risk given his age. I'm sure the experience with the LSO in the RAH will still make it worth it.

At the risk of dragging this thread back off topic, it's interesting listening to this podcast interview with Yates having read the above. He gushes praise about James Newton Howard's work for Fantastic Beasts and mentions that the studio wanted more Hedwig's Theme and he wanted less.

I'll be curious to hear how different this release will sound compared to the 2016 'Ultimate Digital Collection', the audio of which was 'transferred from the original LP masters using the highest resolution (up to 192kHz/24bit)'.

I don't remember, and the IOC is as strict as ever about protecting its copyright, but here's another (better) performance from the same pair:

The Jyn Erso & Hope Suite from Rogue One also made an appearance in the medley. Sadly their performance wasn't perfect - Yu had a few tumbles. Still nice to hear the music.

Scored a seat in Box 81 in the Second Tier - if my view isn't obscured by anything I should have a pretty good view of the stage based on http://www.mapaplan.com/seating-plan/royal-albert-hall-seat-numbers-chart/high-resolution/royal-albert-hall-seating-plan-01-seat-row-numbers-arena-stalls-circle-loggia-grand-second-tier-boxes-detailed-chart-high-resolution.htm