Quppa

I'm very happy with the performances overall, but does 5:45 to 5:50 in Symphonic Variation "Merry-Go-Round + Cave of Mind" (from 'Howl’s Moving Castle') sound off to anyone else? The same brass part in Sulliman's Magic Square ~ Return to the Castle (~2:40) on the original soundtrack and Symphonic Variation "Merry-Go-Round" on Works III (~8:58) sounds much better. The rest of the track sounds fine.

Another example where a large orchestra arguably made sense: Desplat used a 108-piece ensemble for Godzilla (2014), plus an 80-person choir.

Conan the Barbarian infamously used 24 French horns.

Edith Bowman interviewed Christopher Nolan about the music: https://audioboom.com/posts/8339349-episode-379-christopher-nolan-on-the-music-of-oppenheimer He's another director who doesn't use temp scores (Christopher McQuarrie made the same comment). Göransson is on next week's episode.

I confirmed with DG that it's the same performance and that the trumpet solo credit is a misprint:

I confirmed with STAGE+ support that the concert will be available in the on-demand archive a few days after the streamed broadcasts.

I wonder if there will be an album release. The set list is mostly a subset of the Berlin and Vienna concerts except for Sound the Bells! and Tributes! (for Seiji) (both to be conducted by Stéphane Denève). Maybe we'll get single releases of those.

Looks like Deutsche Grammaphon will be broadcasting a recording of this concert on the 9th of September: https://www.stage-plus.com/video/live_concert_9HKNCPA3DTN66PBIEHFJ8C9N

New episode of Soundtracking with Edith Bowman featuring Cécile Tournesac (music editor) & Eddie Hamilton (editor): https://audioboom.com/posts/8334936-episode-377-cecile-tournesac-eddie-hamilton It's an interesting insight into the modern film making process - it's almost the opposite of Spielberg cutting the bike chase in E.T. to match the music. Bowman previously interviewed Lorne Balfe & Christopher McQuarrie in 2018: https://audioboom.com/posts/7105436-episode-117-christopher-mcquarrie-lorne-balfe-on-the-music-of-mission-impossible-fallout-con (I don't think Kraemer's name came up once). McQuarrie is distinctly anti-temp score and seems quite invested in the music, which makes the Balfe choice even stranger.

A Symphonic Celebration is #1 on the Billboard Classical and Classical Crossover charts for the week of July 15. Japanese report: https://tower.jp/article/news/2023/07/14/tg001 (with a note at the bottom that it's confirmed Hisaishi had music duties for How Do You Live?, which is out today).

I don't think there's any actual requirement to be a resident (or citizen), it's just very impractical if you're not.

Thanks for the update. Crazy expensive indeed: VIP seats: ¥50,000 (~$349/£274/€312) S seats: ¥37,000 (~$258/£203/€238) A seats: ¥30,000 (~$209/£164/€193) B seats: ¥25,000 (~$175/£137/€161) P (podium) seats: ¥20,000 (~$140/£110/€128) The Matsumoto Festival tickets look cheap in comparison (SS ¥30,000/S ¥25,000/A ¥20,000/B ¥12,000).

You're right - the trumpet solo is just in the Cave of Mind section. The entire track (track 1 on the digital release, disc 2 track 1 on the Limited Edition CDs) makes no sense - it's almost identical to the last 3 minutes of the 12:06 Howl's Moving Castle track (track 24 on the digital release, disc 1 track 8 on the physical release). The levels are slightly different but I'm 99% sure it's the same performance.

The (choir-less) performance on the Dream Songs compilation comes from the (also excellent) 2010 Melodyphony album (recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra). VGMdb is good for Hisaishi album credits.

Interesting angle and I guess it works by the end of the film, even though initially she's overtly cynical and just after money.

I love Helena's Theme, but am I the only one who thinks it doesn't really match its namesake? In the concert suite it conveys a sense of longing and romance, but the character in the film evokes neither of those things (just as well, given her relationship to Indy). Of course the theme is extremely versatile and works well integrated into action cues. Marion's Theme is similar in not really reflecting the strong and tough nature of the character as presented in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Dan Golding in the Art of the Score podcast (starts at ~30:00) posits a compelling theory that it works if one considers it to represent 'Indiana thinking of Marion'. I don't know if I can think of an explanation like that for Helena's Theme. (The hosts of UnderScore made similar comments about Marion's theme in this episode (~12:30).)

Interesting comments starting at about 02:30 regarding Howl's Moving Castle - he wrote 3 waltzes and had Miyazaki choose his favourite. I wonder if one of the others forms part of Wizard's Waltz on the Image Symphonic Suite album (which notably doesn't contain Merry-Go-Round of Life, which I've always assumed meant it was written after pre-production).

https://audioboom.com/posts/8327053-episode-376-james-mangold-on-the-music-of-indiana-jones-the-dial-of-destiny New episode of Soundtracking with Edith Bowman: 'James Mangold On The Music Of Indiana Jones & The Dial Of Destiny'.

I'd probably add 'Madness' from Porco Rosso to that list (although it's not like we're wanting for performances of it). Incidentally, I wish 'The Wind(s) of Ages/Time' would get some love. Maybe we'll see a Porco Rosso symphonic suite one day. (In the meantime, Guillaume Masson's piano version is nice.)

Great album, if not novel. It makes sense for this to be the first Deutsche Grammophon release, but I hope we'll see some deeper cuts next time. Fantastic - I'd missed the news that he'd been confirmed as composer. It looks like it was announced a couple of days ago and the album is scheduled for release on the 9th of August.

After an incomplete listen I'm somehow reminded more of the Star Wars prequel and Harry Potter scores than anything else (which is great, I should add). The truncated release isn't exactly a surprise, so I'll just cross my fingers and hope for a good quality FYC release and/or isolated sound track on the Blu-ray release.

Auction At Hotel L'Atlantique reminds me a lot of The Duel from Tintin.

Brett Mitchell has a piano cover up: Reminds me of the Rise of Skywalker concert arrangement when it's played on piano for some reason. Hollywood (as an industry) and Los Angeles (as a county) were among the most cautious in the world in easing restrictions. The 'Return to Work' agreement only expired in May, and this recording was done in February.

Great set list. There's strangely still no sign of the Rise of Skywalker suite being published, but nice to know it's not been entirely forgotten.

There's a recording of the above here: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/classic-100-in-concert-with-the-melbourne-symphony-orchestra (free account required; not sure if it's geoblocked). The Olympic Fanfare was great. The Theme from Schindler's List I felt was a bit rushed to my untrained ear.