gwscores

At about 4:43, the snare drummer jumps his entrance by a full measure.....he rolls through it, and then the camera cuts to Williams shooting him an absolutely pissed-off glare.

JW in physical comedy mode is always a laugh:
 

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He is very clear to watch...very functional with little "elaboration" of the basic techniques (that is a POSITIVE, by the way - there's way too much flowery bullshit from people overdoing their own style). He is highly confident with the stick. He is very co-ordinated - and never has his head buried in the score - always knows the music he is conducting inside-out, whether it be his own or something else. Excellent body language - there is no doubt as to who is the star on stage when he is conducting - I don't think that's intentional by any stretch, that's just the way he is. Final point - with most conductors I get a feeling that there is usually some compromise with tempi/moods etc...I don't get that from him at all - I think he is really quite demanding and controlling (which is a good thing). A serious conductor - not someone who just conducts.

I've read on Jerry Goldsmith Online that Jerry was so disappointed in his conducting abilities that he was taking classes to improve them. That was probably around 1986-87.
But watching John conduct, he certainly has, shall we say, the "showmanship".

The general consensus seems to be, from what I've read over the years from people more knowledgable them me is that he's good, but not great.

Always thought the similarities to this were GLARING as well, although the harmonization is different. Here's to Gerald Fried!

Many people have scoffed at the suggestion that Jaws was inspired by The Rite of Spring. I was one of them... until I actually listened closely.
These two main themes are pretty much based on the same dissonant chord.
Pianists, play the following-
RH: Eb7 chord in 1st inversion, play it in the middle C octave
LH: E note, play it two octaves below
This is the cell that is prominent through much of Rite. Play it quickly and repeatedly with the ragged accents of Danses des Adolescentes and you'll hear it.
Now for Jaws... instead of repeating that chord over and over again, transpose both hands up a half step so that the RH plays an E7 chord 1st inv and the LH plays an F. Go back and forth between these two chords quickly and staccato, just like you were playing the Jaws theme.
There you go.

Just listened through the CD.
 
As others have said, the clarity of the music is amazing. It was a joy to listen to. The overall soundstage, instrument clarity/ detail, sounds wonderful. The horns sound more like horns, the strings sound more like strings, the snozberries taste like snozzberries...
 
I've listened to the old release about 7 times maybe, but this was like hearing it all for the first time.
 
I love the energy in the fast-paced queues. I love the feel of the bass drum in a couple tracks, love the beauty of the Vivaldi arrangement, and I really enjoy the percussion and low instrumentation in 'The Execution.'
 
My appreciation for this score has grown considerably thanks to this release. And I'm so impressed with what Mike M was able to accomplish with this re-mastering.

The sound on this is superb. An all around fantastic release. It’s hard to believe this recording is from 1972.
 
The theme has always been a favorite, one of the high schools used to play the overature at football games when I was in school and that was my first introduction to it. Which is surprising considering how much my dad loved John Wayne and westerns. 

There is so much light, air and realism in this edition. It's intense, and I can't help but play it at a higher than customary volume. The main title has to be among my top five JW thrill rides, it's an orchestral and orchestration showpiece. At only three seconds in with that first tutti, you can tell this is the version to own. Respect to the brilliance of all those who worked to capture it and those who would give it a critical edition. Never expect any less from an MM project.
  I love the creepy, tritonally-harmonized Long Hair material (Long Hair and Jaws' horn theme share the same initial three notes and there is a Quint's Tale-like treatment of LH at one point - shades of things to come). It's everything, as they say, to be able to hear quiet pieces like this in clean, open sonics, including the almost minimalist reference to The Last Post in Summer's Over that is among the most brilliant cues of its kind (think "Watching the Skies" from another recent MM restoration - although the dramatic functions are different they are both ambient, almost infographically simple panels of sound).   At some point this past week, the Main Title from Towering Inferno starting crawling back into my hearing... probably its fast, angular, metronomic rhythms (look Ma, no corrective plugins!) connected in some way in my mind with the ones in this Main Title, especially given the style period proximity.