St0rMl0rD

Yeah, I mean my arms were tired from all the clapping on Saturday...Can't imagine John's after CONDUCTING for three days in a row, several hours each time.

I was hanging with the horn section after the Saturday concert. First horn Chris said that Johnny came to him and said that nothing wrong with his playing but John was too tired to conduct Leia's theme as an encore!!

After a few days in which I first had to realized what really happened, I want to say that the Berlin concerts were an incredible experience to me. I was there on thursday and saturday...
 
Just the moment when John Williams himself entered the stage was overwhelming! The orchestra was fantastic and the interaction between the musicians and the conductor was so enjoyable, you really felt how much fun everyone was having on stage, and that carried over to the audience as well.
By the way, the audience was phenomenal! So much euphoria and respect shown to John Williams, you could really see how grateful he was about it.
One of the coolest moments was, when he announced he would be composing new Indiana Jones music in a week or two, and the audience flipped out and making him smile about it.
 
The program was great too! One of my highlights was the Olympic Fanfare (which I haven't been able to get out of my head since this weekend) - When the brass section started, I thought "Wow! What a sound!" - but when the basses, timpani, and the rest of the orchestra joined in shortly after with this great, deep chord, I was completely overwhelmed. So John Williams captivated me from the very start!
The program was full of highlights from Close Encounters, Harry's Wondrous World, Marion's Theme or Throne Room & Finale, but I actually liked every piece! And as the absolute top of the cake, they even played Theme from Jurassic Park, my absolute favorite soundtrack since my childhood, so that was something very special and meant a lot to me! When he announced it as "...the last 5 minutes of the movie" my first thought was "Oh my god, are they really playing T-Rex Rescue & Finale now? 
 
The 14 minute standing ovations at the end of saturday's concert was somehow the perfect ending to an unforgettable weekend, and I'm so grateful to have been there, and happy for all the other fans who had the same experience. Hopefully we will see each other again soon, to the next magical journey... 

The Berlin digitalhall archive will be having this 4KUHD stream once its been edited. You can login anytime to watch it. For newly registered the access is 7 days free trial. 

Love how he pronounces it as "Hed-vig's" theme when introducing "Hedwig's Theme" -- proper German consonants!

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

Here's my only half-usable photo of yesterday's concert (my phone's camera is lousy, and I didn't dare take out my DSLR):

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

What should Dohr have played better? The principal horn player played without noticeable mistakes.

Soloists are soloists. Orchestra/ensemble players are orchestra/ensemble players. If a member of an orchestra (or an ensemble, or a choir) performs like a soloist, you won't get a balanced and coherent orchestra (ensemble/choir) sound. That's not to say that orchestra players can't also be excellent soloists, but they're only good orchestra players if they don't stand out individually from the orchestra (except in solo passages, obviously).

This is the most impressive part about all this.  The man is doing more concerts now than ever before.  What a legend

This is a terrific post and I largely agree. 
 
Vienna was the first.. which will always be significant.  It had grandeur, elegance, formality, and the peerless Mutter.  Vienna is gorgeous.
 
But Berlin was joyous, free, emotional and overwhelming.  The audience was like nothing I’ve ever seen - 15 or so standing ovations, cheering - one felt overcome with happiness. 
 
For that, and my little cherry on the cake singing Raiders to him, Berlin wins for me overall. 

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

This is getting boring....sorry.

Totally agree.

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

He said at the concert yesterday that he’s going back to work in LA in a few days, so I reckon he flew back today or maybe tomorrow.

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.

Some people have asked me how this concert was different from the Vienna one. Vienna was my first ever JW concert in person, so it blew me away and left me in such a shock that I couldn’t listen to a note of music for a whole week after. That being said:
 
Better in Vienna:
- venue
- smaller, tighter stage so the sound was more direct, which was an aspect of the sound I loved there
- magic of Vienna (it also started to snow a few hours before the concert) added to its already historical significance
- I preferred the program there
 
Better in Berlin:
- orchestra
- as much as I like Anne-Sophie, I preferred the original arrangements of the pieces
- orchestra again; really worth repeating as they played with less mistakes than VPO, and especially the string section was incredibly warm and pleasant sounding
 
Both incredible concerts, as a whole I preferred the Vienna one because of the whole experience, but playing-wise, this one was better.