Tydirium

My two cents:
 
https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2022/12/14/john-williams-in-milan-2022/
 
I needed a couple of days to collect thoughts, I hope it's worth your reading time.

This gem will finally be available again digitally on Friday:

The "they are all dead" story made its way on Italian newspapers finally 😁

Funny you post this because the entire time I was on the roof of the Duomo I couldn't stop thinking about Ralph McQuarrie's unused Coruscant concept art! 
 

Wait, what? I was being serious. I meant that I have now been able to hear his stories. I can live without having heard all the music.

I wonder if maybe Warwick Davis' career growth was stunted somehow. 

On top of all the obvious picks, I really love his Christmas Vacation score. Always wished for an expanded release.
 
 
 
And for anyone who hasn’t seen it, his video walking through the creative process behind “Laura Palmer’s Theme” is a must-watch. Oh, Angelo.
 
 

Original article (in Italian):
https://www.corriere.it/spettacoli/22_dicembre_10/02-spettacoli-texxcorriere-web-sezioni-a4a6c670-789d-11ed-826e-c8ce3b8cd17b.shtml
 
Translated version:
https://www-corriere-it.translate.goog/spettacoli/22_dicembre_10/02-spettacoli-texxcorriere-web-sezioni-a4a6c670-789d-11ed-826e-c8ce3b8cd17b.shtml?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

Overall the orchestra was good but after hearing Berliner or Wiener it's a whole different level. It was just the brass section being weak in some spots. Sound also very "intimate" in this theatre.

What an incredible concert, really a one-in-a-lifetime experience!
 
I was so thrilled when the Maestro appeared! I was literally shaking and on the verge of crying, especially with Hook's theme playing…
 
I couldn't believe I was standing 5-6 meters away from such a genius who has provided so much joy to so many film enthusiasts all around the world for so many years.
 
I am so grateful that my mother and I could get hold of tickets (Vivatickets was an utter and total shambles) and be in the presence of Mr Williams, together with hundreds of fans sharing the same spirit.
 
Thank you to those who have posted pictures, I managed to spot ourselves among the crowd!

Not a bad view. 
 
 

My ladies, yesterday, enjoyed the Maestro, the second time after Berlin. They're under 30 by sure!

Good morning everyone,
what a wonderful experience! It took me a while to realize what was happening. Now, back home in Germany, I would like to share a few impressions with you...

Already the moment I entered the opera gave me goose bumps. What a beautiful auditorium! The musicians were all very relaxed and had a lot of fun on stage. When John Williams stepped in front of the orchestra to thunderous applause, he greeted the musicians with a little "Buongiorno". 
I don't want to go into the individual pieces here, because some of you will still see the great concert tonight.

It was interesting to see how John Williams worked with the musicians. Here and there he had little details to remark on. At one point he said something to the first cellist as they continued to play.
John Williams was in a good mood himself and laughed a lot. At one point between two pieces he just stood there looking with delight at the magnificent ornaments on the stage ceiling. I think it must be a great experience for him to conduct at La Scala!
 
Those were a few little impressions I was able to capture. I will remember this rehearsal as a great whole experience, with an electrifying energy, lots of fun and wonderful music!! 
I'm sure tonight's concert will be an unforgettable event and I'm happy for everyone who can be there. Have fun and enjoy it!
 
PS: Seeing John Williams with sneakers was also quite enjoyable!! 

Just realised who I was sat with for the rehearsal…
 
Am under 30. Got a ticket for tomorrow but thought I’d take my chances at the rehearsal today (despite sold out / no ticket). 
 
Ended up asking people outside if they had a spare ticket. Got one off a nice lady.
 
We sit together in the auditorium. I ask how she got a paper ticket, obviously she’s important! Says she’s worked with John.
 
I see this post after. Had heard of Anne from the Vienna concert. Obviously it turns out to be her! Didn’t realise till I saw this message, googled her, and thought “looks familiar” 😂
 
I was very grateful for the (free) ticket!

received_880860436269383.mp4  

There are microphones and cameras!

VID_20221211_150715.mp4  
 

Best time ever for John in Milan 

And we still don't know if the rest is going to be released, or if there is going to be a full albu.
 
 
Nah. Williams knows how to write for solo instruments in acoustics settings, and the Musikverein wouldn't (and didn't) amplify instruments unless explicitly called for/absolutely necessary.
 
Regarding releases… there's multiple factors at work, I'm sure:
 
1) Seeing the relevance (yes, I'd buy all of these concerts, as many here would, but to someone in the business who isn't a die hard Williams fan, these are relatively similar concerts, and not every single one of them would necessarily seem in need of a release)
2) Economics. How many of us are there really? How many copies would they sell, if they released more or less the same stuff multiple times? Yes, the previous concerts became very good sellers, but it only now occurs to me that perhaps this is also a sign of how poorly classical/physical music sells these days to begin with? Perhaps it's just that the worldwide community of JW fans already accounts for a significant share of total sales. Not all of them would buy a release of every concert, I suppose.
3) Politics. Though I don't know if that applies in this case.
 
There are many live concerts I'd like recordings and releases of, and often they don't make them, for one or more of these reasons, or only make them years (or decades) later. The Vienna State Opera often records their performances, either for radio broadcasts, or (several times per season) for live video broadcasts to a big screen next to the opera house. I suppose all these recordings go into the archive, and the Orfeo label has been releasing live recordings that go back to the 50s - many of them only in recent years.
 
There was a brilliant performance of Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos conducted by Thielemann that I was very much hoping would be released, and that was filmed at least for a live broadcast. It took several years for a first release to show up though, and that was only as part of an expensive 15-or-something-disc anniversary box set of recordings spanning the house's entire recording history. It took a couple more years for a Blu-ray release to appear.
 
Another case: The re-staging of Wagner's entire Ring des Nibelungen from 2007 and 2008. The premiere seasons were conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and featured a (mostly) brilliant cast. Those were excellent performances, and I would gladly have them on CD, but only the first act of Die Walküre was ever released. Why only the first act (surely a rather unusual kind of release)? Probably because for the premiere performance (which this was taken from), Juha Uusitalo, who was cast as Wotan, was sick, and could only act silently while a last minute replacement performed the singing for him. He sang later performances (and very well), but maybe this was one reason why the 2nd and 3rd acts were not released (Wotan does not appear in the first one). Also, the Brünnhilde singer, if she was the same I heard a year later, wasn't really up to snuff. In fact, for Siegfried, she was on rather short notice replaced by Nina Stemme (not possible for Die Walküre, where Stemme was already cast in a different role, and appears in act 1). So maybe that was another reason. Whatever the background, of all four operas, only that one act was released. Instead of putting out the rest, the Wiener Philharmoniker (who play in these performances) recorded a full set of the Ring with Thielemann, replacing much of the main cast with singers he had worked with before. I think that was around the same time when Welser-Möst resigned as musical director of the State Opera, though I can't know if that's related to these circumstances. Whatever the case, we got a Thielemann box set with a "foreign" (to this production) cast instead of a full release of Welser-Möst's excellent live recordings.
 
And I'm sure that in the recording business, Wagner's cycle is much more closely scrutinised and discussed than a series of JW concerts, where a simple "why should be record this one as well, we've already got one" by some executive might be enough to settle the whole matter.

I’m being fully serious, here. This deserves to have an official release just like Vienna and Berlin.