MfL85

Ah, back from Vienna. And as everybody said - what a concert! It was so good to return to Vienna after two years to see Williams again with Ann-Sophie Mutter. And I would say, after three concerts in Europe, this was the one for me! I attended the performance on Sunday, had a great seats (one of the Logen Plätze on the left side, close to the stage) and it was a joy to listen from beginning to end. The 1st half was especially impressive. After a fun opener (Ring the bells), the often mentioned 2nd Violin Concerto followed, a highly demanding and complex piece that has LOTS of echoes from the 2nd Viennese School in it. Complex harmonies, splendid colors of sound, brilliantly performed by Ann Sophie Mutter. It is a complex work that Williams conducted wonderfully. Here you could really see what a fantastic conductor he is. He gave Mutter time to breathe and to play, accompanied her when she played her parts and took the reigns in the tutti parts. The crescendi, the intimate stuff, it was wonderfully build up and executed. I was so happy to see that the audience appreciated this complex work and rewarded the performance with a standing ovation! A far cry from easy listening. I was happy to see that even the older audience members who probably primarly showed up for Mutter were extremely impressed by the piece. "The Long Goodbye" was a wonderful encore for part 1. Part 2 was dedicated to his film music. And - again - all pieces were brilliantly and intensly performed. I noticed that even pieces I never had a huge connection with like the "Superman" Theme were absolutely phenomenal this time. One or two highlights were "Fawkes Theme" which Williams conducted slower than William Ross on the album which meant that wonderful and delightful details could be heard. "March of the Resistance" was also better than on the album. The whole counterpoint structure including the fugue came across really well and gave the march a beautiful and complex appearance. "Princess Leias Theme" was another highlight for me. Again, the tempo was a little slower than on other occasion which gave the solos an almost otherworldly beauty and intensity. Well I could rave on forever but it was just absolutely emotionally overwhelming, a morning full of joy in a dark time! Now I am back in Berlin and took a lot of light with me. I am so grateful having made the trip to Vienna a second time! (Sorry for my english)

Honestly I am someone who enjoys both classical music and film music. I can listen to a Boulez piece and to a John Williams piece. Actually its quite interesting to listen to Penderecki from time to time since some moments from "Close Encounters" and "Jaws" take a lot from the polish composer. I think this film music vs. serious music is mostly something created by critics. The musicians I know value both. The Berlin Philharmonic is made of pretty damn good musicians and they love JW. Tbh I was very annoyed by the review in the "Berliner Zeitung". Its something very german to guard serious art against entertainment art. And actually I am the best example why the article is wrong. I started with JW and got to know other composers through him. Sure you could argue that John just loves to have great orchestral effects that goes directly into your guts and that in the developement of european music composers of the second half of the 20th century try to avoid these effects. Maybe its the result of the highly emotional and manipulative music of Wagner that composers like Boulez try to appeal more to the intellect than the emotion and I think thats totally valuable and fair to pursue. Maybe they are just jealous in the end, that JW accomplished something few other living composers do. That he is loved and revered and people start singing his melodies when he leaves the building.

I hear you. Although I live in Berlin and its a sunny day its still surreal to get back into regular life...

Yeah there was a well known german critic Who claimed anything written After Wagner was worse than the music before. Mahler, Schönberg, Debussy all wrote good works but not as great as in the 19th century according to him. I disagree though.

So does anyone know - will John Williams leave Berlin today or stay for some more time. In the concert it sounded like he will return to LA in one or two weeks. Maybe he will rest some days before flying home?

Lovely pic! Anyone travelling home today, have a safe journey home! Fittingly enough Berlin looks extremely moody today.

Hm just when he talked about Berlin at the beginning... I dont know I just felt you feel that he told the story like two times already. But maybe it was just me.

Thank you so much for your kind words, my friend! Wasn`t it a wonderful concert? I would say it was even a tiny bit better than the Thursday performance. The Berlin Phil seem to so into these pieces by now and played their heart out like they knew this might be the last time they played under the baton of the Maestro and gave everything they had! John Williams was in a good mood as ever but I felt - judging from the livestream - that he shortened some of the storys he told on Thursday a little bit. However he called the Berlin Phil "probably the best orchestra of the world"... well, take that Vienna!

I wish everyone who attends a wonderful evening. Thursday was a blast - I hope today will be too. I will be streaming todays concert via Digital Concert Hall!

Ignored him basically. He saw him in the last second before escorted away, was almost at the door already. Like you would react to some movement on the street.

Wow, this was simply incredible. Thank you so much for restoring the original version. One question: Do you have the score without sound effects and dialogue?

Hi, just signed up here after reading for years. I attented the concert on Thursday and I was (again) totally overwhelmed. I am not sure yet how it compares to Vienna (where I saw the first performance) - maybe the program was a bit more diverse in Vienna - but I was absolutely stunned by the mutual love and affection between the orchestra and the maestro. I thought the orchestra really responded very well and felt far more comfortable with the music than the Vienna Phil in their first round. The brass and the strings came really together wonderfully and even a piece like Olympic Fanfare which I liked but never loved up to this point gave me chills. As a regular visitor of the Berlin Philharmonic I noticed that there were several very young members of the orchestra there as well (first oboist). And the first violinist was different in this session than in the last concert with Petrenko as well.