Maglorfin

Today marks the 75th anniversary of VJ Day.  As well as John Williams' Hymn to the Fallen, another of the pieces performed at today's memorial service at the National Memorial Arboretum was Only In Sleep by the contemporary Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds.
 
This performance by Rachel Ambrose Evans with the choir of Trinity College Cambridge is stunningly beautiful.
 
 

Erm no? That guy looks more like a cheap Williams clone than like me.

John Barry - Following the Diamonds

Never played that one, but that graphic style gives me so much nostalgia

Found this on YouTube and experienced a huge trip down the memory lane as I played this game back in 1994 or so.  Has anybody else played it?
 
 

I wouldn’t necessarily say that there is such a thing as a Philharmoniker "A-Team". Yes, this is a large orchestra that even regularly plays two performances at the same time (for instance one in the opera and one in the Musikverein or on tour) and they do use substitutes to fill out the string section in these cases. However, the vast majority of the players (including most importantly the principals) are always going to be Philharmoniker.
It‘s no different here. The huge brass section seems to be there completely even, they had to mobilize everyone for JW‘s music. 😅
IMHO, the only place where the cast of these concerts was sub-par is the concertmaster. The VPO has 4 concertmasters and they often use 2 in concerts. Here, they used only one, Fedor Rudin, and he‘s still very young and inexperienced (he‘s only been with the orchestra for slightly more than a year). The poor guy looked visibly stressed during the concerts. I can’t help but think that someone like Volkhard Steude (probably my favorite of the 4 concertmasters) would‘ve smoothed out some of the communication issues between orchestra and conductor and kept everything more together.
But for the most part, I think the issues that arose were due to the orchestra not being familiar with some of the pieces, not because the players weren’t the best the VPO has to offer. Sadly, even the VPO isn’t immune to that.

Getting the HUGEST goosebumps listening to E.T., Jurassic Park, SW Main Title and The Imperial March (IMHO the best recorded performance of all time)!  Fantastic, fantastic performances in amazing sound. Admittedly, there are some minor issues (some of which I actually wouldn't expect from an orchestra of such calibre, prestige and reputation) BUT in this case I must say that they somehow sound kind of charming to me.  All in all, an outstanding release and I will cherish unforgetable memories of January concert forever. 

Getting the HUGEST goosebumps listening to E.T., Jurassic Park, SW Main Title and The Imperial March (IMHO the best recorded performance of all time)!  Fantastic, fantastic performances in amazing sound. Admittedly, there are some minor issues (some of which I actually wouldn't expect from an orchestra of such calibre, prestige and reputation) BUT in this case I must say that they somehow sound kind of charming to me.  All in all, an outstanding release and I will cherish unforgetable memories of January concert forever. 

Getting the HUGEST goosebumps listening to E.T., Jurassic Park, SW Main Title and The Imperial March (IMHO the best recorded performance of all time)!  Fantastic, fantastic performances in amazing sound. Admittedly, there are some minor issues (some of which I actually wouldn't expect from an orchestra of such calibre, prestige and reputation) BUT in this case I must say that they somehow sound kind of charming to me.  All in all, an outstanding release and I will cherish unforgetable memories of January concert forever. 

.

Bought this cool, geeky set of coasters yesterday for 3 EUR  (game cartridge is there just for fun and size comparison)
 

Bought this cool, geeky set of coasters yesterday for 3 EUR  (game cartridge is there just for fun and size comparison)
 

Bought this cool, geeky set of coasters yesterday for 3 EUR  (game cartridge is there just for fun and size comparison)
 

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Most people do. 
 
On this lovely Sunday, I'm listening to Haydn's lovely Missa sancti Nicolai, Hob. XXII:6 and Mozart's Missa longa in C, K. 262 (both of which I've also had a joy to play some years ago).

The HBO show is pretty good so far

Excellent review, @Marian Schedenig! 

For over 30 years of the 88 that you have been around, I have have been enthralled by your music. I have listened to it for countless hours. I have formed many friendships because of it, and it has impacted my life in ways that are simply undeniable. 
 
Thank you John Williams
 
Thank you JWFAN.
 

Here is Marian Schedenig's epic, extensive review of the concerts:
 
http://celluloidtunes.no/john-williams-anne-sophie-mutter-the-wiener-philharmoniker-at-the-wiener-musikverein/

As many here already know, I've created LEGO BrickHeadz versions of John Williams. Here's one of them at Williams's concert at the Musikverein:
 

(I also photographed it at Tanglewood, but that was before the beard redesign so the model isn't as accurate).
 
Just in time for his 88th birthday, I've finally completed the instructions and put them online so everyone can build their own:
http://bricks.schedenig.name/

Shostakovich 5. I can NEVER EVER get enough of it, especially that masterful first movement (the end of which gives me goosebumps every time). 

I haven't been here for more than a year so here goes:
 
- The World Is Not Enough (LLL)
- Harry Potter JW Soundtrack Collection (LLL)
- Schindler's List (LLL 25th Annivcersary)
- Dracula (VS)
- Apollo 13 (Intrada)
- Ben-Hur (Tadlow)
- Lang Lang - The Chopin Album
- Lang Lang - The Mozart Album
- Within Temptation - Mother Earth
- Superman: The Movie (LLL 40th Anniversary)
- Leonard Bernstein - Symphony No. 2 'The Age of Anxiety'
- Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1, Ballades (Seong-Jin Cho & LSO)
- Mission: Impossible (LLL)
- Chernobyl
- Stranger Things 3
- Celebrating John Williams (DG; Dudamel & LAPO)
- The Tenant (Quartet)
- Air Force One (VS)
- Minority Report (LLL)
- The Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
- The Alan Parsons Symphonic Project - Live in Columbia
 
Whew!  

Small world 

In this topic, there has already been some speculation about WP seating on JW concerts and we had a good chat of our own with @Marian Schedenig so I decided to ask my friend who plays double bass in the orchestra (and also played in both JW concerts). He told me the following: I don't know, we always play in this [i.e. American] setup when we're touring and sometimes also in the Musikverein, depends on the programme/project. I think Williams didn't care about the setup we play in.
 
After Saturday's concert (which I attended), he also told me that the orchestra loved this project and working with JW who "was very nice to everybody" and that he - the bass player - rewatched E.T. before this project "to remember it all". He pointed out the unprecedented reaction of the public which, so he said, "we've never experienced before, regardless of either conductor or venue". They had three rehearsals with Johnny before Saturday. During the intermission I also spoke to percussionist Thomas Lechner (he played the timpani in JW concerts) whom I also met some 10 years ago and he told me basically the same thing - couldn't sing enough praise to the project. He told me he totally remembers how he cried at the end of E.T. when he was a kid and that being able to play all this music with the Maestro himself at the helm is (was) for him a huge privilege.

In this topic, there has already been some speculation about WP seating on JW concerts and we had a good chat of our own with @Marian Schedenig so I decided to ask my friend who plays double bass in the orchestra (and also played in both JW concerts). He told me the following: I don't know, we always play in this [i.e. American] setup when we're touring and sometimes also in the Musikverein, depends on the programme/project. I think Williams didn't care about the setup we play in.
 
After Saturday's concert (which I attended), he also told me that the orchestra loved this project and working with JW who "was very nice to everybody" and that he - the bass player - rewatched E.T. before this project "to remember it all". He pointed out the unprecedented reaction of the public which, so he said, "we've never experienced before, regardless of either conductor or venue". They had three rehearsals with Johnny before Saturday. During the intermission I also spoke to percussionist Thomas Lechner (he played the timpani in JW concerts) whom I also met some 10 years ago and he told me basically the same thing - couldn't sing enough praise to the project. He told me he totally remembers how he cried at the end of E.T. when he was a kid and that being able to play all this music with the Maestro himself at the helm is (was) for him a huge privilege.