zoltan_902

That stage looks small and cramped, and I'm really not sure how much the staggered elevation adds to the performance. But still, I'd be over the moon to be there to witness this historical occasion.

The category will inevitibly be renamed "The John Williams Memorial Award for Best Film Score".

"With this fader, we can make you softer or louder.... Just like that!"

Warm congratulation to Kathleen Kennedy. Remember also that Steven Spielberg wears an honourary KBE. He should apply for Canadian or British citizenship to make full use of the title *wink wink*.

You might actually be correct with the score, but I've listened on repeat to the Dudamel recording (the recent one with the LAP), and I don't hear the mistake; considering how extremely tonal the section is, a wrong note would stick out painfully, so I assume this has either been corrected by the musicians, or they've got a different copy of the music.

Considering how much of it was produced, I'm surprised that the series isn't still in syndication, especially with the specialty arts channels that have come about in recent years. That fact that we don't see the old episodes broadcast anymore makes me suspect (and I hope I'm wrong) that original masters of the show have been lost or destroyed. Personally I've been looking for 10 years for the episode where JW conducts the suite from the Phantom Menace. Last year we found out that WGBH has an online 'vault' or archive content, where some miscellaneous content is accessible. I did write them an email about certain episodes of EAP, but I was given a spiel about uncertainty of the rights to the episodes. Even at Pops is the best show I've ever seen as far as television coverage for orchestral performances - as someone who works in film and television production, I'm in constant admiration of the shows consistently high technical production, which allows the viewers to appreciate the full orchestra, and (to me particularly) getting to see John Williams as a conductor - I could watch him conduct music all day.

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

Hmmm. I'm very interested to hear the other tracks. Impressionistic interpretations like this can be very hit-and-miss. Duel of the Fates sounded the most appealing from the samples.

https://www.abc.net.au/classic/classic-100/composer/ Beethoven came in at #1.

Yes, Ch7's been using 'The Mission Theme' for many years now, though it's gone through its own tangential evolution. Most Aussies here would instantly recognise the melody, but almost no one is aware of John Williams having written it. Being the JW super-geek that I am, I never fail to point out to my parents when they hear the theme at 6pm that it's a JW piece. Incidentally, our Ch9 news uses music from 'Cool Hand Luke', composed by Lalo Schifrin. The music itself was never intended to have a life beyond its use in 'The Tar Sequence', but indeed it became immortalised when the Nine Network decided to use it. I'm assuming Ch7 keeps a (regularly updated) video obituary of JW, with specific mention that he composed the networks news theme. As much as I'd be gratified to see JW finally get that final acknowledgement, I'll be very happy to see his obituary put off for as absolutely long time as possible.

ABC Classic FM are doing a "Composer Countdown" this month and next. Each presenter on the station has been given the opportunity to present a program of the composer of their choice. Dan Golding, who presents the "Screen Sounds" program on Saturday nights chose to do a feature on the great Maestro himself. Not sure if it's accessible from outside of Australia, but if it is, then to those who are curious, enjoy! https://www.abc.net.au/classic/abc-classic-specials/presenter-favourite-dan-golding-john-williams/11103476

The start of piece just barely manages to offset the nausea I feel when I see the orange monkey proceeding down the aisle.

Speculating on his illness is neither helpful nor warranted. I for one will assume it has nothing to do with the travel. I'm not aware that long-haul flying is inherently unhealthy on elderly people, especially if it's as comfortable an on-board accommodation as one would expect for JW. The pace-maker might be a different issue, but for a journey as high stakes as this, his health would have been under enormous scrutiny from his insurers and management, so I cannot fathom that they'd write-off on this if there was such a huge inherent risk.

People are entitled to be upset at this not because John Williams is ill (we're all extremely worried), but because they are investors into a product whose nature and value has now intrinsically changed (most would argue for the worse). Many would spend hundreds (if not thousands) to attend a concert conducted by John Williams. For a concert conducted by Dirk Brosse on the other hand....