rpvee

Correct!

https://nerdist.com/article/star-wars-revenge-of-the-sith-john-williams-score-vinyl-mutant/ Nerdy nitpick - this is actually ROTS’ third vinyl pressing, not second. Still gorgeous regardless!

What did the video for Han consist of?

He did remark he had to kinda beg Williams to let him do Catch Me If You Can.

It was indeed a lovely concert! For clarification, I worked it, didn’t exactly attend it (I do video work for the Philharmonic). The encore was Imperial March.

The program for this concert! There was a time when the Maestro would’ve been the one conducting this. But still, should be a wonderful celebration!

What did I miss?

I don’t disagree they’ve handled this in a messy way. People should be able to get refunds because of Williams’ cancellation. My issue is that your anger seemed directly targeted at the fact he couldn’t make it, without any sympathy or understanding as to why.

The man is nearing his mid 90’s, is wheelchair dependent, and has been on a months-long recovery from at least a couple strokes. Get a damn grip. If you thought there was a 100% chance he’d be traveling across the ocean given the last year of cancellations and his recent LA appearances, you were fooling yourself and putting selfish and absurd expectations on a disabled, very old man who is, for all his genius, still just a human being and vulnerable to all that anyone is at his age. Us fans, and his audiences in general, were ridiculously lucky that his health held on as long as it did. Every time I saw him conduct, I savored every second, and would watch him exit the stage until he was totally out of view, fully aware that there wasn’t a guarantee of a “next time” - especially as the years went on. The last time I saw him was Carnegie Hall early last year. Despite my never taking his concerts for granted, it’s nevertheless been a sad, long journey accepting that that concert was very likely my last time seeing him conduct, if not my last time seeing him in person at all. But I’m not angry about it, because I, like most here, have long accepted the eventual inevitability of it all. To those mourning this cancellation who would’ve seen him for the first time, I’m truly so sorry. But I hope you find solace that his prolonged good health still allowed incredible new scores even in these recent years - and hopefully there’s still new music to come in however many years are ahead! We’re all lucky to still have the Maestro with us at all. If this post sounds like I’m already mourning him, I certainly don’t mean it that way. Of course I hope he continues to recover and steps on a podium again. But these days, with these circumstances, we can be hopeful while simultaneously being realistic. Like I said, I’m grateful he’s here with us at all. As always, sending my best wishes to him.

You realize that the original 35 and 70mm film resolutions are the equivalent of higher than 4K, right?

I really don’t know how people are reading into this with such doom, when to my eyes and ears, the only real evident sign of something wrong is the slurred speech. The man is 93. Of course we need to be realistic about what we can and can’t expect from him in the future after these supposed strokes. But that doesn’t mean he’s on death’s door not able to do anything, and doesn’t mean we can’t have some optimism about him, especially while he literally still has officially scheduled appearances coming up. We ultimately have no idea what his condition is, and trying to determine that from a very short video where he’s sitting but expressive with just some slurred speech is ridiculous. Assuming he still shows up at the LA concert(s), that is when we’ll be able to better determine how he’s physically doing, and that’s regardless of what we do or don’t hear about Berlin in the meantime. No one should doom/gloom and declare anything until we literally see him moving physically somewhere. I understand some here are trying to be respectful of his age and think it insensitive for anyone to ponder future outings by the Maestro. But I think it’s also insensitive to read so much into some slurring in this little clip and declare this man, who’s always advocated for being active no matter his own age, done for with the turtlenecks hung up. He certainly wouldn’t want that to be thought of him, and his mention of “next time” indicates as much. He’s not giving up on himself, so no one here should be giving up on him.

Well, mentally he certainly seems sharp as ever, but his speech has been affected heavily by… something. Some kind of stroke? Glad he was able to record the message, but I wonder if/when we’ll get a better idea of what’s been going on. Wishing all the best to the Maestro!

Not part of the proceedings. He was just in attendance for the last show, as his score was heavily incorporated into the musical. But I definitely wasn’t the only one who recognized him!

Went to the final performance of Broadway’s “Back to the Future” today, and had the unexpected pleasure of meeting the one and only Alan Silvestri! 🤯 Got to have a nice brief chat with him, including telling him how his score for “The Mummy Returns” was a huge part of my childhood, and how to this day I love film scores that incorporate sounds of the Middle East (another favorite genre of mine). Never thought I’d get to meet him - unexpected bucket list moment! ❤️

https://www.nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/2425/john-williams/ No exact program yet beyond the description, nor any sign of the Maestro himself, but nice to see the NYP doing more of his music!