lairdo

Following last week's podcast interview between James Jolly and John Williams, out today is Gramophone's July 2022 issue featuring John Williams on the cover. I believe this is the first time he has ever been on the cover of this venerable classical music magazine although of course not the first time he has been written about in the magazine. (Anne-Sophie Mutter was on the cover following the release of Across the Stars in 2019.) Andrew Farach-Colton writes about William's long history of writing concerti and contains quotations from Leonard Slatkin, Yo-Yo Ma and Anne-Sophie Mutter (but none directly from Williams). The article is a nice survey with particular focus on the first violin concerto (and a bit on the flute), the cello concerto (both versions) and the tuba concerto. Prelude and Fugue (1965) and Sinfonietta (also 1965) get passing mentions as early works. (The author suggests that the latter, recording for DG around 1970, deserves a reissue.) Nothing really overly revealing within the article although it is a nice read and points to some of the technics (12 tone writing) and how the concerto pieces tend to be without a lot of melody. However, Farach-Colton does note the various influences he senses on Williams - Penderecki and Walton for example. The issue also contains a combined review of both recent releases - A Gathering of Friends and Violin Concerto No. 2. Alas, neither merits an editor's choice award for the month. In fact, the review feels more descriptive of the discs contents than analytic of the quality. Oddly - but maybe not - the editor in chief's monthly introduction section contains no mention of the feature article at all instead featuring layout changes within the magazine.

My SACD arrived Wednesday but just picked it up today from the PO Box. Listening now, and of course it sounds great. Probably not any better than my HiRes Audio and certainly not having multichannel is a bummer. So, really, just a nice collector's item. I've been collecting the Japanese releases since the Vienna concert. Yeah, the cut them down to 0. The Japanese audio versions do not include the speeches at all. I think this was the case for the CD release but I believe the Blu-ray video version has them subtitled.

Agreed on points 1 and 2. Oh my on the off topic one of Thriller. For sure that is one I will get! My first three CDs were bought in 1984 (yes I was an early adopter): 1. Star Wars OST 2. 1821 Overture by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops 3. Thriller(!) I know exactly where I bought them too (although the store is long gone).

Yeah, I figured that was the case. Even so, I ordered it. Will arrive on Thursday. Now we'll see if Violin Concerto No. 2 gets the SACD treatment too. (I am guessing perhaps at the same time as the Blu-ray release.) By the way, Atmos mix on Tidal is quite nice. Not overly aggressive in the surrounds, but still atmospheric. I assume the Apple Music version is the same mix and likely that is what we will get on the Blu-ray too.

Ahh. I misread it. Bummer.

Nicely played!

Very cool. And having just looked van Raat up, I see he is performing it again on June 21, 2022. https://ralphvanraat.com/event/national-belgian-orchestra-and-ralph-van-raat/ Oops. Misread it. False alarm.

Rats, I saw this just after 4:30 pm PDT - so as the concert was starting and the system would not let me buy a digital ticket. Hopefully someone did and captured the stream. And hopefully an official release happens.

I have watched them both. I would say the 2nd one is maybe a bit less cluttered with extraneous sounds and people walking by, but this one is more muddy unfortunately. Still, the piece is really different and the same simultaneously. I feel that JW was trying to capture all of the types of music the orchestras have played at the Bowl. So, you get some of the rousing fanfare pieces, the more eclectic rhythmic elements perhaps representing some of the 20th century composers, and of course, as noted earlier, Hurray for Hollywood - which even though I knew it was coming still made me laugh. Hard to imagine how this gets released unless someone commissions something like "The LA Philharmonic Plays John Williams Concert Hall Pieces" (lame title, I know) and then they collect things like this, Soundings (which has no audio only release), the Oscars piece, maybe better recordings of the concerti that Slatkin never had a chance to do. There's probably 2 hours of music that could use some really excellent playing. Or of course, if they wanted to do a "John Williams Live at the Hollywood Bowl" from his 3 concerts this year, that could be cool! Maybe we could get the the TROS suite finally!

If you go out of town more often, will we get even more albums released? (Not that there is any way to top the volume of the past 4 weeks in terms of John Williams releases.)

This is how I did it. I have a Mac, so I used the Podcast app to find the podcast. (This link should work.) In the app, you can hit the icon to download it (as compared to streaming it). Podcasts are stored in the user library. Go into Finder and hit CMD-SHT-G (for go to folder) Enter "~/Library/Group Containers" and hit return Found the folder that ends ".groups.com.apple.podcasts" - there will be some random characters before that Then navigate to Library and then into the Cache folder The most recent mp3 will likely be the podcast. It has no metadata or image, so you have to edit that if you want it. Copy it to another folder. (Leave the original or the Podcast app gets confused and might delete your file even after you move it.) The large Image from the Gramophone site can be downloaded.

Or they will just release a box set of all the albums to date and get people like me to double dip (or triple or whatever I am up to with these releases).

That is his motif as it were. He does it in every podcast. To his credit, he got JW to speak about topics I've never heard him mention before. I will actually listen to this interview a second time this weekend to gleam more from it!

Bummer! I have had to contact DG customer service before, and they are usually responsive and helpful. Maybe they held back copies in case there were issues and they can send you one?

I also see that Tidal is showing the album available in a Dolby Atmos mix available from their iOS, Android and AppleTV apps (but not desktop). I assume Apple Music has the same version as well. (I don't have an Apple Music subscription.)

Presto also made this the Release of the Week and posted a short review. This paragraph I think accurately describes the power of the concerto and why repeated listens are so enjoyable. "Reviews of the premiere performance mentioned that the work was so full of ideas that it never quite seemed to settle down and was hard to grasp on first hearing. I agree to the extent that it took me multiple listenings to appreciate the sheer range of its invention, but I think that ultimately attests to its strength – it constantly teems with new material, none of which outstays its welcome, merely revealing more of its secrets each time. No small amount of credit must also go to Mutter, who unfailingly holds the listener to attention and is in complete command of what she has described as some unbelievably technically challenging passages. Knowing her so intimately as a performer has clearly been a source of inspiration for Williams, whose writing is tailor-made to her abilities, particularly her sweet-toned, fast vibrato that is deployed to tremendous effect throughout, from the quasi-improvisatory, jazz-inflected opening section of the Prologue to the delicate, serene conclusion to the fourth movement Epilogue (in the composer's own words, "a gentle resolution in A major that might suggest both healing and renewal")." That's a lovely article. ----- Have we seen this Williams-Mutter logo before that is in the booklet?

I received my shipping order from DG and it was interesting as it indicated that I was getting the CD and a separately signed booklet. Won't know for 2 weeks or however long it takes to get to Seattle. Awesome. I read that he is on the cover of their July issue as well. Probably all tied together that they would do the interview and podcast as part of him appearing there. (Edit: Just looked it up - the issue drops on June 10.)

Album is up on Qobuz and HDTracks for download/purchase. Probably hitting streaming pretty soon. https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/williams-violin-concerto-no-2-selected-film-themes-anne-sophie-mutter/l0tf0b2e6g3nb https://www.hdtracks.com/#/album/6296610ec9e7c25a22dcdeaf (HDTracks weekend new release code: JUNEAUDIOHD - valid until 11:59 PM EDT, June 6, 2022) Only CD & Vinyl so far at Presto but I am sure it will populate with digital files there as well as other spots. Edit: Presto link: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/multiple-products/9318965,9319353,9329243?sc_src=email_113451&sc_lid=15671048&sc_uid=wdjqkLV5Qf&sc_llid=15706&sc_customer=ddf9909e8494ce4724fb96a1c2054b16&utm_source=emarsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=classical_newsletter_20220603 --- Update I had a chance to listen to the full album and it's great. Sounds amazing, well mastered and the film tracks form a nice complement to the Concerto without overshadowing it.

VP of Production. Basically managing the software and hardware teams making the games and then for a part of time as managing our supply chain operations. Effectively, keep everything going and allow the creative teams to do their best while ensuring we hit the date. Listened to a lot of rock music! (And then DJ Music when we did DJ Hero.) Most fun film-related thing I did as part of that was to commission a rock guitar heavy version of the James Bond film as downloadable content at the time Quantum of Solace came out.

Yes, I was in charge of getting the games and hardware made and shipped after RedOctane was bought by Activision until I left in 2011.

Wow. Amazing. The first half of the concert looks fantastic. It appears Branford Marsalis will be playing during Catch Me If You Can. As for Gwen Stefani, I would leave at intermission! (We worked with her on Guitar Hero, and I have had enough to last me a lifetime.) But back to the first half - amazing! I was hoping KUSC would broadcast this when they do their broadcast series (starts in September). Alas, they are only covering converts from July 22 until September 28 - but not really surprisingly, the Williams concerts and this 100th anniversary one are not on the list.

Wow, the covers are fantastic. I had never gone through all the of the previous posts. Darn good stuff.

I really want to like the new Star Trek logo, but the ship is flying around too much - I bet Lower Decks makes a total parody of it in season 4 (assuming season 3 is too far along to squeeze it in). Back to Star Wars - I too wish they would do something better than the chrome heads. It feels like a marketing message since there are no likeness rights associated with those characters.

My first impression was yes as well. As soon as it started, I thought so and actually thought that was going to transition into the title music (instead of the rescored prequel flashback edit).

I love it. That being said, for a classic original trilogy character, the suite feels more akin to the recent sequel suites (not surprising given the time of writing). Yet it does seem to really fit the mood of Obi-Wan at this stage. It's not Old Ben's theme or young Obi-Wan's theme. It's in-between as merited by the time period of the show. And as a standalone and just as music, it just works. I hope to hear this in the concert circuit, perhaps as soon as the June ones in DC and maybe at Tanglewood in August. I am positive it will show up at the Hollywood Bowl in early September. Maybe even La Scala in December. Very glad they officially released it today, and I expect it to also be on the Obi-Wan full soundtrack that will likely drop around the time of the 6th episode on June 23 or 24.