Foxfan

Ottawa is the CAPITAL of Canada.

I also vote for the Pops! As someone hinted at, it might have something to do with Boston's Symphony Hall acoustics. In fact, what I love about the "By Request" BPO recordings is the reverb heard throughout the entire piece (but most importantly after the final chord of a piece). It makes it sound much more natural.

Wow. I was surprised to see that this was a new release. My friend bought it just before going to Boston and had it signed by JW. It must be the only signed copy then!!!

I actually love the James Horner Universal 75th anniversary theme. Anyone know who wrote the Columbia Pictures theme? I like that section with the horns at the end. Of course, nothing will ever beat the immortal Fox theme from Alfred Newman (although I would like it if they would re-record it (it hasn't changed since 1997 or 1998).

Yeah. I was real glad. The only thing is that there were so many things I've been meaning to say to Williams that just slipped my mind with all the shock and awe (I honestly didn't expect him to be meeting anyone on Saturday night). What was the most current address again if we want to write to the Maestro?

For audio, the Saturday concert was broadcast live on WCRB in Boston. I hope someone recorded it. As for meeting John Williams after the show, it wasn't possible after the Saturday afternoon concert (he had to go eat and be back for the next show), I'm glad to report that I was able to meet with Maestro after the second show. We were only three people waiting in the lobby, so just like Diskolobus, I was invited to the dressing room for a photo near the piano and an autograph!

Well, I'm posting this from an internet cafe while waiting for the 3pm concert. I have to say that today is probably THE most horrible day to be in Boston (rainy, windy, cold, etc). I guess I'll see some of you at Symphony Hall later...

I'm pretty impressed with the selection. Plus, the three Star Wars pieces keep the door open for the full Star Wars symphony being performed in August (so it's not like we'll be hearing exactly the same thing twice). The only small gripe I have is that he put the tributes at the end. I would have been happier if they would have gotten them "over with" at the beginning. Of course, if there are some good Williams encores it'll make up for it. Also, I have never heard "Olympic Spirit", so that will be a good new piece to hear. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Well, I did a bit of digging on the BSO site and found a press release with some more program details: THEY'RE PLAYING HOOK!!! It's a little disappointing they're doing the three tribute pieces (the same as Tanglewood last summer), but the rest is AMAZING!!!

Still no hint of program details? Since this is a "John Williams Spectacular" concert instead of the usual "Hooray for Hollywood" or "Film Night", I wonder if there will be some JW concert fanfares as well. I only started listening to the Liberty Fanfare recently and it's a piece I hope I'll have the chance to hear in concert. I can't wait to see what film scores he'll play (in addition to Star Wars, Geisha, and Munich)! I have the impression we'll hear more of his own work in this one than in other concerts I've been to in the past three years where he seemed to be obsessed with doing tributes to Hermann and others. PLEASE play Hook again!!!

Can anyone in Boston find out if the program details got released? I can't wait until next Saturday!!!

JediWashington, has anyone been able to figure out why John Williams sometimes inverts the cellos and violas at concerts? I remember two years ago when JW's Friday concert had the violas and cellos inverted, while the Saturday concert had them placed normally. That would be a good question to ask him instead of the traditional stupid question of (What is your favorite score? etc.)

Thanks. I tried Audacity (copy and pasted each channel) and worked fine. There must have been a mixup on the Varese recording. All other John Williams scores have the instruments properly placed.

I noticed the original CD has them inverted (violins on the right, brass on the left) and want to switch them back. Any free program that will do this? I don't want to endure any "deliberate creative decisions" on my John Williams CDs!

Just last week, I made my own Hook CD. From the OST, I removed track 15, as well as the end of track 2 (can't stand those kids' horrible singing), and added the final "end credits" passage from the BPO concert arrangement for closure at the end.

I know it's probably suicidal to say this on this board, but honestly, doesn't anyone feel strange when Obi-Wan gets stabbed by Vader in Episode IV and there's happy music playing?

Why didn't Williams have the oriental kid play that Piano Sonata that he composed but never recorded when he was at Julliard?

I concur.

It went on hiatus last year, saying they were "repositioning" themselves for a return in 2006, but so far I haven't heard anything about it. With the "John Williams SPECTACULAR" concerts scheduled, it would be nice if one of them would be broadcast!

So far it ain't that great... You guys got my hopes up with discussions of a new celebratory fanfare.

I'm watching it (started at 9). Can anyone who saw it starting at 8 comment on what is coming up?

There are many different start times depending on local stations. For instance, WCFE (PBS in Plattsburgh, NY) is broadcasting it starting at 9, while WETK (PBS in Burlington, VT, just across the lake) is starting it at 9:30. Anyone seeing it right now? I just noticed that WGBH Boston will be showing it at 4:00 AM!

I still don't understand why PBS' national HD feed is still scheduled for "Frontline" tonight instead of the Julliard special. It is listed as widescreen in the standard local channel listing, so I don't get why they're not showing it. It must have something to do with the damn copyrights with those lefty musical unions.

What I recommend is getting a pass for one of those hop-on/hop-off tour bus services at Aquarium station. That will take you around everywhere and they'll tell you all about the various sites. The tour guides will make their own recommendations of where you should eat or visit. If you were a fan of Boston Public (as I was), you might want to go over to East Boston (Maverick station), walk up to White street and see East Boston High School (where they filmed the exterior shots for the show), as well as go down to Doyle's restaurant in Jamaica Plain (south part of Boston).

I'm in a bit of a dilemma right now about how to record this thing. I have found out that it is not on the schedule for PBS-HD. That means I have to choose between either recording the digital subchannel (which is highly compressed to not affect the quality of the HD channel) or analog (which would give me a higher picture quality but a poorer sound quality).