Star Wars and Beyond With The Melbourne Symphony

[garym 0]

Well, hitting the post button was by accident, but why not make the most of it. Hi all, my name's Gary and this will be my first post on JWFan. Thank you guys for such a great resource of John Williams news and information!

As my first post, I'd like to tell you about my trip to Melbourne over the weekend to see the Melbourne Symphony, under the baton of Anthony Inglis, perform Star Wars and Beyond. As you can imagine, there are few performances of Mr. William's music here in Australia, so this was a real treat.

The program included Jurassic Park, Memoirs of a Geisha, Harry Potter, Superman, Raiders, Close Encounters and various Star Wars pieces among others. The venue was Melbourne's Town Hall, the home of the MSO. Outside, fans mingled with characters from the Star Wars saga as they awaited the opening of the Hall.

The performance began at 2pm, and opened with William's Olympic Fanfare. The next two hours was a superb showcase of William's talent, and that of Mr. Inglis and the MSO. Each piece was accompanied by a themed lighting display (my favourite was a blue and red show for Superman), and often by a prop or two worn by Inglis (a Princess Leia wig, Jedi robes, a Superman undershirt). Inglis often paused between pieces to recount a story to the audience, or to explain the significance of a particular piece. There was a recount told by a member of the orchestra who had performed with the LSO during the recording of Schindler's List score, and Inglis told of a story he'd heard about Williams' apparently claiming to Spielberg that he was not a good enough composer to score Schindler's List, to which Speilberg replied "I know, but all the better ones are dead.".

At the close of the performance, after Inglis had stepped off stage to thunderous applause, a character dressed in a red hoodie rode a bicycle across the front of the stage. This turned out to be Inglis, in a not-so-subtle announcement that the final piece would in fact be the finale from ET, despite there being no mention of this in the program. The performance of this piece in particular was spectacular, and I was overjoyed that they hadn't forgotten about such a marvellous piece of music. After stepping off the stage post-ET, Inglis returned twice to bow out, as the crowd continued to applaud the performance, then the orchestra and the crowd began to disperse.

There are no words I can think of to adequately express what a pleasure it was to be at this performance. My sincerest thanks to the Melbourne Symphony for their magnificent sound, to Mr. Inglis for his marvellous sense of humour and the effort he put in to the while experience, and of course Williams himself for composing such superb music. I hope you all enjoyed the recount. I'm sorry it's so unpolished, but like I say I hadn't meant to post it yet.

Thanks for reading!

Gary.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I was at the same performance Gary. Was going to post my thoughts in another thread, but you've pretty much summed it all up. The highlight for me was the principal violist recounting the panicked reaction he and the other string players had when playing the infamous "Hedwig's Theme" run for the first time in the original recording sessions.

The only complaint I had was that the bass trombone and tuba were far too loud. They overpowered everyone, and my tinnitus flared up for hours afterwards. It made me feel old.

Incidentally, I've attended all of Inglis' previous performances with the MSO Pops over the last few years, including "Space Classics" and "Superheroes", both of which featured Williams. He obviously has a great connection with the composer's music which is exciting, considering the classical snobbery that occurs towards JW's music.

This performance was easily the best of the ones I've seen. We're lucky to have such a vibrant orchestra in Melbourne.

[garym 0]

Hi magical_me.

I'd forgotten the story about Hedwig's theme, thanks for mentioning it!

I'd have to agree wrt the trombone and tuba, though I expected that was common at live performances. Is that not the case?

Indeed you are lucky to have such a wonderful symphony so near to you. I've heard the Sydney Symphony only a handful of times, but I'm yet to hear them play anything that had me nearly as enthused as I was for Star Wars and Beyond. Perhaps if I'm lucky Inglis might pop by Sydney for his next performance - a weekend trip to Melbourne is not a cheap proposition!

Gary.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Re: Trombone and tuba; I've never noticed it being a problem in previous concerts, but that probably had a lot to do with the venue. The MSO usually performs the Pops series in Hamer Hall at the Arts Centre, but it's currently being refurbished and won't open till next year I think. So the Melbourne Town Hall is currently being used, and while it does have great acoustics and is one of the oldest orchestra venues in the country it's a lot smaller and intimate. Those final notes of "Adventures on Earth" are still ringing in my ears as a result!

Also, welcome to the board! Always get excited seeing fellow Aussies on here! Wonder if anyone else here went to the concert....

[garym 0]

Thanks for the welcome! Will post to the newbie board as soon as I get a chance.

Gary.