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Boston Pops Releases New Recording of Williams’ ‘Oboe Concerto’


Incanus

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I know this is just repeating what is said on the JWFan main page but I thought this would warrant its own thread for discussion.

BOSTON POPS ORCHESTRA RELEASES NEW LIVE RECORDING OF JOHN WILLIAMS'S OBOE CONCERTO, IN CELEBRATION OF THE COMPOSER'S 81ST BIRTHDAY, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8 AT BOSTONPOPS.ORG

In celebration of Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams's 81st birthday on February 8, 2013, the Boston Pops is releasing a new live recording of the composer's Oboe Concerto at bostonpops.org. Written for principal Pops oboist Keisuke Wakao, the Oboe Concerto is the latest John Williams work to showcase the talented musicians of the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops. The recording took place during the world premiere performance of the work at a Boston Pops concert at Symphony Hall on May 25, 2011. The concerto's three movements-Prelude, Pastorale, and Commedia-run approximately 19 minutes in length.

This is really fantastic news :)

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Isn't this going to be available on February the 8th at the earliest?

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Isn't this going to be available on February the 8th at the earliest?

Of course... In all the excitement, I missed that important fact :D

Anyway, need to check with the BSO why I can't acess my flac subscription

I love the version I already have of this, but I'm open to different interpretations for sure.

You mean, the piano reduction...

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You mean, the piano reduction...

No, a proper live recording.

A very poor sounding one, I guess... unless you're talking about the movement played at Tanglewood. But that's not the full thing.

Nope, the one I have has perfect sound. And it's the whole thing. But it is....how shall I put it....a very unofficial thingie, so I can't comment that much in public.

Of course, it won't have much "exclusivity" now that the real thing is coming. I'll buy this new one.

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You're more than welcome to talk about fan-made audience recordings to your heart's content here on JWFan. As long as you are not trying to sell them, its fair game!

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I was in the audience that very night! ORCH Row C.

Wish it was the whole concert being released... Williams forgot to ritardando seguing Jaws into Star Wars during the Spielberg/Lucas tribute - half the orchestra didn't follow, including the trumpets. He then had them slow down considerably during the first passage of Luke's Theme to let the film clips catch up, then it continued perfectly from the second passage forward. A good example of an amazing recovery, and that the show must go on.

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I

A good example of an amazing recovery, and that the show must go on.

I guess thats the difference between conducting for a recording and conducting for a concert performance.

If you lose the orchestra during a recording session you just stop and do a new take.

For a concert that would seem unprofessional I guess.

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That's the thing about live performances: You never know what's going to happen. As a result, there are mistakes, and perhaps the musicians are nervous. A live recording isn't like to be as polished as a studio recording, but it also means there's more of an atmosphere in a live performance. A great live recording can easily be more exciting than a great studio recording.

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I still would like to send the coughing audience members out of the concert hall if they can't keep their throats clear during the performance. I remember that the oboe/cor anglais solo in the 3rd movement of WIlliams' Horn Concerto recording was completely ruined by one such person, who had to clear his throat just when the solo passage started. Philistines and their need to breathe! :stick:

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Yeah... I had one such person right behind be during the "Largo" of Dvorak's 9th Symphony in Montreal last night. Then she slowwwly starts unwrapping a candy over an entire minute during some of the most quiet passages.

She got a few dirty looks and left during the Scherzo.

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Listening to it right now. It's much warmer than Williams' usual works. I like it.

Karoi

I think there is no lack of warmth in Williams' concert works (e.g. I can't think of anything more poignant and tender than the last movement of his Cello Concerto) but many lack the immediate accessibility to most listeners and only reveal their depth and nuances and indeed warmth upon closer inspection. The oboe concerto by its very nature is more directly melodic and lyrical and accessible than some of his concert pieces, more along the lines of the Tuba Concerto than the Violin or Flute Concerto.

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I tell you those people should be strung and quartered!

I absolutely adore the second movement Pastorale. Just spellbinding the way Williams (and Wakao) can turn from peaceful rumination to something profoundly sad and touching just in the course of a couple of notes.

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The actual Violin Concerto is up there with the Cello Concerto for me and Treesong is not far behind. The first has always sounded extremely anguished to my ears, perhaps due to the death of Williams' first wife, the composer channeling his grief into the music but the Treesong just sings Williams' love for trees in a very meditative fashion. Beautiful stuff.

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Listening to it right now. It's much warmer than Williams' usual works. I like it.

Karoi

I think there is no lack of warmth in Williams' concert works (e.g. I can't think of anything more poignant and tender than the last movement of his Cello Concerto) but many lack the immediate accessibility to most listeners and only reveal their depth and nuances and indeed warmth upon closer inspection. The oboe concerto by its very nature is more directly melodic and lyrical and accessible than some of his concert pieces, more along the lines of the Tuba Concerto than the Violin or Flute Concerto.

Couldn't agree more... principally regarding the final movement of the cello concerto!

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It's a great piece. Love Williams string writing, and it's nice to hear him writing a concert piece for string orchestra. Wakao's playing is sublime. It's certainly one of his most fun and accessible concert works.

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It's a great piece. Love Williams string writing, and it's nice to hear him writing a concert piece for string orchestra. Wakao's playing is sublime. It's certainly one of his most fun and accessible concert works.

You may want to check Williams' Flute Concerto, also scored for soloist and string orchestra and his Essay for Strings.

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The Prelude is one of sheer beauty, and one can clearly tell it was written in the same year as War Horse.

I had already listened to the piano reduction, but the full orchestral original version shows all the lush orchestral palette that was obviously missing in the original version. The sounding is so unique, I wish Williams wrote more often for the string orchestra.

I'm very grateful to the BSO for releasing the live performance, and I only hope there are more recordings of the kind to follow.

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Just purchased it on the BSO page. This time it worked very smooth. On Willows and Birches was a bit complicated when it was released.

Wish I could say the same. Went to the 'Purchases' tab and clicked 'Access Media.' Clicking the link to download each track leads to some in-browser player. Right-clicking downloads a small unreadable file.

Waiting for the Amazon version...

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD

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You can also right click on the link that opens the media player and save the file before the media player opens.

For what it's worth it all went smoothly for me.

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Been listening to it a couple of times. Lovely piece -- and Williams with woodwinds in pastoral mode is one of my favourite sounds in the world. It's great to hear it in a fuller, more "three-dimensional" space than the piano reduction we've had untill now.

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So I take it we can expect this never to be released as a physical CD?

Somewhat off-topic, I guess... but can someone identify with 100% certainty the font used on the cover of this release?

Try WhatTheFont:

http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

They also have smartphone apps available I believe.

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So I take it we can expect this never to be released as a physical CD?

Somewhat off-topic, I guess... but can someone identify with 100% certainty the font used on the cover of this release?

Try WhatTheFont:

http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

They also have smartphone apps available I believe.

Already tried, but no 100% match, I'm afraid.

Do we know what quality the MP3 version is?

320kb/sec is the usual bitrate used by the BSO.

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While I appreciate my bank's vigilance, this did give me a chuckle.

Dear Mr Daley,
The Teachers Mutual bank has monitoring systems for all transactions.
We need to confirm if the transaction (done over the internet) on your Visa card is genuine:
9 February 2013 $2.99 DM BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCH USA
If this transaction is not genuine, the card will need to be cancelled asap and a replacement issued to you free of charge.
Please reply via email or phone Fraud Control department during business hours to discuss.
Kind regards,
Fraud Monitoring & Investigations Officer
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Oh yeah I was appreciative.
I just found the amount a little humorous ^^

I wouldn't mind if the back checked with me every time I used my card. It's certainly nice to know they have software looking for sus transactions.

I got a call from them a couple of years ago asking if I had just bought airline tickets in Russia. I hadn't. Thank you bank!!

The concerto, the orchestral accompaniment sounds so much better than I had imagined from the piano accompaniment. No offence to the piano, we're lucky to have both versions.

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