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Tanglewood Film Night Aug 22, 2015 [UPDATE: Williams cancels appearance]


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SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW: CONDUCTOR KEITH LOCKHART

Williams, Theme from Jurassic Park

Williams, The Barrel Chase Sequence

Gardel (arr. Williams), Por Una Cabeza

Raksin (arr. Morley), Theme from Laura

Bock (adp. Williams), Excerpts from Fiddler on the Roof

Williams, Throne Room and Finale from Star Wars

ENCORE: Williams, Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back

Keith Lockhart came out for the second half and did the basic Theme from Jurassic Park arrangement we've heard a million times. Something happened here which annoys me at live concerts - people started clapping like 45 seconds in when they recognized the main melody after the intro portion was over. Grrr! Next came Jaws - and thankfully, it wasn't the theme arrangement like usual (which would have annoyed me because people always laugh at that one for some reason). It was, like the Star Trek music from the first half, set to picture complete with sound effects and dialogue. I should clarify: The program said "The Barrel Chase Sequence", it wasn't the later scene where they are chasing it around with multiple barrels; It was the first scene where they first find the shark in the boat and attach the first barrel - the cue called "Man Against Beast" on the Decca CD and Sea Attack Number One on the LP Re-recording. This makes sense, as its the longest cue in the score by far, and features a wide range of emotions. The presentation started with Brody throwing the chum in the water, and they didn't censor the "shit", which I found surprising. The audience gave nice laugh at "you're gonna need a bigger boat", and a few other key moments. Overall, it was a blast watching this scene with an audience, and the live orchestra just made it better. I wanted it to just keep going and cover the rest of the movie :P

Somewhere around here (I think before Jaws actually) Lockhart talked for a while, saying how Williams was the most modest person he knows, so he'd take the opportunity to talk about John since he never would himself :) He had a little index card in order to rattle off the amount of Oscar, Grammy, etc awards and nominations he's earned, complete with a "partridge in a pear tree" joke. And discussed the modestry of programming a concert with 3 selections not even written by him (and one not even arranged by him) in his portion of the evening. So with that we were off to Por Una Cabeza, the famous tango from Scent of a Women, Schindler's List, and True Lies. Lockhart told us the story of the odd name before playing it, and introduced violinist Gil Shaham who handled that as well as the next two pieces - the Theme from Laura and Excerpts from Fiddler On The Roof. Williams would have approved of the former's video, which was a montage of femme fatales from all the decades of Hollywood cinema. Fiddler was one of my favorite pieces of the whole night - I actually don't own this OST and am not too familiar with the music, but I really liked what I heard a lot, and the orchestra completely nailed the whole performance.

Finally the night ended with Throne Room and Finale from Star Wars, which was the longer arrangement as heard on the Skywalker Symphony CD, and the Revenge of the Sith OST. This was another one of my highlights of the night, surprisingly! I wouldn't have guessed since I've heard this piece so many damn times in my life, but the orchestra totally nailed it, it just sounded great. Gotta love that Force Theme!

After leaving the stage and coming back, the encore was The Imperial March, and there's really nothing more that can be said about that. They made it seem like there was going to be another encore, with Lockhart leaving the stage and coming back again, but there wasn't.

Overall, a perfect night for a concert - the weather was gorgeous - not too hot, not too cold, and the orchestra sounded great. Wonderful evening all around! It's quite a lovely part of the state, and I hope to visit it again soon!


Also, I had already seen the entire Star Trek Into Darkness film live to projection in Philadelphia last year...

How was it, btw?

Awesome! I posted my thoughts about it in its thread after I saw it; You even replied in the thread after I did! ;)

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His second piece was probably my favourite of the evening. I had heard the theme from Jaws a few times, But to hear Man Against Beast from Jaws (named The Barrel Chase in the concert booklet) was a real delight. This piece was performed to picture. And even though I've seen the film countless times, the last one being just a few days ago in Maine I really loved it. Fun to see the audience reacting to the appearance of the shark and Brody's immortal line.

:worship:

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