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'A Celebration of John Williams in Concert' - Royal Albert Hall, October 26, 2018 (CONDUCTED BY DIRK BROSSÉ)


Mari

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Terrible news!

 

First of all, I wish Williams a speedy recovery. If he's still in London, he should have great health care service.

 

As for my own personal disappointment, it's obviously there. But I don't think I can afford to cancel. The hotel is beyond the point of cancellation, and the flights were non-refundable to begin with. I'll have to consider for a few hours.

 

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I hope Vienna's only cancelled out of safety, in order to not put him through any more "unnecessary" travelling to risk the whatever getting worse - not because it's that serious.

 

There's possibly no replacement because it's still a week out, there's time to rearrange plans. Outright cancelling RAH 2 days before the concert would have just been dickish.

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Oh no! Vienna!

 

I was just going to say that RAB will still be a magical experience, that nobody should cancel their tickets unless they absolutely had to, that I was still looking forward to a stellar performance by the LSO, and that we should all send our hopes and prayers to mr Williams.

 

After the announcement of his illness, I was doubtful that he’d show in Vienna, but of course still had hopes. I am sad they didn’t find a replacement. I would’ve still gone to the concert! I still want to!!!

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8 minutes ago, john_ub said:

Seems to be serious. The Vienna concerts have just been cancelled without replacement. 😞

 

https://www.vienna.at/konzerte-von-john-williams-mit-den-wiener-philharmonikern-ersatzlos-abgesagt/5972836

Luckily I can still cancel my hotel (thank you Booking.com), plane tickets Im fucked (118 euros down the drain)

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He's fallen ill after a long journey. It makes sense tbh not to encourage him to travel still further from home. I'm not surprised that Vienna is cancelled.

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Maybe JW can persuade Steven Spielberg to hop on a plane and compere the concert with Brosse as a slightly heftier consolation to ticket holders. I know it sounds facetious, but Spielberg might feel sympathy for the audience.

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1 minute ago, apples said:

Luckily I can still cancel my hotel (thank you Booking.com), plane tickets Im fucked (118 euros down the drain)

 I didn't book my hotel yet but flushed €100 trough the toilet. But more importand for me is that Johny will recover :(

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Just now, JTGL said:

 I didn't book my hotel yet but flushed €100 trough the toilet. But more importand for me is that Johny will recover :(

ah crap...Still gonna try with Austrian Air to cancel my flight

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Could you retitle this thread about all the cancelled concerts pls, I think it will be easier to follow than the three separated concerts threads, thanks.

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1 minute ago, Arpy said:

All the pissy comments I've seen on Facebook seem to think it's a cop-out, like it was somehow an 86 yo's fault for contracting an illness...

 

Yes, I'd be disappointed too, but people who can go, and have tickets should still go in the spirit of the music and solidarity for Williams, the conductor and the musicians.

For many many ticket holders this was a high-stakes investment. They are not pissed off because John Williams is ill; they are pissed off because the purpose of their travel time and costs (many from great distances) has been defeated, in a manner which makes it difficult to recoup those expenses.

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That's definitely a major bummer for those who were planning to travel specially. I don't blame you guys at all for wanting to cancel. I've seen Brosse conduct before and while it was a good concert, it wouldn't be anything compared to JW himself.

 

I brieftly considered going, but once it was clear the tickets were going like hotcakes I decided not to bother. And despite living only 30 mins on the train from London, it still requires a surprising amount of planning if the concert will end late. Plus I've never been to a concert where a mega-star like JW is actually conducting and it felt like it might get a bit hyper on the night.

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Well, I'm counting myself lucky that the London concert is still going ahead in some form - I'd be feeling much worse if I'd made the trip to Vienna for no reason at all.

 

I suppose a trip to the US in the near(ish) future is my best bet for seeing him conduct.

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Live locally, so will probably still go, but now it’s a ‘normal concert’ (as lucky as one is to have the LSO and RAH locally) and not the concert of a lifetime. You know what I mean.

 

Get well soon John, we love you. 

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I can't get a refund for the Eurostart so I might as well go the the concert at the RAH. But It'll be a bitter-sweet feeling knowing the highlight It could have been… Again, I sure hope Williams recovers !  That being said, I'can't help but feel sad right now.

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3 minutes ago, zoltan_902 said:

For many many ticket holders this was a high-stakes investment. They are not pissed off because John Williams is ill; they are pissed off because the purpose of their travel time and costs (many from great distances) has been defeated, in a manner which makes it difficult to recoup those expenses.

 

Hi , Im new here but a huge fan since I was 6yrs old - a lot of my professional musical  heritage sourced from this guy's work and a big influence on me - and was seeking a ticket to the gig unsuccessfully for months (via the forum which I couldn't sign up for until today ironically, and stubhub and all sorts of places) - this morning I saw some tickets turned up at the RAH site and was about to buy them when I saw the note informing of JW's illness. Was pretty much gob smacked as this is a big deal not only for those travelling and participating, but also cos the guy is a legend and seriously ill.

I really feel for the people on here who have been disappointed - and that's natural - but the guy is 86 and I think everyone already knew from the outset he was pushing it to attend Europe for gigs so it was always going to be 50-50, albeit expected more notice of a cancellation. But this stuff happens - and legends are disappearing rapidly all over unfortunately. I think all you can do is take out the "cancellation insurance" when you buy a ticket around these types of gigs and hope for the best. I am sure RAH will be fair around this.

Personally, being in London, I am going to try to attend and now looking to take my kids who previously there was no way in the world I could afford to take (given the crazy prices of secondary market). Ive heard the LSO play before, and any concert of WIlliams music live is actually just incredible to behold of itself - I am not saying that having the guy there is not a massive part of this intended gig, but the music live is awesome and if the worst case scenario is you "still have to listen to the fantastic music played by a fantastic orchestra in a fantastic venue" with another conductor then it could be worse.

With Europe cancellations, possibly more, I hope this illness is something recoverable and not impacting future work or life for Mr Williams. But if it comes about that he decides to retire and take it easy after this experience, I think its well deserved and he should enjoy it. I think this cancellation would not have been taken lightly at all, and he will not feel at all very good about it.

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People are entitled to be upset at this not because John Williams is ill (we're all extremely worried), but because they are investors into a product whose nature and value has now intrinsically changed (most would argue for the worse). Many would spend hundreds (if not thousands) to attend a concert conducted by John Williams. For a concert conducted by Dirk Brosse on the other hand....

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54 minutes ago, john_ub said:

Seems to be serious. The Vienna concerts have just been cancelled without replacement. 😞

 

https://www.vienna.at/konzerte-von-john-williams-mit-den-wiener-philharmonikern-ersatzlos-abgesagt/5972836

 

oh fuck....

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Just now, Disco Stu said:

 

oh fuck....

 

I think this was always going to be the case once London was cancelled. Traveling has made him ill so he was never going to travel further from home. 

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7 minutes ago, zoltan_902 said:

People are entitled to be upset at this not because John Williams is ill (we're all extremely worried), but because they are investors into a product whose nature and value has now intrinsically changed (most would argue for the worse). Many would spend hundreds (if not thousands) to attend a concert conducted by John Williams. For a concert conducted by Dirk Brosse on the other hand....

This is a very good way of putting it. I agree. My earlier point was that your investment was made with a risk that was known - he's 86, and doesn't travel much for good reason. I don't think anyone here is saying fans should not be disappointed or upset. When I told my kids about this half an hour ago, the only thing they had to say was "poor guy hope he can still play piano when he's better". I think that's pretty much how I feel about it as well. This news is more about the "maestro" himself than the concert alone.

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Sure it's disappointing, but so what? It's not the end of the world. Just go to London or Vienna and do something else as tourists.

 

Tons of stuff you can do.

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8 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

JW should just stay in London and do a pop-up concert whenever he's ready. It would be sold out no matter how close to the date they started selling tickets!

Nice idea - I would imagine if the Vienna gigs are cancelled, the hospitalization and recovery is intended for at least a week or so in London. If there is a super quick recovery, then best case would be he gets on a flight first class back to the USA earlier I think - His medical insurance would surely want him repatriated as part of the coverage, and family want him back nearby to relax. I would love for fans to get to see a pop up, doubt I would be that lucky, but bear in mind if its a disease it has to be eradicated/treated and damage recovered. Its not going to just be a common cold here - he would still play if that was the case. Sorry to be negative, but I don't think he would've pulled out for something trivial or suspected - its going to be something serious that he and his medical team need to deal with and take the time to sort out properly.

 

Having said that, from what fans have said, this guy is as tough as nails so I would expect a recovery to occur.

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5 minutes ago, Damien F said:

Can I just say that we don't know that JW is seriously ill.

 

We only know he is ill and is in hospital. We don't know the nature or severity of the illness.

 

An 86 year old in hospital does not immediately indicate a serious illness.

You don't go to hospital if you have a sore throat.

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1 hour ago, Quintus said:

As this weekend was also supposed to be for our anniversary we'll still be going and attending the concert. It's been paid for.

 

But what about the Da Mario's meal? Are all guests still going to be present?

 

I hope so!! Maybe the tone is little bit different but we have to drink more and hope Johnny will recover soon!!! 

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3 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

 

👍

I don't know how these things work on this site/forum as im brand new - but the Fans here could send him something combined. Well wishes, a gift, something, somehow to let the guy know we're backing him for a recovery and understand his choice. I guess it would have to go via his management, but there must be a way. Setup a justgiving page or crowdfunder to put the donations together or to a good use? just putting it out there. I don't know how to do any of this.

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