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John Williams & the Vienna Philharmonic: January 18/19 2020


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6 minutes ago, Bellosh said:

No official tracklist yet?

 

 

On 5/2/2020 at 4:21 AM, MaxTheHouseelf said:

Tracklist of the CD (from Amazon Germany)

 

https://www.amazon.de/John-Williams-Live-Vienna-Williams/dp/B087SM43M9/ref=sr_1_6?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&dchild=1&keywords=john+williams+in+vienna&qid=1588407460&sr=8-6

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This means the 6 additional tracks on the Bluray will be Mutter's performances:

Hedwigs Theme,

Theme from Sabrina,

Donnybrook Fair,

Theme from Cinderella Liberty,

The Duel,

Remembrances.

 

 

On 5/4/2020 at 6:34 PM, Pawel P. said:

BluRay track list from Amazon.de

 

1. THE FLIGHT TO NEVERLAND (aus "Hook")
2. EXCERPTS (aus "Unheimliche Begegnung der Dritten Art")
3. HEDWIG'S THEME (aus Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen") - (mit Anne-Sophie Mutter)
4. THEME (aus Sabrina") - (mit Anne-Sophie Mutter)
5. DONNYBROOK FAIR (aus "In einem fernen Land ") - (mit Anne-Sophie Mutter)
6. DEVIL'S DANCE (aus "Die Hexen von Eastwick") - (mit Anne-Sophie Mutter)
7. ADVENTURES ON EARTH (aus "E.T. - Der Ausserirdische")
8. THEME (aus "Jurassic Park")
9. DARTMOOR, 1912 (aus "Gefährten")
10. OUT TO SEA & THE SHARK CAGE FUGUE (aus "Der Weisse Hai")
11. MARION'S THEME (aus "Indiana Jones: Jäger des Verlorenen Schatzes")
12. THE REBELLION IS REBORN (aus "Star Wars: Die Letzten Jedi")
13. LUKE & LEIA (aus "Star Wars: Die Rückkehr der Jedi-Ritter"
14. MAIN TITLE (aus "Star Wars: Eine Neue Hoffnung")
15. THEME (aus "Zapfenstreich") - (mit Anne-Sophie Mutter)
16. THE DUEL (aus "Die Abenteuer von Tim und Struppi: Das Geheimnis der Einhorn") - (mit Anne-Sophie Mutter)
17. REMEMBRANCES (aus "Schindlers Liste") - (mit Anne-Sophie Mutter)
18. RAIDER'S MARCH (aus "Indiana Jones: Jäger des Verlorenen Schatzes") - (mit Anne-Sophie Mutter)
19. THE IMPERIAL MARCH (aus "Star Wars: Das Imperium schlägt zurück")
20. John Williams und Anne-Sophie Mutter im Gespräch 

 

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57 minutes ago, moi said:

Rey's theme would have been lovely. Without ASM that is. 

I'd have preferred to hear it with ASM. It was one of the better tracks in Across The Stars.

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15 minutes ago, toothless said:

I might be in the minority here but I generally don’t like any of the tracks with ASM. Too classical-ish for me. 

Some of them I do. Her performance in the Musikverein was dodgy by all accounts, mostly because her main aim was to project to all four corners of the hall, but I do admire the virtuosic writing from Williams in his new arrangements, especially Potter. With something like “The Duel”, we’re getting basically the same orchestral arrangement but suited for solo violin, whereas with the Harry Potter arrangement, we’ve got all sorts of new textures and colours from the orchestra we’ve not heard for the Hedwig’s Theme so far...

10 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

I believe that’s what he’s lamenting

Although it was the original plan for the concerts in 2018 I suppose - or maybe one of the many variations of a programme we got for 2020

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The lack of Rey's Theme is a real shame but it probably would have been the ASM version if it happened at all... so... eh. Not worth losing sleep over, when there's so much great stuff instead.

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3 hours ago, Pawel P. said:

Williams' concert on Blu-ray was probably the biggest musical dream of my life. Of course, there is an excellent "Celebration" Blu-ray from 2015, but conducted by Dudamel (except for the encore). And here ... Williams conducts one of the best orchestras in the world, in one of the most renowned places, and I saw it live - twice! That's why it doesn't matter to me that some important compositions are missing, especially since the the concert is still very long. I'm also surprised by complaints about the presence of Anne-Sophie Mutter, who has become one of Williams' most active popularizers in the still conservative classical world. As for the allegations that Maestro is now weaker conductor than he once was... Well, I completely disagree. 

I knew JW's Vienna engagement was a major milestone and a keenly awaited event for Europe's JW fan community, but it's clear to me now it was more than that. People speak of this like it was the second coming.

 

Not that I'm criticizing -- actually, it's just finally dawned on me how truly fortunate were those who got to attend! What I would give now to have been there too. Watching the blu-ray this summer will be all the more meaningful for it.

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3 hours ago, Pawel P. said:

Williams conducts one of the best orchestras in the world

 

Well, JW had to reduce the tempo of The Imperial March in order to enable the orchestra to follow... ;)

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6 hours ago, Pawel P. said:

As for the allegations that Maestro is now weaker conductor than he once was... Well, I completely disagree. 


Could you elaborate on that?

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Well it is not a secret that when you get older the tempos usually get slower. I think this version of Imperial march was perfectly fine, it is a piece of music that doesn't get any better when its faster. 

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The best live version of "The Imperial March" I've heard is the one in London, with Dirk and the LSO a couple of years ago. This version with the VPO is fine, but not on that level, IMO.

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6 minutes ago, moi said:

Well it is not a secret that when you get older the tempos usually get slower. I think this version of Imperial march was perfectly fine, it is a piece of music that doesn't get any better when its faster. 


It’s not so much about tempo choices, it’s about tempo inconsistency within pieces. But people call me crazy when I dare mention that, so I’ll stop saying it I guess.

 

Btw, this Imperial March is fantastic indeed. No complaints from me about that performance.

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1 minute ago, Fabulin said:

You mean rubato?


No. Scherzo for X-Wings on the TFA soundtrack album is the example that comes to mind right away (but this is getting a bit off-topic).

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19 hours ago, Remco said:


Could you elaborate on that?

 

Well, I'm not a musicologist, I'm probably not able to point out the special differences between von Karajan, Rattle and Ozawa, so I can only talk about my feelings. I just think current Williams performances are just as good as those from years ago. Of course, I noticed that during the first concert in Vienna, on Saturday, in the culmination of E.T. there was some disruption, but on Sunday it was excellent. And of course, when you are 88 years old, it's difficult to have such energy as you had years ago. In Vienna, however, Williams did his best as he does during recording sessions. And when I hear his music conducted by other conductors, It usually has no start for his performances - one of the exceptions is always excellent Gustavo Dudamel. Dirk Brosse was also great in London. I'm happy that I was also at that concert (they should release it on CD!). But, for example, the performances in last year's Slovak compilation "Music from the Star Wars Saga" were mostly average.

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19 hours ago, Thor said:

The best live version of "The Imperial March" I've heard is the one in London, with Dirk and the LSO a couple of years ago. This version with the VPO is fine, but not on that level, IMO.

Yup, that whole concert was glorious. wish I had attended.

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17 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Yup, that whole concert was glorious. wish I had attended.


I was lucky enough to have been in Vienna and London, and if I could separate the fact John was right in front of me, I preferred the setlist and performance in London!

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On 5/9/2020 at 10:58 PM, Thor said:

The best live version of "The Imperial March" I've heard is the one in London, with Dirk and the LSO a couple of years ago. This version with the VPO is fine, but not on that level, IMO.

What makes you think it is not on the same level? The Vienna performance was flawless. Brosse conducted it faster than Williams though. I guess opinions tend to vary here, as always, and a matter of personal taste. While the LSO is the "original" Star Wars orchestra, it's still hard to top the Vienna Philharmonic. Before 2020, I thought the VPO's 2010 Imperial March performance was the best interpretation.

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I prefer the faster tempo. JW's conducting style is a recurring problem for me. William Ross breathed life into HP2, Keith Lockhart did the same with the TFA suite and Brosssé's preference for stacato and fast-paced performances are much more thrilling to listen to. He also seems to have been the only one who understood how to perform the new Han Solo and the Princess arrangement. All the others just don't give a shit and want to get it over with.

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5 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

He also seems to have been the only one who understood how to perform the new Han Solo and the Princess arrangement.

 

If not for that bloody humming, it would be the perfect recording!

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4 hours ago, GlastoEls said:


I was lucky enough to have been in Vienna and London, and if I could separate the fact John was right in front of me, I preferred the setlist and performance in London!

I’m so glad I could be at both. I feel like the Vienna set was filled with more rare gems that I really won’t hear as often, and also in some places, was more grounded in what JW may have thought was “better” music for the environment (ie the presence of so many ASM moments and the Shark Cage Fugue) as well as the crowd pleasers we had in London. 

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It's hard to imagine what 2018 would have been like if Williams hadn't fallen ill. I would have seen the man conduct two world-class orchestras in the span of less than ten days. And even after the replacement and rescheduling these concerts still became legendary anyway.

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6 hours ago, Mr. Breathmask said:

It's hard to imagine what 2018 would have been like if Williams hadn't fallen ill. I would have seen the man conduct two world-class orchestras in the span of less than ten days. And even after the replacement and rescheduling these concerts still became legendary anyway.

 

Well, I loved the Vienna programme and the fact that ASM was part of it. I wouldn't want to miss that. But given the Philharmoniker's enthusiastic response to Williams, I imagine the 2020 concerts might have happened even if the 2018 ones hadn't been cancelled.

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9 hours ago, Steve said:

What makes you think it is not on the same level? The Vienna performance was flawless. Brosse conducted it faster than Williams though. I guess opinions tend to vary here, as always, and a matter of personal taste. While the LSO is the "original" Star Wars orchestra, it's still hard to top the Vienna Philharmonic. Before 2020, I thought the VPO's 2010 Imperial March performance was the best interpretation.

 

The faster tempo, the fact that it was the original ensemble, the extreme tightness in the challenging rhytmic bits, the dynamic range between the soft and loud. The VPO was fine (and has the added bonus of Williams himself at the helm), but in terms of sheer performance, it doesn't even come close, IMO.

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My memory of the 2018 London concert will always be tinged with disappointment, for an obvious reason. But even as far as the music goes, I prefer the Vienna program, for the presence of all the ASM pieces which made it extra-special, and which I doubt we'll get to hear very often in (such great) live conditions.

 

 

On 5/8/2020 at 7:26 PM, DavideG said:

NO REY'S THEME ???????!!!!!

IT'S A SHAMEEEEEEE !!!

 

On 5/9/2020 at 8:55 AM, moi said:

Rey's theme would have been lovely. Without ASM that is. 

 

On 5/9/2020 at 9:55 AM, Biodome said:

I'd have preferred to hear it with ASM. It was one of the better tracks in Across The Stars.

 

On 5/9/2020 at 2:49 PM, crumbs said:

The lack of Rey's Theme is a real shame but it probably would have been the ASM version if it happened at all... so... eh. Not worth losing sleep over, when there's so much great stuff instead.

 

I'll go with Biodome on this one... I love both versions, too bad they didn't play either! 

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And to think it was long listed as part of the Vienna programme (both for 2018 and 2020). For years I doubted I'd ever get to see Williams live, then I had tickets to see him three times in 2018, then only one of those concerts happened (and without him), then I flew to Tanglewood and saw him conduct, and then Vienna happened - and through all that, I still haven't heard Rey's Theme live. But I'm not complaining, I like the Vienna programme just as it is.

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