Jump to content

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


Ricard

Recommended Posts

They'll have the 2nd concert to fix that for the bluray. And usually they'll even able to use rehearsal versions if they have to, to fix for some parts.

 

Modern live recordings are not "natural" since many years...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Biodome said:

And I second that the last concert was better from a musical standpoint. Much cleaner performances, no desync in E.T., no bad notes in Jurassic Park, etc. That additional time for practice clearly helps.


I agree.

 

And we saw you smiling from the balcony the whole time!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Martinland said:

That, my friend, is a thing of the past. *grinn*

My statement looks really foolish now, with what has transpired over this weekend. 😂 I swear, it's not normally like this - a Viennese subscription audience is notoriously hard to please. I'm incredibly glad that JW got all the love he deserves. 😀

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, Matthias said:

First Austrian review is out (in German):

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000113486699/besuch-vom-lieben-gott

 

The reviewer was impressed by the JW fan community, saying it was "like God being welcomed by His earthly disciples" 😂

 

JessesMariaundJosef, des kamma ja net lesn.

 

I don't know what it is about this particular report, if it's the reporter's personal style or it simply being in German...but man, I felt embarrassed by it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, carlborg said:

Did anyone notice anything different with the ending to The Rebellion is Reborn? Or was it just me? Corresponding to ca.3:48 of the original OST track

 

Yes it was different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

 

Yes it was different.

A new different ending or mistake? I find it very hard to imagine that the Vienna Phil would screw up so badly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, carlborg said:

A new different ending or mistake? I find it very hard to imagine that the Vienna Phil would screw up so badly

Just the rall seemed to be greater and more dramatic. Much more separated beats. I was surprised 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, Kühni said:

 

JessesMariaundJosef, des kamma ja net lesn.

 

I don't know what it is about this particular report, if it's the reporter's personal style or it simply being in German...but man, I felt embarrassed by it.

Its really embarrassing, it shows that he is not use to writing these kind of film music reviews and has decided - in the most arrogant way possible - to step down from his throne, getting off his usual „traditional viennese concert“ review and do a review of „filmmusic“ just to show off and be able to mock it a bit...Ahhhhhhhh, terrible this viennese „we know what classical music is...you dont“ attitude  ..🤮🙄😤

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, carlborg said:

A new different ending or mistake? I find it very hard to imagine that the Vienna Phil would screw up so badly

 

Why would you assume every musician would make the same mistake? Its not unusual for Williams to tinker with an arrangement for concert performance.

 

I would the shortening of Luke and Leia more jarring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Stefancos said:

 

Why would you assume every musician would make the same mistake? Its not unusual for Williams to tinker with an arrangement for concert performance.

 

I would the shortening of Luke and Leia more jarring.

That's the very reason why I thought it might be a different ending.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Lao Che said:

Its really embarrassing, it shows that he is not use to writing these kind of film music reviews and has decided - in the most arrogant way possible - to step down from his throne, getting off his usual „traditional viennese concert“ review and do a review of „filmmusic“ just to show off and be able to mock it a bit...Ahhhhhhhh, terrible this viennese „we know what classical music is...you dont“ attitude  ..🤮🙄😤

The review is mildly condescending and not very substantive, but it is very positive and - to be honest - I would've expected much worse from Vienna's music critics. (and Mr. Ender has personally written much worse reviews himself) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Lao Che said:

Well, that's the whole problem, he doesn't even bother to give you a proper review, not gonna waste his breath on film music, just a very superfluous look on the whole idea of a film music concert, a concept that conveys more of a fun factor that actual quality.. Mr. Ender gives you the feeling that this is something that should be left to the fans and doesn't really belong in a concert hall. I would have appreciated more of a real, down-to-earth analysis of the music and its interpretation(being a first for the VPO), than a poor and IMHO not really funny comparison to a sermon.. Believe me, as a violinist living in Vienna, I know and have to live with these critics every single day. But that's just me :)

Yeah, you're completely right about that. I feel for your suffering with critics like these. 😅

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, bollemanneke said:

So… What did they really play at these concerts? Is there a comprehensive and accurate list?

Check out Biodome's reply a page before this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back home I have to say: what a wonderful concert (Saturday), with some minor - I guess coordinative - mistakes (e. g. E.T.), but overall: unbelievable.

 

The critic is strange...

"Den Höhepunkt stellte wohl das Thema aus Sydney Pollacks Verfilmung von Sabrina dar."

"Sabrina" as the highlight of the concert...? Is he serious?

Here's another one:

https://www.diepresse.com/5754852/harry-potter-im-goldenen-saal

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, alawill75 said:

Back home I have to say: what a wonderful concert (Saturday), with some minor - I guess coordinative - mistakes (e. g. E.T.), but overall: unbelievable.

 

The critic is strange...

"Den Höhepunkt stellte wohl das Thema aus Sydney Pollacks Verfilmung von Sabrina dar."

"Sabrina" as the highlight of the concert...? Is he serious?

It's a journalist without taste... That's not something new

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

But he doesn't mention JFK.

You’re right. Meant Dartmoor, 1912. Apologies, my brain has yet to recover from the concert! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

he meant Sabrina being the highlight of the Mutter pieces. But yes, horrible writing. Not as bad though as the text on the website of the Musikverein, where Williams is compared to Mozart. 🙈

 

https://www.musikverein.at/magazin/2020/jaenner/der-alleskoenner

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, carlborg said:

And the ironic thing is that you could really see that the VPO musicians were truly enjoying themselves, and looked honoured to be performing JW's music under his direction (the principal flute bowing and gesturing towards JW as if passing all the praise back to the maestro after the solo from JFK, is a notable example which comes to mind). If the orchestra, musicians and the Gesellschaft have accepted him, why do the critics keep up this pretentious approach?

 

This is what I don't understand. The more and more that these sorts of concerts occur, I can only think that musicians are opening up to JW's music (or heck, have always been open to it but the people in charge of programming just never did it)—so when will the critics? It seems like most orchestral musicians still enjoy and love playing Romantic-style works (that's the sort of lush symphonic music that makes most people want to join an orchestra, to begin with), which JW's music fits right at home with in many ways. He is a logical continuation and addition to the tradition of masters such as Mahler, Strauss, Puccini, and Korngold.

 

The problem imo is that most critics seem to be firmly rooted in postmodernism, and are out of touch with most musicians and definitely out of touch with audiences...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mixed emotions for me. Living in Korea and having had already crossed off "seeing Williams live" from my bucket list back in 1998 in London, it never occurred to me to attend. The idea only really came to me a few days ago when I saw tickets were available. But it was too late, and well, I had some 7 months ago purchased tickets to see Queen on their Bohemian Rhapsody tour in Seoul last night - Jan. 18. If given the choice, I would have preferred to have been in Vienna, but I have to admit I'm still on a high from seeing Queen perform. Sure Freddie wasn't there, but Brian May was and it felt like the real thing. The rock part of me is over the moon, but the Williams fan in me is thinking I missed my last chance to see Williams. Yeah, mixed emotions. But by golly the Queen show was amazing!

 

And I'm so happy for those that got to experience this. Back in 1998, I took every opportunity - 4 nights and one open rehearsal. it hardly seems real now, but I'm so glad others here just experienced something similiar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Tydirium said:

Just curious, has anyone seen any video/audio from "The Flight to Neverland" posted online (or did anyone here manage to snag any)? Eager to hear the VPO playing that one.

I have just a small bit from the 18th 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, tmarps said:

Just the rall seemed to be greater and more dramatic. Much more separated beats. I was surprised 

Just confirmed you’re right! @bollemanneke the ending they played corresponds to the signature edition...just a more extreme rall. which I for some reason found very jarring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, Tydirium said:

 

I'd love to see/hear!

Sadly, I have used just audio recording and it seems that apple is now using much larger compression on them  (videos has much better audio quality) I think it sounded pretty good though, loved the tempo which was very close to the original and it had a nice flow....

Karlsplatz.m4a

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.