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


Ricard

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Wow, surprising news!

 

Still not convinced this is actually going to happen, but would be amazing if it did.

 

Alas, I have an obligation on the evening of the 18th here in Norway (coincidentally as a host for a John Williams concert here in Oslo), but perhaps I can make it with an early flight on the 19th. But in any case, I'd need to get a ticket, and I'm expecting them to be very expensive, and obviously extremely hard to get.

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34 minutes ago, crumbs said:

What is the cost of membership and was the allocation exhausted before general public sales opened last year?

 

And how much are tickets likely to be once on sale?

 

You can buy a maximum of 4 tickets for a single concert during the pre-sale for membership. the cost varies from 50 Euros up to 250 Euros for the best seats in the stalls.

 

Considering how carefully worded this press release is, it's looks like JW will conduct only a portion of the concert, like he's doing frequently in the last few years. I guess to avoid last-minute cancellations like it happened last year, it very much looks like the concerts will take place nonetheless this time around, whether Williams will be able to attend or not (it's called "A Tribute to John Williams", not "John Williams conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker"). My bet is that the majority of the concert will be conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, who is a regular guest conductor of the Wiener Philharmoniker and of course a pretty huge name in itself, other than becoming rapidly the most acclaimed and distinguished interpreter of JW music in the classical arena.

 

I have to consider carefully whether to go or not. It's not the best of times financially for me. I'll think about it over the weekend.

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19 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

It's certainly worded in such a way that he'll at least conduct a part of the concert (so more than was promised for Tanglewood earlier this year, where he still ended up conducting the final third). I do remember we had similar speculations last time, and in the end he was clearly supposed to conduct the whole affair himself (he was the only conductor listed right before the cancellation). I would imagine there will be a backup conductor, and I wouldn't be surprised if they go ahead without Williams should he not feel up to it, but I'd expect unless he falls ill again, unless his overall condition isn't as good as last year, there's a good chance he'll do the full concerts himself.

 

I agree they already have several options viable. This time around though, I don't think they will end up cancelling the concerts, but they probably have already secured a top conductor to step in his place, whether JW might not feel good enough to be on the podium, or if he prefers to conduct only some selections. I guess they will decide very close to the event.

 

It seems this is a huge item on JW's bucket list, so he's definitely running the extra mile to be able at least to be there in person.

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Crikey, I just noticed that the Sunday concert (which is the only one I would be able to attend) is 11:00 in the morning?!? Is this really true? No way I could make an early flight then.

 

4 minutes ago, TownerFan said:

It seems this is a huge item on JW's bucket list, so he's definitely running the extra mile to be able at least to be there in person.

 

Hopefully he has a private jet this time (environmental concerns be damned!)

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1 minute ago, Thor said:

Crikey, I just noticed that the Sunday concert (which is the only one I would be able to attend) is 11:00 in the morning?!? Is this really true? No way I could make an early flight then.

 

Could be compensating for JW's body clock, if he's only landing a few nights before the concert.

 

Personally I'd be surprised if he wasn't around Vienna/Europe for a few weeks (not like he's got anything on his plate after TROS is finished) and relaxed with his family, but who knows.

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Yes, I very much hope that he'll fly in in advance this time to settle down before rehearsals.

 

2 minutes ago, Thor said:

Crikey, I just noticed that the Sunday concert (which is the only one I would be able to attend) is 11:00 in the morning?!? Is this really true? No way I could make an early flight then.

 

11:00 (which I find a very annoying time for a Sunday) is the Philharmonic's standard Sunday matinee spot. 15:30 on Saturday seems unusual to me, but I guess they had to squeeze it into their existing schedule. Anyway, it's exactly the same times as last year. Cancel your other thing!

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Quote

11:00 (which I find a very annoying time for a Sunday) is the Philharmonic's standard Sunday matinee spot. 15:30 on Saturday seems unusual to me, but I guess they had to squeeze it into their existing schedule. Anyway, it's exactly the same times as last year. Cancel your other thing!

 

I'm committed to the other job (and it pays well), so I can't cancel that (quite funny that it also happens to be John Willliams concert). But if it doesn't end too late, perhaps there's a way to take the last flight to Vienna on Saturday evening. Fat chance, I know.

 

[Edit: I see that there are actually no flights from Oslo and its region to Vienna on Saturday, evening or otherwise....OK, that's that then]

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2 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Personally I'd be surprised if he wasn't around Vienna/Europe for a few weeks (not like he's got anything on his plate after TROS is finished) and relaxed with his family

Seeing what happened last time, that's what he should be doing!

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1 minute ago, Disco Stu said:

This will almost certainly contain the concert premiere of TROS music!

 

I wonder if they'll change the official programme at all. (I hope they keep Olympic Fanfare, it would be amazing to hear that with the Philharmoniker). But I'd expect TROS to at least pop up as an encore.

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5 minutes ago, Holko said:

Seeing what happened last time, that's what he should be doing!

 

Yeah I can't see any reason why he wouldn't travel over at the start of the year and just relax somewhere nice in Austria, to allow recovery time if he does fall ill from the air travel.

 

I just really hope nothing goes wrong, if only to give John the confidence that he can still travel across continents to perform his music (and Vienna of all places, glorious!)

 

Gotta wonder, would a successful trip to Vienna give him the confidence to attempt another concert with the LSO at the RAH?

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Wow amazing news! I will try to get tickets in the pre sale. I almost forgot that I will see Michael Giachinno and David Arnold tonight in the Royal Albert Hall😅

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46 minutes ago, TownerFan said:

My bet is that the majority of the concert will be conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, who is a regular guest conductor of the Wiener Philharmoniker and of course a pretty huge name in itself, other than becoming rapidly the most acclaimed and distinguished interpreter of JW music in the classical arena.

 

Dudamel doesn't have any concerts scheduled in Vienna around the time. I'd be surprised if they're flying him in specially without announcing that right away. Anyway, as I'm rather ambivalent about his recent Williams album, I'd prefer it not to be him.

 

I've checked the Musikverein, Konzerthaus and Staatsoper websites for famous international conductors scheduled for concerts around that time. Muti is conducting the CSO a few days earlier, but I don't know if he'd even consider conducting Williams, and then again I'd imagine he would have been there in the announcement. Gergiev is definitely here at that time, doing a few concerts and operas (he's conducting Lohengrin at the Staatsoper that Sunday evening), but can't imagine it being him for the same reasons. Hopefully the high profile players are all at the Williams concerts: The Staatsoper and the Philarhmoniker share players, plus there's a Wener Philharmoniker chamber music concert a the Staatsoper on the 18th as well with individual player listed but no time given. Paavo Järvi is conducting at the Konzerthaus on the 16th, but since he said to Mauceri that he should conduct some "real" music instead of the Korngold symphony, I don't see him conducting Williams either.

 

Andris Nelsons is doing this year's New Year's Concert and from all those listed would seem to be the only somewhat plausible choice, but I wouldn't expect him to still be here more than two weeks later with no concerts planned in between.

 

Anyway, if any of them were announced for the concert, I certainly wouldn't expect Williams to do the whole thing and the famous big name conductor just stepping aside for him. And at the same time, I can't see any of them participating without being officially announced.

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6 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Gotta wonder, would a successful trip to Vienna give him the confidence to attempt another concert with the LSO at the RAH?

 

Who knows? But I honestly don't think so. The LSO concert programmed last year was added after he committed to Vienna, since he was already in Europe and promised the LSO an appearance since almost 20 years. He had also to appear at the DG 120th Anniversary gala with Anne-Sophie Mutter in Berlin that took place last November.

 

It seems Vienna has a very special meaning for him. It's something in the making since a few years.

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10 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Gotta wonder, would a successful trip to Vienna give him the confidence to attempt another concert with the LSO at the RAH?

 

I wonder. I'd rather imagine that he's really only doing this for Vienna and the Philharmoniker and isn't about to start travelling internationally again at his age. Last time, the LSO was obviously added as a stopover on the way, since he's clearly fond of them and London, but I don't really see him doing another separate flight for that. And if he does decide to include them on this trip again, I sure hope it's *after* Vienna and with plenty of time in between to recover.

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1 minute ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Dudamel doesn't have any concerts scheduled in Vienna around the time. I'd be surprised if they're flying him in specially without announcing that right away. 

 

Of course, I'm only speculating. I very much hope JW will conduct the whole thing. I was only wondering about some "fail safe" options. Dudamel looks right considering his connection to both JW and the Wiener Philharmoniker.

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I'll have a think over the weekend. It would be nice to visit Vienna and see JW again so soon after the last time... but I won't be disappointed if I can't get the tickets. While it is only a few days after my birthday I might not be able to justify a weekend trip to Vienna at this time of the year. We shall see.

 

Karol

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Jeez, my potential 2020 concert plans went from Superman in Lucerne in May, to Superman/ROTJ/Matrix in London in October, to Williams in Vienna in January.  What's the next option that's going to present itself I'm going to have to decide between?

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2 minutes ago, Jay said:

Jeez, my potential 2020 concert plans went from Superman in Lucerne in May, to Superman/ROTJ/Matrix in London in October, to Williams in Vienna in January.  What's the next option that's going to present itself I'm going to have to decide between?

 

Forget Luzern, come to Vienna! Between this and the other options, I don't think I'll be considering Luzern, but I'm still thinking about London in October.

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Lucerne is definitely the least tantalizing option.  As much as it would be nice to see the area, when the freaking LSO is playing the same score live just a few months later, and it's the same week as two other awesome concerts... no contest

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Just a warning: if member Phoenix offers you to buy you tickets at pre-sale, be aware that last time I accepted his offer but when the concerts were cancelled he never refunded my money and didn't even answer my messages about it. I had to file case with PayPal to get my money back. 

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33 minutes ago, Jay said:

Lucerne is definitely the least tantalizing option.  As much as it would be nice to see the area, when the freaking LSO is playing the same score live just a few months later, and it's the same week as two other awesome concerts... no contest

 

We'll always have Luzern, I'm sure they'll have other interesting programmes in the upcoming years.

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11 minutes ago, Kalman said:

Just a warning: if member Phoenix offers you to buy you tickets at pre-sale, be aware that last time I accepted his offer but when the concerts were cancelled he never refunded my money and didn't even answer my messages about it. I had to file case with PayPal to get my money back. 

 

This user?

 

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/profile/2900-phoenix/

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1 hour ago, Kalman said:

Just a warning: if member Phoenix offers you to buy you tickets at pre-sale, be aware that last time I accepted his offer but when the concerts were cancelled he never refunded my money and didn't even answer my messages about it. I had to file case with PayPal to get my money back. 

 

I got my RAH tickets from him, in the Upper Circle. And just before the concert began, he even got me a seat in the box! We had a chat during/after the concert, and he seemed like a really nice guy. Maybe he didn't get your message?

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1 minute ago, Modest Expectations said:

So... like this?

image.png

 

 

Why would the front row be so much cheaper? Am I misunderstanding the seating plan?

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6 minutes ago, Biodome said:

 

Why would the front row be so much cheaper? Am I misunderstanding the seating plan?

 

It has limited viewing of the back half of the orchestra, and because you're so close the acoustics aren't great. Hence the price. 

 

But you're right near John, so that's a huge plus if you're a fan. 

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10 minutes ago, crumbs said:

 

It has limited viewing of the back half of the orchestra, and because you're so close the acoustics aren't great. Hence the price. 

 

But you're right near John, so that's a huge plus if you're a fan. 

 

Yes, acoustically the Kat 1 seats in the Cercle (in red) should be the best. 

 

Where does that map with prices come from? 

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27 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Yes, acoustically the Kat 1 seats in the Cercle (in red) should be the best. 

 

Where does that map with prices come from? 

It's from the cancelled Vienna concert last year

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2 hours ago, Kalman said:

 

Yes, it was him.

Yes, it was me.....

Luckily you got your money back, but I ended up not getting refunded as the person who actually paid never refunded me.... live and learn.  Started as a favour, but ended up messy and costing everyone.. sorry.

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4 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Paavo Järvi is conducting at the Konzerthaus on the 16th, but since he said to Mauceri that he should conduct some "real" music instead of the Korngold symphony, I don't see him conducting Williams either.

 

Where is this story from? Curious to hear.

 

If there’s a big name doing it, it would be Nelsons or Dudamel, but my bet is on a filmmusic specialist like David Newman or Dirk Brossé. 

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39 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Indeed. Fuck acoustics, I've seen Williams twice and heard all the pieces a million times. If I had the chance to go to this concert, I would have gone for the front seats immediately; that's what I did for the JW concert in Boston in 2014 and it's one of my best concert experiences ever. I vividly remember giving a thums up to Williams at the end, and he gave me a thumbs up in return!

 

I crave that experience so badly; I love being right next to the conductor.  

 

Was in the front row for Empire at the RAH and I spent half the time gawping in awe at Brosse's dexterity.  And have front row at the RAH for Superman and Jedi next year. 

 

God knows how you felt standing right behind John bloody Williams!

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11 hours ago, St0rMl0rD said:

Just received this email from Vienna's Musikverein:
 

Dear friends of music,
 
"A Tribute to John Williams" - under this title, the concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra which was scheduled for last year will take place on 18th and 19th of January 2020 at the Wiener Musikverein. We are pleased to announce the commitment of John Williams to perform selected highlights from his rich musical output with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
 
As a ticket purchaser of the cancelled concert from last November, we wanted to inform you, exclusively before the official release date on October 22, 2019, that the concerts will take place.
 
As a member of the previous season, we would like to offer you the opportunity to buy tickets as soon as the sale for the members launches, even if you have not renewed your membership for this season. This possibility is not associated with any obligation and of course free of charge.
 
Start of presale:
Tuesday, October 22, 2019 at 9.00h (members of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde)
Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 09.00h (start of the general presale)
 
Concert tickets can be purchased at www.musikverein.at or in person / by telephone at the Konzertkassa of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.
 
The two concert dates are:
Saturday, 18 January 2020 at 15.30
Sunday, 19 January 2020 at 11.00
 
We would be happy to welcome you to one of the two concerts at the Musikverein.
 
Ihre Konzertkassa / Your Box-Office
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien

 

This is phenomenal news. I am really glad that the Maestro is gonna conduct the Vienna Philharmonic after not being able to do so before due to illness. Maybe they'll be able to record the concert for release on CD as they originally planned.

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