Jump to content

John Williams' April 1980 debut Boston Pops performance (2020 HD broadcast)


Steve

Recommended Posts

34 minutes ago, crumbs said:

It's not the 1980 concert but someone uploaded this today:

 

Yeah, this footage is on youtube since a long time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I gave up on trying to watch/capture using a VPN, hardly any of them even have Boston servers. I did manage to watch the last few pieces via a friend's screen share, and like Jay, I got a kick out of seeing how lively and expressive Williams was while conducting. It's amazing to think the pieces from ESB were brand new at the time, and to see him conducting the BSO playing Yoda's Theme and Imperial March, which I've seen them do live so many times all these years later. The 3PO/R2 thing was goofy and fun too.

 

Wish we could have captured this, it's a real shame this was so limited and frustrating to access.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone have a WGBH Passport account? For $5 to create an account, that's not much money. But I don't know if it offers access to specific WGBH/local programming, or just nationwide PBS programs. It'd be nice to know what it has before donating money. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In some of the wide shots, JW's pants looked so big, I thought he was wearing bell bottoms!  I think they are just really loose on him.  Was that a style in the late 70s?

 

Also I just realized: no turtleneck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

In some of the wide shots, JW's pants looked so big, I thought he was wearing bell bottoms!  I think they are just really loose on him.  Was that a style in the late 70s?

 

Also I just realized: no turtleneck!

 

Yes, that was a thing in the late 70's.

 

As for public conducting in turtleneck, I think he's done that just in the last decade or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another thing I forgot to mention before:

 

When we were watching, I was closely looking at the faces of everyone to see if I recognized anyone from all the times I've gone to see the Pops from 2007 to present.  Eventually I realized that nobody in this entire broadcast was young enough to still be playing today.  I was surprised to see so many older musicians in this broadcast, as the current Pops are a blend of all ages, but there's a pretty significant portion that are on the younger side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, Jay said:

Another thing I forgot to mention before:

 

When we were watching, I was closely looking at the faces of everyone to see if I recognized anyone from all the times I've gone to see the Pops from 2007 to present.  Eventually I realized that nobody in this entire broadcast was young enough to still be playing today.


Lawrence Wolfe, who is principal bassist of the Pops, has been with the orchestra since 1970, so he was probably in the video somewhere (he started as a section musician, so he wasn’t principal at first, and I’m not sure if he was by 1980...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ha!

Sadly these are the only animated GIFS I made.  And I didn't keep track of which piece each was associated with.

 

I'll see if I can make more later, although they didn't cut to this shot all that often, they mostly focused on the musicians

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Matt S. said:


Lawrence Wolfe, who is principal bassist of the Pops, has been with the orchestra since 1970, so he was probably in the video somewhere (he started as a section musician, so he wasn’t principal at first, and I’m not sure if he was by 1980...)

 

Ann Hobson Pilot was there from 1969 up to 2009 (the Harp Concerto was a farewell gift). In 1980 she probably was among the younger members in the orchestra.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, Jay said:

Ha!

Sadly these are the only animated GIFS I made.  And I didn't keep track of which piece each was associated with.

 

I'll see if I can make more later, although they didn't cut to this shot all that often, they mostly focused on the musicians

The GIFs are so much fun to watch! Thanks for creating them! Brightened my day for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a little odd to watch a John Williams concert without Indy, E.T., Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, etc. And I believe Superman and Close Encounters should've been on the programme as well. 

 

On the other hand, it was great to see the music for the Rydell movies receiving the spotlight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh man, this is pure platinum!  I'm actually glad I didn't find out about it until now.  Who knows how much time I would have spent on a fruitless quest to get access to it in Chicago?  Thanks for the GIFs, @Jay.  I also first saw JW in '07, and I always thought he was a less athletic conductor than I expected (I know, not fair at all for a 75-year-old), but seeing this is like seeing a different guy!  I would love to see the whole concert!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was also his first official concert as Arthur Fiedler's successor, so trying to live up to his legacy was undoubtedly an influence on JW's level of showmanship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Matt S. said:

This was also his first official concert as Arthur Fiedler's successor, so trying to live up to his legacy was undoubtedly an influence on JW's level of showmanship.

 

He had a previous engagement with the Pops in January 1980 at Carnegie Hall. I believe that was when he was publicly introduced as Fiedler's successor.

This was his first season opening concert as Pops director.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Jay said:

I found out why the HD signal for WGBH disappeared off my antennae

 

https://help.wgbh.org/s/article/Rescanning-Your-TV

 

Yep, I've got an antenna on just about every TV in my house and I do a channel re-scan about once a quarter, they're always adding / changing channels here in the ATX...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is truly marvelous. His conducting style is so energetic. 

 

Btw, @crumbs, what was the YouTube video you linked to earlier in this thread? It seems to have been deleted but I'm just wondering. 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Will said:

This is truly marvelous. His conducting style is so energetic. 

 

Btw, @crumbs, what was the YouTube video you linked to earlier in this thread? It seems to have been deleted but I'm just wondering. 

 

 

 

It was from a Boston Pops 4th July concert in 1987. A typical pops concert.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Jay

 

 

 

It's not clear whether this concert actually has any Williams music, but apparently it's at least conducted by him. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, Jay said:

You can find the concert program for that night online

 

https://archive.org/stream/bostonpopsorches1992bost#page/n120/

 

Although I don't know which selections made the edited broadcast.

 

Hmm but the Pops site says "Nashville fiddler Mark O’Connor is also featured" on tonight's broadcast. But I don't see O'Connor on the program you link to. I guess that means the TV program will splice together parts of multiple concerts? In which case presumably the chance of getting JW's Olympic Fanfare or JFK from the concert program you link to are very low. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, Will said:

 

Hmm but the Pops site says "Nashville fiddler Mark O’Connor is also featured" on tonight's broadcast. But I don't see O'Connor on the program you link to. I guess that means the TV program will splice together parts of multiple concerts? In which case presumably the chance of getting JW's Olympic Fanfare or JFK from the concert program you link to are very low. 

 

Here's the concert they're pulling Mark O'Connor from.  May 11 1992, 5 days before the Bonnie Raitt concert.

 

https://archive.org/details/bostonpopsorches1992bost/page/n58/mode/2up

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.