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John Williams & Berliner Philharmoniker 14th/15th/16th Oct 2021


MaxTheHouseelf

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I tried to purchase the online streaming ticket on their website and my card got declined due to some technical error. Anyone else having the same problem?  I tried 2 different card but same decline error. :(

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Did you notice the principal trumpet player often switching to piccolo trumpet on the higher parts?

Also it was said in a radio report that some of the principal brass players were not there for the concerts.

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1 hour ago, Sibelius6 said:

Did they do that? Bells up!!

Yes, bells up like in Mahler. Hope the director of the Digital Concert Hall captures this!

20 minutes ago, Steve said:

Did you notice the principal trumpet player often switching to piccolo trumpet on the higher parts?

Also it was said in a radio report that some of the principal brass players were not there for the concerts.

Yes, also observed that. Not sure whether that was a piccolo trumpet though...

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33 minutes ago, Steve said:

Also it was said in a radio report that some of the principal brass players were not there for the concerts.

I think it wasn't only brass. The first oboe and flute I saw on Thursday are not even listed in the roster on the Philharmoniker website. They were both young, too. Does it mean we have gotten ourselves a Berliner Pops Orchestra?

 

The positive side is, I think Williams' music is a relatively new reperoire that younger musicians (who know it very well) can perform better than older ones.

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2 hours ago, Amer said:

I tried to purchase the online streaming ticket on their website and my card got declined due to some technical error. Anyone else having the same problem?  I tried 2 different card but same decline error. :(

 

Worked here with PayPal :) 

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3 hours ago, Amer said:

I tried to purchase the online streaming ticket on their website and my card got declined due to some technical error. Anyone else having the same problem?  I tried 2 different card but same decline error. :(

 

I just paid with my Australian visa card a few minutes ago and had no problems. Hope you can get it sorted.

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It was a night to remember! The Friday concert lasted 115 minutes, not including the 25-minute break, and it was pure magic. I won't write anything that hasn't already been written here, but the experience was absolutely wonderful and also felt different from the Viennese in many aspects. Mostly because there was no Anne-Sophie Mutter and Williams was much more talkative. The performance of the Berliners was of course phenomenal. They played as if they were designed to perform that music.

 

I suppose that the first encore, 'Princess Leia Theme', was omitted because maestro could be tired and exhausted - but I hope it will be performed today. If not, maybe it'll show up on Bluray in the version played on Thursday. When it comes to highlights, I must say definitely 'Far and Away' (pure joy!) and 'Elegy' (very touching)  maybe because they are so rarely played, but I liked everything. 'Superman Theme' was a monster, as were  'The Throne Room and the Finale' and The Imperial March'. Maybe I would skip 'Nimbus 2000' in favor of 'Fawkes the Phoenix', but it's a minor matter.

 

Today I'll see the maestro for the fourth time in my life (I have also been at Vienna concerts twice) and it's something that a few years ago was only in the sphere of my dreams. If I manage to go to Milan, I can say that it'll be my Perfect Five. :)

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SO damn jealous, its my big dream to see mr williams in concert. Praying he will come to london next year, dont care what it takes, im going! Anyhow have a great time, will be watching the stream in a few hours

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3 minutes ago, Antonb said:

SO damn jealous, its my big dream to see mr williams in concert. Praying he will come to london next year, dont care what it takes, im going! Anyhow have a great time, will be watching the stream in a few hours

 

Can you make it to Milan next June? Surely the next best thing to seeing him in London!

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Would love too, but the usual stuff like family and money to be worked in to the mix. Just be so much easier for me if he came over to the uk. Then i could work it better. My wife is not into anything classical so its tough to talk her into going abroad to watch a concert. Among other things too! 

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22 hours ago, Hugo said:

I didn't want to do the end that the "autograph hunter" did before the encores.


What’s this story? What happened?

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Someone ran to JW to when he left the podium. I sat above so couldn’t see what happened then. I guess the guard wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Anyhow it was quite pathetic, everyone should be able to realise that at such an event everyone wants to get an autograph, and let John have his privacy.

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51 minutes ago, Remco said:

Someone ran to JW to when he left the podium. I sat above so couldn’t see what happened then. I guess the guard wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Anyhow it was quite pathetic, everyone should be able to realise that at such an event everyone wants to get an autograph, and let John have his privacy.

Yes I did see it on Thursday evening. The guard escorted him out. 

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I was at the concert on Thursday. It was awesome and I was impressed by the perfect sound of the Philharmonic. I just noticed a desynchronization in the drums at the end of Flying Theme. Fortunately, I recorded a video and saw that Williams makes a disapproving gesture (sec. 10). Except for that detail, the piece sounded awesome.

 

After the concert, I waited outside with some more geeks. When Williams left I thanked him and asked him to come to Spain... I think he responded with a head gesture. I can boast that I have had a conversation with the Master. 🤣🤣🤣

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42 minutes ago, JTGL said:

Yes I did see it on Thursday evening. The guard escorted him out. 


That’s crazy! How did Williams react?

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17 minutes ago, rpvee said:


That’s crazy! How did Williams react?

He looked at the guy, trying to understand what he wanted. Once he realized he wanted an autograph, he just shook his head and continued walking to the backstage area. The guard soon came and threw the guy out the door.

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18 minutes ago, rpvee said:


That’s crazy! How did Williams react?

Ignored him basically. He saw him in the last second before escorted away, was almost at the door already. Like you would react to some movement on the street.

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4 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Did he scream, "please let Mike expand Star Wars!" as the guard escorted him out?

On the contrary he said: "Now you won't get anymore expansions, that will teach you..."

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19 minutes ago, Biodome said:

He looked at the guy, trying to understand what he wanted. Once he realized he wanted an autograph, he just shook his head and continued walking to the backstage area. The guard soon came and threw the guy out the door.


Very interesting. Granted, asking for an autograph in a concert space is totally out of line, but it’s still a shame how averse he’s become to signing autographs in general since the eBay hounds ruined it.

 

Wild to think that just a handful of years ago, he’d practically hang out outside the Boston stage door taking his time talking with everyone.

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7 minutes ago, rpvee said:


Very interesting. Granted, asking for an autograph in a concert space is totally out of line, but it’s still a shame how averse he’s become to signing autographs in general since the eBay hounds ruined it.

 

Wild to think that just a handful of years ago, he’d practically hang out outside the Boston stage door taking his time talking with everyone.


I think that by now his age and Covid also plays a role in this.

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4 minutes ago, rpvee said:


Very interesting. Granted, asking for an autograph in a concert space is totally out of line, but it’s still a shame how averse he’s become to signing autographs in general since the eBay hounds ruined it.

 

Wild to think that just a handful of years ago, he’d practically hang out outside the Boston stage door taking his time talking with everyone.

 

When I saw Giacchino and David Arnold's joint concert at the Royal Albert Hall a few years ago, I bought a meet and greet ticket. About an hour before the concert, we were brought to a function room with the composers sitting at a desk and a queue of people to get photos and an autograph. I spent a few minutes talking to them. I loved being able to tell David Arnold that Tomorrow Never Dies was the first score I ever bought and he seemed quite touched by that and added an extra little note to the album cover.

 

I'd pay a rediculous amount of money for a similar meet and greet with JW. 

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I wish everyone who attends a wonderful evening. Thursday was a blast - I hope today will be too. I will be streaming todays concert via Digital Concert Hall!

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9 minutes ago, MfL85 said:

I wish everyone who attends a wonderful evening. Thursday was a blast - I hope today will be too. I will be streaming todays concert via Digital Concert Hall!


Hello from the venue my friend!! You are all with us!  

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I love how engaged the Maestro seems with the orchestra. The Nimbus 2000 piece with the woodwinds featured him intently concentrating and almost micro-conducting each player. He then gave a joyous smile at the end indicating he was pleased! (Which was warranted in my opinion.)

 

And Far and Away earlier was amazing - felt a tad slow versus other performances, but the playing and sound was magnificent. 

 

(Also, I don't mind the masks. It's a snapshot in time of October 2021. In fact, in some ways they are creating a bit more light falling on people's eyes and in some ways when I see the behind JW, they seem more connected to the music. In Vienna, the light level is much higher so we could see people relatively well, but in Berlin it is pretty dark. The masks are oddly helping. Are they giving these out at the door? It seems everyone is wearing the exact same kind.)

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