Tanglewood 2021 season includes several Williams concerts

[Henry Sítrónu 534]

Everyone who will be there: have a great evening!

German/French TV station arte will show the concert tomorrow evening, 8pm CEST.

 

https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/104491-000-A/anne-sophie-mutter-und-john-williams-mit-einer-urauffuehrung/

[Jay 41,649]

@Doug Adams you still going today? 

[Doug Adams 511]

30 minutes ago, Jay said:

@Doug Adams you still going today? 

Yep! Although the lack of Uber service in this town isn’t making life any easier! 

[Jay 41,649]

You have dinner plans? I sent you a FB message yesterday

[Doug Adams 511]

7 minutes ago, Jay said:

You have dinner plans? I sent you a FB message yesterday

We are going to eat there, but have no solid plans beyond that. PM me? I almost never check Facebook these days. 

[scarecroe 3]

Greetings!

 

I'm here at Tanglewoood for the premiere of Johnny's 2nd Violin Concerto. I'm hearing that the performance will be broadcast and streamed. Just wondering if anyone has plans to record it. I would, but obviously I'm here, so I don't have that luxury 😀

 

If anyone else is also here, enjoy the performance! 

[crlbrg 382]

29 minutes ago, scarecroe said:

Just wondering if anyone has plans to record it

I will.

 

Lucky you! Enjoy the performance!

[Jay 41,649]

I'm here. Gorgeous night for a concert! And it's not even buggy 

[lairdo 906]

Hope you are enjoying, Jay! (And not reading this.) Rebecca and I are watching from Hawaii on BSO Now!

[SteveMc 2,678]

Listening on WCRB.  It begins!!

[Jay 41,649]

Guys, John Williams looked great. I swear he's in the better shape now any time I've seen him. What a legend 

[JohnnyD 1,474]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Guys, John Williams looked great. I swear he's in the better shape now any time I've seen him. What a legend 

 

Always great to hear, though not the slightest bit surprised. God bless him.

[lairdo 906]

From the video broadcast, it was also apparent that he was in great shape. Perhaps a bit trimmer? Certainly, he was very, very engaged with the orchestra and focused on a lot of performance pieces as best I could tell. He only sat back when ASM had a true solo. Then he just listened. At one point though, he showed some sort of surprise or something. Have to watch it again to know!

 

From both the BSO Now broadcast as well as the radio one, I felt the audience applause was somewhat mutated. So, @Jay, I am curious what it seemed like live. I can imagine the concertgoers not knowing what exactly to make of the piece and hence not being thunderous. I think I heard the radio commentator mention there was a standing ovation for them. 

[Sunshine Reger 3,634]

9 hours ago, Jay said:

Guys, John Williams looked great. I swear he's in the better shape now any time I've seen him. What a legend 

His voice sounded rejuvenated too.

[Jay 41,649]

I had a great evening in western Massachusetts last night.

 

We've had quite a mosquito problem around here lately after 3 straight weeks of rain, so I was worried that could put a damper on things, but it turned out to not be an issue at all - didn't even notice any bugs of any kind the entire concert.  I was really worried when Anne Sophie Mutter mentioned the mosquito problem on social media, and brought bug spray, but didn't even need it.

 

Since the pandemic lockdowns, we've got to so very few public events, so it was quite wonderful to be out in a big open space full of people to enjoy the arts and not feel weird about it; Earlier in the summer we attended a baseball game and never quite settled into feeling like everything was normal, but this time it was much easier to do so.  It helped that the weather was so great and there was very few unvaccinated people there (or at least, very few people wearing masks).

 

I only arrived in time to briefly chat with @Doug Adams and his lovely wife before the show, but that also made things feel normal again, to be talking to out-of-state visitors on vacation, and dragging my small talk and social interaction muscle memory back out from the depths!

 

When it comes to orchestral music concerts, I have only really attended Film Night type concerts (and Live To Projection movie concerts) so am more used the conductors taking to the mic and telling stories in between pieces.  As this was the first entirely classic music concert I've ever attended, I was a bit surprised that that didn't happen; Shortly after 8:00 the orchestra tuned and settled down, the lights went off, and after a bit of a wait Andris Nelsons finally came out and jumped right into the first piece - Starburst, for string orchestra (2012) by Jessie Montgomery.  This was a fun little piece that was surprisingly short!

 

After that was over, he left the stage without saying anything, and then there was a lot of re-shuffling on stage to move various people to different spots, including bringing out the harp to the forefront.  After another bit of a wait, Anne Sophie Mutter and John WIlliams came out together to a tremendous applause, and he began the next piece right away - Violin Concerto No. 2 (2021) by John Williams

 

This was an incredibly long work - is it the longest of his concertos now? - full of so many different ideas, I can't possibly even begin to attempt to describe it.  At times its felt like a duo for violin and harp, and had many other interesting solo passages for other instruments too.  I'll have to re-listen to this a few times before forming a solid opinion.  After it was over, the audience erupted into a long applause until Anne Sophie and John Williams walked off the stage... and then I was surprised to see them come back out, like what would happen for an encore... which turned out to kind of be what happened, an encore in the middle of a concert instead of at the end - never seen anything like that before!  His introduction to the encore was hilarious:

 

"Here is Anne Sophie playing Across the Stars, which is a theme from one of the Star Wars films - I haven't the vaguest memory of which one.  One of the nine"

 

Across The Stars (2002 - Revised 2021 arrangement) by John Williams was probably the highlight of the concert for me; The theme itself has always been a really good one, and the fact that he's returned to re-arrange it so many times is pretty interesting.  While this wasn't near one of my favorite tracks on the Mutter album, I am curious now to compare this revision to that version to see what he changed.

 

When this piece was over, the audience erupted into an even bigger and longer applause, that continued strong as they left the stage, and then came back again to even more applause - I was half-expecting another encore! - but they eventually left again, and the stage was again re-configured.

 

Andris Nelsons then returned to conduct two more pieces - Quiet City, for trumpet, English horn, and strings (1941) by Aaron Copland & Suite from The Firebird (1919 version) by Igor Stravinsky - without saying a word.  I was unfamiliar with these pieces, but recognized that Williams must have been inspired by The FIrebird for his Tinkerbell music in Hook.

 

After a long round of applause with just Nelsons on stage, Mutter and Williams came out as well, and Mutter had her violin, so I was expecting another encore, though I guess it was just for show.  The standing ovation continued for a very long time, perhaps longer than any concert I can remember, until eventually all left the stage, and the lights came on, and the concert was over!

 

I am used to Film Night concerts being closer to 3 hours long, so I was surprised this one was around 90 minutes.  I don't know if this is standard for a night of classical music, or if Tanglewood is cutting concert lengths in half and not having intermissions because of covid, but the decision was fine for me.  I had a great time.

[Jay 41,649]

12 hours ago, lairdo said:

From the video broadcast, it was also apparent that he was in great shape. Perhaps a bit trimmer?

 

I think so, perhaps; Of course when a man wears nothing but black turtlenecks under suit coats everytime he's in the public, it's hard to really know :p

 

Quote

Certainly, he was very, very engaged with the orchestra and focused on a lot of performance pieces as best I could tell. He only sat back when ASM had a true solo. Then he just listened. At one point though, he showed some sort of surprise or something. Have to watch it again to know!

 

Oh man, I wanted to bring this up; At Tanglewood, they have a bunch of large screens where they broadcast closeups of the musicians, since if you're on the lawn you can't see the stage at all.  They are inside the shed, too, and my absolute favorite thing I saw on it was at one point when Mutter was deep into her performance during a part when the rest of the orchestra wasn't playing, so JW didn't have to conduct, and just watched her; the closeup of him on the screen during this caught him at one point mouthing "wow" which was fantastic, and caused me to audibly chuckle.  I hope the official video used the same shots as what we saw live there, because that moment was great.

 

Quote

From both the BSO Now broadcast as well as the radio one, I felt the audience applause was somewhat mutated. So, @Jay, I am curious what it seemed like live. I can imagine the concertgoers not knowing what exactly to make of the piece and hence not being thunderous. I think I heard the radio commentator mention there was a standing ovation for them. 

 

Do you mean muted or mutated?  If the latter, from what to what?

 

Doug also asked me about the audience, since this was his first time in Tanglewood and had no comparison.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'm the best judge of this, because I have only been to Tanglewood for Film Night events and Live to Projection concerts, never a night of classical music.  As such, I can't say how this audience compared to an average night of classical music, only how it compares against a night of film music - and also things were different because of covid, too.  Also, I did not arrive early and wander around and get a good feel for how full things were; Once I found Doug and Jill, we chatted in one spot then went to our seats, so I never really got to see how full the lawn really was before the sun set.

So long story short, I would say in general, yes, it felt like there was less people there than any other time I've been to Tanglewood.  Whether this is due to covid, the program, or other factors, I dunno.

 

As for their response to the music, yea, I kind of suspect something like what you say was probably the case.  Again I didn't get a good chance to walk around a lot and observe too much the types of people who were there and what they were wearing, but my general understanding is that a night of classical music tends to draw a different audience than a night of film music, and I think I saw a decent amount of people there more for Williams than anything else.  And yes, the people who only really know Williams through his film music and not his concert works, probably really struggled with this piece, I would imagine.  Heck, I did!

 

I would say in general, there wasn't a lot of murmurring of chatter during any of the pieces, which does happen frequently at film music concerts.  But on the other hand, the guy next to me clearly was losing interest in the concert after a while.  I can't remember if this was during the Violin Concerto or one of the later pieces, but he shifted around a lot, then loudly got out his blanket to wrap himself up in, then turned on his bright cell phone and dug out his program and started loudly flipping through that, etc.  It was annoying.

 

So in general, maybe the Tanglewood audience didn't react to this piece the same way the Dallas audience will in September or the Boston audience after that... we'll see!

[Henry Sítrónu 534]

[crlbrg 382]

1 minute ago, Henry Sítrónu said:

Can't wait to watch this and hunt for some GIF's lol

Has anyone here ever attended a concert on the lawn? I wonder what that's like. How does the orchestra sound?

I would really love to visit Tanglewood someday - it seems like a truly beautiful spot. Shame I'm on a different continent...

[Jay 41,649]

Yea, he made that shush notion a bunch of times!

 

I have gone to Tanglewood with just lawn seats, yes!  You have to bring your own blanket / chair / whatever, unless you want to rent a folding chair from Tanglewood (not sure how much that costs).  One time I went and just sat on the grass.  One time I went and it was pouring rain, but luckily my friend/coworker was there with a crew who had a whole setup with an extra chair for me and umbrella, and we shared some nice wine.

[Miguel Andrade 1,462]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

Andris Nelsons then returned to conduct two more pieces - Quiet City, for trumpet, English horn, and strings (1941) by Aaron Copland & Suite from The Firebird (1919 version) by Igor Stravinsky - without saying a word.  I was unfamiliar with these pieces, but recognized that Williams must have been inspired by The FIrebird for his Tinkerbell music in Hook.

 

Williams recorded Quiet City with the Boston Pops, released on the album "Music for Stage and Screen", that includes the suite from Born on the Fourth of July and The Reivers.

 

As for The Firebird, I've always felt that the Lullaby and Finale are a sort of musical grandparent to Close Encounter's Appearance of the Visitors and Finale.

[Ollie 1,244]

7 hours ago, Jay said:

 

 

"Here is Anne Sophie playing Across the Stars, which is a theme from one of the Star Wars films - I haven't the vaguest memory of which one.  One of the nine"

😂😂😂😂 Even Williams wants to forget this film exists. 😉

[Lindsey77 0]

Anyone look at the program note and know what overture to the oscars is?

[Matt S. 618]

1 hour ago, Lindsey77 said:

Anyone look at the program note and know what overture to the oscars is?

My guess would be it’s a new name for Tribute to the Film Composer.

[Tom 5,410]

4 hours ago, Matt S. said:

My guess would be it’s a new name for Tribute to the Film Composer.

That is most likely correct.  He would not premiere the Hollywood Bowl overture here, so it is not that.  One would love a new piece, but, all in all, I think I like the new name of the piece better, for whatever that is worth.  

[SilverTrumpet 645]

Didn't they just publish a Hal Leonard of Tribute to the Film Composer under the old name? 

[Tom 5,410]

8 minutes ago, SilverTrumpet said:

Didn't they just publish a Hal Leonard of Tribute to the Film Composer under the old name? 

Yes, but I would still not count on a new piece.  One would think such would be accompanied by "world premiere."  Perhaps Williams decided the name sounded too self-serving.  

[Jay 41,649]

Thanks for the tip, I didn't realize these things were available online before the show

 

http://bso.http.internapcdn.net/bso/images/program-notes/2021-full-notes/20210813.pdf

 

Unfortunately Williams is not conducting anything I haven't already seen him conduct life, BUT the Lockheart section features the Theme from Sabrina, which is cool because my wife and I watched that movie earlier this year and I liked the score in it very much, and we're attending the concert together Friday night.  Cool.

[SilverTrumpet 645]

Yeah, nothing particularly new or mindblowing in the Williams section, but the first half is probably the most excited I've been for a first half since I started going. 

[rpvee 891]

I have two extra lawn tickets I’m trying to sell if anyone is interested?

[Bayesian 1,506]

The program notes indicate—again—that JW wrote two symphonies. What is this second symphony they keep referring to?

[Matt S. 618]

2 hours ago, Bayesian said:

The program notes indicate—again—that JW wrote two symphonies. What is this second symphony they keep referring to?

Most likely it’s the Sinfonietta for Wind Ensemble.

[SilverTrumpet 645]

Maybe one day he'll play the first one at Tanglewood

 

So is anyone going tomorrow? I'm wearing that Music by John Williams shirt my wife got me years ago that I believe someone here said they were selling online?

[Jay 41,649]

I'm going to tomorrow night's show!

[SilverTrumpet 645]

Maybe we'll find each other and when you meet me in real life you won't think I'm as miserable as I am in the video game threads. 

[Miguel Andrade 1,462]

 

On 8/10/2021 at 8:20 PM, Lindsey77 said:

Anyone look at the program note and know what overture to the oscars is?

 

On 8/10/2021 at 9:37 PM, Matt S. said:

My guess would be it’s a new name for Tribute to the Film Composer.

 

That, or maybe a new arrangement on "Arts and Sports" movement from American Journey. That one wasn't part of An Unfinished Journey, back in December 31 1999, and I recall it being played on the 2002 Oscar Ceremony, as attendees were getting seated. That was the same ceremony were Williams premiered his Tribute to the Film Composer.

[Marian Schedenig 9,826]

7 hours ago, SilverTrumpet said:

So is anyone going tomorrow? I'm wearing that Music by John Williams shirt my wife got me years ago that I believe someone here said they were selling online?

 

I had it up for a day or two, but the shop took it down as a copyright violation. I've never found out if that reasoning is sound.

 

Where you the guy running around with the shirt at Tanglewood Film Night two years ago?

[SilverTrumpet 645]

No, I only got it after the concert two years ago and haven't had the chance to wear it until tomorrow. 

[Tom 5,410]

7 hours ago, Miguel Andrade said:

 

 

 

That, or maybe a new arrangement on "Arts and Sports" movement from American Journey. That one wasn't part of An Unfinished Journey, back in December 31 1999, and I recall it being played on the 2002 Oscar Ceremony, as attendees were getting seated. That was the same ceremony were Williams premiered his Tribute to the Film Composer.

Cool speculation.  Given that we know a new signature edition of American Journey is in the works, maybe this is part of it.  We will know soon enough.  

[rpvee 891]

I still have two extra lawn tickets if anyone is interested!

[artus_grayboot 93]

3 hours ago, rpvee said:

I still have two extra lawn tickets if anyone is interested!

I'd love to get one from you rpvee! Got two tickets but need one more so this is perfect. Not sure how PMing works here but I'll check back here tomorrow and work something out. Cheers! Also would love to say hello to whoever's attending tomorrow's show. Again we can work something out tomorrow.

[rpvee 891]

4 hours ago, artus_grayboot said:

I'd love to get one from you rpvee! Got two tickets but need one more so this is perfect. Not sure how PMing works here but I'll check back here tomorrow and work something out. Cheers! Also would love to say hello to whoever's attending tomorrow's show. Again we can work something out tomorrow.

Just PM’d you!

[Smeltington 1,720]

23 hours ago, SilverTrumpet said:

So is anyone going tomorrow?

 

I'll be there! SO EXCITED!!!!!

[artus_grayboot 93]

Not sure when I’ll get to the venue as we’re driving there now - I’m going with my folks. We’ll probably get there at 6:30 and eat at the restaurant there. If there’s some sort of recognizable indentifier or something in the restaurant that we’re sitting by before the concert (or after we could stand somewhere or whatnot to meet up with people either in the grounds or outside the gate), we could do something like that for the people going! I’ve never been to Tanglewood but we can figure it out as we go. Excited to be there and I hope to meet y’all!

[Smeltington 1,720]

I'd be interested to meet up too if we can make it work. I'm hoping to get there early. I'll check this thread again when I'm there!

[Jay 41,649]

We went to the Berkshire Botanical Gardens this afternoon, it was really nice. Highly recommended! 

[artus_grayboot 93]

Looking like my folks and I will get there at 6:45 by the time we park. Haven’t left Pittsfield yet but about to. Gonna meet up with @rpvee at the gate as he’s got a ticket for us - those tickets like to refresh if you take a pic so that’s why. I’ll be in a light blue bow tie with glasses, brown hair, navy blazer, light blue jeans. My dad looks just like me but older, so if you see two similar pastey fools and a blonde woman with glasses you’ll know it’s us!

[WilliamsStarShip2282 326]

I'm sure it was posted here already and I'm really dumb, but does anyone know if there will be a WGBH broadcast? It was a really nice concert, and he had some nice things to say.

[Jay 41,649]

That was, potentially, the greatest night of film music I ever attended. 

 

"Magical" is the best word I can think of to describe it. 

 

John Williams seemed to be in the best shape yet, even better than just a month ago. He was funny, he didn't reach for words as often as the recent norm, and he conducted everything with a great tempo, no slow versions at all. 

 

He ever commented how nice it was to see an audience again after 18 months. 

 

What a legend. The man is almost 90 and looks and acts like he has 20 more years of a career in him

[Smeltington 1,720]

27 minutes ago, Jay said:

John Williams seemed to be in the best shape yet, even better than just a month ago.

Yes! He seemed energized. I think his gratitude to be performing again came across. I found that the Throne Room was especially triumphant and cathartic to hear in light of this.

 

I got caught up in the Leia portion of the piece and noticed some instrumentation that never jumped out at me before. Sabrina was gorgeous! I still like hearing BFG in concert, and it was nice to get a newer piece.

 

I would have liked to hear more new stuff, especially something from Rise of Skywalker, but it was not to be, cherie. This show was more of a victory lap. But the energy and affection between Williams, the orchestra, and the audience was special. There's always a lot of enthusiasm for Williams at Tanglewood, and it was great to see people wearing Jaws shirts, and hear positive comments on the way out.

 

I went by Highwood beforehand and said hi to the ghost. I kept an eye out for fellow JWFans, but didn't see anyone. There was quite a crowd! The weather in New England has been awfully hot and humid, but luckily that changed suddenly after the first few Lockhart-conducted selections, and it was easier to simply enjoy the music.

 

I'm so happy we got to see JOHN WILLIAMS at Tanglewood in 2021!! It seems like a miracle! Feeling thankful. Peace and love to all JWFans tonight.

[rpvee 891]

What a wonderful evening! Williams indeed seemed to be in great spirits, with his wonderful yet gentle energy as warm as ever. He and I made eye contact several times as he was speaking, since I was in front directly to his left, so that was neat!

 

He also made a couple funny digs at Spielberg - one being that not many people went to see B.F.G., and the other that the sound mix of the Last Crusade motorcycle chase buried his music, so he made a suite of it so it could be heard properly.

 

As a whole, a heartwarming and exciting evening seeing this living legend live once again.

 

Until next time, Maestro!