John Williams conducts Filarmonica della Scala, Milan, Italy, 12 December 2022!

[BB-8 3,466]

Yoda

 

[TownerFan 4,983]

My two cents:

 

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2022/12/14/john-williams-in-milan-2022/

 

I needed a couple of days to collect thoughts, I hope it's worth your reading time.

[Pawel P. 738]

2 hours ago, fabio autore said:

indeed... but the high-res file could as well be that one Pawel P. posted. it's mostly text, header and frame apart... so it's not supposed to be "heavy" in bytes

 

Fabio, I got it from here:

https://assets-global.website-files.com/60ae054b30328f0c5ad249fd/638e2dd3a625838dea439783_AOFS_locandina_12 dicembre 2022_WEB.pdf

 

The link is on this page:

https://en.filarmonica.it/eventi/concerti-straordinari-williams-19-giugno-2022-teatro-alla-scala
 

So this is the official PDF of the Filarmonica della Scala posted by them on their site.

 

[BB-8 3,466]

Bravo, Maurizio! @TownerFan

 

Just out of historical interest and for reference: was the film music of Nino Rota (recoded by Filarmonica della Scala and Riccardo Muti) recorded in the opera house or at a different location?

 

 

[Score 770]

I want to thank all those who have shared their experiences and videos of the concert. Although I could not attend, I feel a bit as if I was there as well. I truly hope that someone recorded the Schindler's List theme, since by all accounts (here and elsewhere) it was an incredibly moving performance. Also, I'm very pleased to notice that all the reviews that I've seen on Italian newspapers, so far, are overwhelmingly positive. It's impressive that John, at his age, has managed to complete the tour of the European theaters which best epitomize the remote roots of his art.    

[crumbs 14,306]

1 hour ago, TownerFan said:

I needed a couple of days to collect thoughts, I hope it's worth your reading time.

 

You're always worth the reading time, Maurizio!

 

Wish we'd had more of a chance to talk on Monday than the quick goodbye at the end, but thanks again for everything you do! 

[The Senate 3]

2 hours ago, Score said:

I want to thank all those who have shared their experiences and videos of the concert. Although I could not attend, I feel a bit as if I was there as well. I truly hope that someone recorded the Schindler's List theme, since by all accounts (here and elsewhere) it was an incredibly moving performance. Also, I'm very pleased to notice that all the reviews that I've seen on Italian newspapers, so far, are overwhelmingly positive. It's impressive that John, at his age, has managed to complete the tour of the European theaters which best epitomize the remote roots of his art. 

 

I have a clip from the Rehearsal of the Schindler's List theme. Not the greatest quality but it can at least give you an idea.

[MisterXDTV 61]

2 hours ago, Score said:

I want to thank all those who have shared their experiences and videos of the concert. Although I could not attend, I feel a bit as if I was there as well. I truly hope that someone recorded the Schindler's List theme, since by all accounts (here and elsewhere) it was an incredibly moving performance

 

 

[ciarlese 248]

On 13/12/2022 at 12:19 AM, m4tt said:

 

I was working in the company which did recording of this kind of events. To record a concert for a TV or blu-ray release you would need much more equipment... At least 2 cameras on the stage (left and right), two on the balcony (both sides) and on the back with long-range lens (similar to the one that is used to record foodball game). The same with the sound - this concert was not amplified. Normaly if they would wanted to record it you will see many microphones on the stage + AV desk somewhere on the back with sound and video engineers.

 

Recording of the concert is not that simple that someone will just press one button and the microphones above the stage will pick the sounds from all instruments.

 

This video proves that the concert has been recorded:

 

https://tg24.sky.it/spettacolo/2022/12/14/john-williams-concerto-teatro-alla-scala

[ciarlese 248]

This is a nice surprise indeed: less than a minute video from regional RAI news channel, it really seems there were quite some cameras recording the concert! I wonder where they were hiding 😳

https://www.rainews.it/tgr/lombardia/video/2022/12/watchfolder-tgr-lombardia-web-clip-john-williams-alla-scalamxf-908d79fb-2f33-4be5-89b4-5ae075b5421c.html

[hjx 8]

6 hours ago, TownerFan said:

My two cents:

 

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2022/12/14/john-williams-in-milan-2022/

 

I needed a couple of days to collect thoughts, I hope it's worth your reading time.

Sei un grande Mauri. You've spoken on behalf of everyone who was present in that magical evening. The enormity and the significance of Maestro's presence in La Scala is still beyond belief. Let us at least hope for a decent audio recording of the event. Unfortunately, as an avid concert goer I confirm that practically all of the video equipment belonged to the Rai network and mainly used for news and short reportage. As far as I remember, the theatre makes audio recordings of almost all concerts and operas. It is entirely up to the theatre, rights and recording company to release them to public. And no matter how much I enjoyed and loved this truly magical event, in my most humble opinion I think the performance wasn't quite recording-grade. This has nothing to do with the brass section or other issues which have been raised by some. I still hope an audio recording of some form will be released in the future.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

6 hours ago, BB-8 said:

Bravo, Maurizio! @TownerFan

 

Just out of historical interest and for reference: was the film music of Nino Rota (recoded by Filarmonica della Scala and Riccardo Muti) recorded in the opera house or at a different location?

 

 

 

Back cover says:

Quote

Recording: Teatro Abanella, Milan, Italy, June 2-5, 1997

 

[SteTorino 8]

On 14/12/2022 at 1:16 AM, Biodome said:

My brother managed to pick up two of them. He said that at the end of the concert, the staff placed a bunch of them on the table where the programmes were, and people started grabbing them really quickly in what could be described as a frenzy. A random person even tried to take the two posters out of my brother's hands. It was crazy. He even had to hide them!

Anyway, I gave one of the posters to @Martinland during the meetup. He has a massive John Williams archive, so the poster will feel at home there. It would be nice to digitize it in high resolution, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that. Maybe it would be easier to just ask La Scala for a .pdf. They should have one.

ps: one day @Martinland should scan his archive and post it here, shouldn't he?

1 hour ago, ciarlese said:

This is a nice surprise indeed: less than a minute video from regional RAI news channel, it really seems there were quite some cameras recording the concert! I wonder where they were hiding 😳

https://www.rainews.it/tgr/lombardia/video/2022/12/watchfolder-tgr-lombardia-web-clip-john-williams-alla-scalamxf-908d79fb-2f33-4be5-89b4-5ae075b5421c.html

seems to be only simple eng-crew recordings for the local/regional news on rai3 ... with the audio coming from the built-in microphones of the cameras. ... indeed the mic-setup for the stage was an easy one, ok for a radiostream but not for an cd recording.

On 13/12/2022 at 2:20 AM, Tydirium said:

I wasn't there, but I'm curious to hear about the orchestra being "not good." They aren't Berlin or Vienna, no, but AFAIK the La Scala orchestra is pretty well regarded. Probably the best in Italy, if I'm not mistaken—the only other possible contender I can think of would be the Santa Cecilia orchestra in Rome.

 

They record quite a bit for Decca with their music director Riccardo Chailly, and some of those albums have been really great: like the "Viva Verdi" album and "Overtures, Preludes & Intermezzi." Granted, those are opera excerpts. I know Williams' music is much more technically demanding than your average opera, but I still wouldn't expect "not good" from an orchestra of this level.

There is also the "Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI" (located in Turin) and maybe it's "the number one orchestra" in Italy. 

[Amer 2,095]

I wonder if the full press conference like interview is available unedited somewhere…?

[BB-8 3,466]

12 hours ago, SteTorino said:

ps: one day @Martinland should scan his archive and post it here, shouldn't he?

 

seems to be only simple eng-crew recordings for the local/regional news on rai3 ... with the audio coming from the built-in microphones of the cameras. ... indeed the mic-setup for the stage was an easy one, ok for a radiostream but not for an cd recording.

 

I had the same thought about Martin's impressive folder. Maybe this would also make a nice starting point for a crowd-funded fan book like the ones from the rock/pop scene. Here is one recent example: 

This Day In Music Books | Jethro Tull – Lend Me Your Ears

 

Btw, I visited the Teatro on a museum ticket in the morning of the 12th December, and apparently the paired stereo mics were not there - so these may have been installed for the concert? The photo of mine provides the evidence - if you zoom in you can see four small mics but I don't see the central set of mics.

 

Here's to hope!

 

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Back cover says:

Recording: Teatro Abanella, Milan, Italy, June 2-5, 1997

 

This location has quite a vivid history:

 

cinema Abanella (giusepperausa.it)

 

"...starting from 1985, [Abanella] became a private venue for the rehearsals of the Teatro alla Scala where concert recordings were also held in the past, given the excellent acoustics."

[Sandor 797]

EDIT

[keyes 18]

I've updated my article with all the official video shot by TV network

 

https://www.kristiansensini.com/2022/12/13/john-williams-alla-scala-di-milano/

Spanish
https://www.mundobso.com/agoras/williams-en-la-scala

English
https://www.kristiansensini.com/2022/12/14/john-williams-la-scala-di-milano/

13 hours ago, Amer said:

I wonder if the full press conference like interview is available unedited somewhere…?

Existing...Yes (concert, plus dress rehearsal, plus private rehearsals, plus press conference)

Available...I'm sorry no...

 

One thing COULD be possible, pledge FIlarmonica la Scala to edit a documentary with all this video documents as they recently did for other events in the history of filarmonica

https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/filarmonicadellascalatema

 

 

By the way...

https://fb.watch/hr1v2TEI0D/

[TownerFan 4,983]

Official Video of Theme from Schindler's List

 

 

 

[BB-8 3,466]

Well, that is definitely better than no recording at all!

 

I consider this to be the teaser of a full release.

 

 

[GlastoEls 560]

So beautiful.

[Sandor 797]

On 13/12/2022 at 3:52 PM, BB-8 said:

What a great CD cover this would have made...alas, it's history now.

 

It certainly would have....

 

 

Or something like this.

 

[BB-8 3,466]

So this is the company behind the video production...

 

Andrea Angeli Official Website | Eventi digitali, live streaming e produzione video per privati ed aziende (angeliandrea.it)

LIVE STREAMING HD (up to 4 Cameras + Lower Thirds + 4XLR+8Line Audio Input)

Installazione in qualsiasi location, trasmissione su Facebook Live e Youtube Live con videocamera e lenti professionali, grafica personalizzata, missaggio di più fonti audio (6 line/2mic+4line), gestione in tempo reale di contenuti forniti da te (slides, immagini, video), registrazione integrale del tuo evento in formato broadcast.

 

 

 

[bigjimwilson 253]

2 hours ago, Sandor said:

 

It certainly would have....

 

 

I don’t like this at all. Not one bit. It’s awful. 
 

(Because you’ve just chopped me out on the bottom left 😂)

[Sandor 797]

4 minutes ago, bigjimwilson said:

2 hours ago, Sandor said:

 

It certainly would have....

 

 

I don’t like this at all. Not one bit. It’s awful. 
 

(Because you’ve just chopped me out on the bottom left 😂)

 

Oops. Sorry. I'll redo it tomorrow.  

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Wait a minute, wait a minute... If SL exists...

[ciarlese 248]

3 hours ago, TownerFan said:

Official Video of Theme from Schindler's List

 

 

 

This ends any debate and ultimately proves that professional sound AND video recordings of this concert do exist.

It amazes me how discrete the cameras were as I looked everywhere and could only locate the one at the center opposite the podium.

Now it's all about WHEN it will be released...

[GlastoEls 560]

9 minutes ago, ciarlese said:

This ends any debate and ultimately proves that professional sound AND video recordings of this concert do exist.

It amazes me how discrete the cameras were as I looked everywhere and could only locate the one at the center opposite the podium.

Now it's all about WHEN it will be released...

Only this (news?) one was openly visible!

[JohnnyD 1,223]

Knowing that the concert was officially/professionally recorded, the Maestro’s interview as well, and wondering whether if it will all be released on CD/Blu-ray:

 

[BB-8 3,466]

But is the production professional, semi-professional or amateurish?

[Holko 9,516]

It's a single camera, one long take, static angle except for jiggles at the end.

[ciarlese 248]

19 minutes ago, Holko said:

It's a single camera, one long take, static angle except for jiggles at the end.

No it's not 

https://www.rainews.it/tgr/lombardia/video/2022/12/watchfolder-tgr-lombardia-web-clip-john-williams-alla-scalamxf-908d79fb-2f33-4be5-89b4-5ae075b5421c.html

[Nemesis 245]

33 minutes ago, ciarlese said:

No it's not 

https://www.rainews.it/tgr/lombardia/video/2022/12/watchfolder-tgr-lombardia-web-clip-john-williams-alla-scalamxf-908d79fb-2f33-4be5-89b4-5ae075b5421c.html

That's from italian TV. The Schindler's List video is by the Filarmonica della Scala...

[MisterXDTV 61]

1 hour ago, Nemesis said:

That's from italian TV. The Schindler's List video is by the Filarmonica della Scala...

 

But RAI is an official partner of the theater since forever. It's the national public broadcaster

[Nemesis 245]

20 minutes ago, MisterXDTV said:

 

But RAI is an official partner of the theater since forever. It's the national public broadcaster

The description from the youtube video states the video is by Andrea Angeli.

[Tom 4,650]

edit

[ciarlese 248]

8 hours ago, Nemesis said:

That's from italian TV. The Schindler's List video is by the Filarmonica della Scala...

Then what?

I am just trying to show that a professional video recording from multiple cameras exist. 

6 hours ago, Nemesis said:

The description from the youtube video states the video is by Andrea Angeli. Di

Recordings are made by people... 

Even the concert was played by people.

 

[BB-8 3,466]

I somehow like the pure documentary style of the edit.

 

And the black-and-white gives it a touch of class.

 

Crazy to think that we've been through DG speculations, RAI 3 live-broadcast expectations, RAI HD van observations, "no recording" statements, hopes restored through photos of mics during the public rehearsal, final loss of hope after witnessing life-less RAI HD vans...all within one week...and now WE HAVE SOME DECENT FOOTAGE!!!

[TownerFan 4,983]

When I spoke with people of La Scala last week, they told me no audio or video recording was planned. The theatre always has an audio/video feed grabbing the performances for internal archival documentation (usually a single-camera wide shot of the orchestra and a stereo mic over the podium), but that doesn't account as a proper recording.

 

Now, a crew with multiple cameras was actually in the theatre on December 12 as evidenced from footage now available, but from what I gather it was not meant for an actual filming of the concert like Vienna 2020 or Berlin 2021, but just to have material to be given out to press for articles and specials etc., and also for the Filarmonica's social media channels and internal documentation for future usage. Of course they grabbed the whole thing, but it doesn't look like it was actually live-directed, as you need a larger crew and many more cameras to edit everything properly. From what I was told, the RAI OB-van outside the theatre wasn't used for the Williams concert. That's all I know.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

I'm thrilled at least a stereo recording exists. Take my money, I do not care about camera angles. TAKE MY MONEY.

[JTN 2,002]

OB-Van 😄

[BB-8 3,466]

Just a plain CD and DVD set with the concert and documentary (rehearsal and interviews)...no frills!

 

 

[hjx 8]

Here's a very well written review of the concert by our Paolo Zecchini which will be published in the "Musica" magazine. Contains opinions and feedback from members of La Filarmonica:

 

Italian:

https://www.rivistamusica.com/da-uno-zar-allaltro-la-prima-alla-scala-di-john-williams/

 

English (translated via Google):

https://www-rivistamusica-com.translate.goog/da-uno-zar-allaltro-la-prima-alla-scala-di-john-williams/?_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

[BB-8 3,466]

This could be Chailly...in the box on the right with a mask

[contemascetti 7]

1 hour ago, BB-8 said:

This could be Chailly...in the box on the right with a mask

It was indeed Maestro Chailly in the box overlooking the stage!
First post here just to say how incredible it was to be able to attend the show (probably from a seat not far from where this pictures was taken as the view was more or less the same I had).
I am enjoying reading all your comments and impressions, keep them coming.
I've never seen such an enthusiastic crowd at La Scala, the emotion was palpable.

Definitely a night to remember

[Thor 7,490]

Donaggio, Chailly.....any other luminaries in the crowd?

[BB-8 3,466]

8 minutes ago, Thor said:

Donaggio, Chailly.....any other luminaries in the crowd?

 

The Adventures of Mutter...

[keyes 18]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

Donaggio, Chailly.....any other luminaries in the crowd?

Me

[BB-8 3,466]

No idea whether this delivers any new insight....

 

[SteTorino 8]

5 hours ago, BB-8 said:

No idea whether this delivers any new insight....

 

nice. but no new info.

[ciarlese 248]

5 hours ago, BB-8 said:

No idea whether this delivers any new insight....

 

Lol, I was sitting at the same place as this lady 😁