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"Violin Concerto No. 2 and Selected Film Themes" Williams / Mutter album & Blu Ray


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5 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

That's a really nice interview.

 

The live stream of the interview starts 17.15:

Kulturszene: Aktuelles Gespräch mit der Geigerin Anne-Sophie Mutter.

 

BR-KLASSIK: Die ganze Welt der Klassischen Musik | BR-KLASSIK | BR-KLASSIK | Bayerischer Rundfunk

image.png

 

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OK, my first review of this CD.

 

This CD smells bad when we unsceal it. :)

 

End.

 

(Forum-level review of a new release)

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43 minutes ago, lairdo said:

Bummer! I have had to contact DG customer service before, and they are usually responsive and helpful. Maybe they held back copies in case there were issues and they can send you one?

I already contacted them. They asked for a photograph of the booklet to decide on next steps. I don't know what these next steps are supposed to be. But in the meantime I think, I probably would rather get a discount instead of some fake signature booklet. It would have been a nice thing in the first place. But after this incident the fairy dust is gone somehow. Except they arrange a coffee and cake appointment for me with Anne-Sophie where we can talk about John Williams' music and she signs my booklet.

 

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26 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

I already contacted them. They asked for a photograph of the booklet to decide on next steps. I don't know what these next steps are supposed to be. But in the meantime I think, I probably would rather get a discount instead of some fake signature booklet. It would have been a nice thing in the first place. But after this incident the fairy dust is gone somehow. Except they arrange a coffee and cake appointment for me with Anne-Sophie where we can talk about John Williams' music and she signs my booklet.

 

Jedi steps...

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James Jolly is clearly on a personal mission to see how many times a person can say "as it were" in a single half hour conversation.

 

Great interview though!

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@GerateWohlIf you are invited for coffee and cakes (or cookies) with Anne-Sophie you can ask her whether DG are planning to release the "Return to Vienna" tapes of the second violin concerto plus extras.

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17 minutes ago, Stu said:

James Jolly is clearly on a personal mission to see how many times a person can say "as it were" in a single half hour conversation.

 

Great interview though!

 

That is his motif as it were. He does it in every podcast. 


To his credit, he got JW to speak about topics I've never heard him mention before. I will actually listen to this interview a second time this weekend to gleam more from it!

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29 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

@GerateWohlIf you are invited for coffee and cakes (or cookies) with Anne-Sophie you can ask her whether DG are planning to release the "Return to Vienna" tapes of the second violin concerto plus extras.

I am not. They just offered me a discount.

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There are interesting links between these independent interviews of John Williams (Gramophone) and of ASM (BR-Klassik), e.g. John Williams deciding to become a composer rather than a pianist, the Black-Forest-girl (not from Mississippi) showing interest in jazz, while John Williams apparently doesn't see such a strong stylistic link of his violin concerto to jazz than ASM does.

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1 hour ago, BB-8 said:

@GerateWohlIf you are invited for coffee and cakes (or cookies) with Anne-Sophie you can ask her whether DG are planning to release the "Return to Vienna" tapes of the second violin concerto plus extras.

 

They've got a logo now, they have to release more stuff to make proper use of it.

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6 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

I am pissed. I ordered the signature edition as well but received it without signature.

 

Send it to me, I'll sign it.

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8 hours ago, John Chambers said:

Thank you for posting this!  Great listening for the ride home. 

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3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

They've got a logo now, they have to release more stuff to make proper use of it.

 

Or they will just release a box set of all the albums to date and get people like me to double dip (or triple or whatever I am up to with these releases).

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8 hours ago, John Chambers said:


Awesome! Is there a way to download it? I want to put it in my Apple library.

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8 hours ago, lairdo said:

Have we seen this Williams-Mutter logo before that is in the booklet? 

Anne-Sophie_Mutter-Williams_Violin_Concerto_No_2_Selected_Film_Themes.jpg


it only coincidentally resembles a “W” and “M”. 
From their planet is is a symbol that means “Hope”. 
 

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Wow, that Gramophone interview! I loved hearing Williams mention his symphony and piano sonata. I would have loved to have heard more about them, but at least he hasn't forgotten them^ Missed opportunity for the interviewer to demand they be recorded and released ASAP!

 

And it's just so obvious from the interview his mental facilities are as sharp as ever. His intellect doesn't only shine through through his music. I've never written the word "through" twice together in a sentence, but it's grammatically and linguistically correct!

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24 minutes ago, pete said:

Wow, that Gramophone interview! I loved hearing Williams mention his symphony and piano sonata. I would have loved to have heard more about them, but at least he hasn't forgotten them^ Missed opportunity for the interviewer to demand they be recorded and released ASAP!

 

And it's just so obvious from the interview his mental facilities are as sharp as ever. His intellect doesn't only shine through through his music. I've never written the word "through" twice together in a sentence, but it's grammatically and linguistically correct!


Agreed so much. I’m a member on the vi-control forum for composers and anyone there who is underwhelmed by the new Obi-Wan piece is convinced that he’s past his prime and obviously experiencing ‘cognitive decline’ since his writing is different than it was 40 years ago. Can you imagine? I could only wish to be as good as JW is this year or any year. Haters gonna hate. 

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People just want the big famous themes from him no matter what. They (even composers who should know better) don’t see how much his orchestration and application has become better and better over the decades. When “Book Thief” came out Conrad Pope talked about how transparent JW’s orchestrations have become and the clarity in which he expresses his ideas. Today, if they can’t hum the theme after hearing it the first time they bitch and moan. Memorable themes are a crapshoot no matter how much of a legend you are. 

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1 hour ago, pete said:

Missed opportunity for the interviewer to demand they be recorded and released ASAP!

 

It seems, as it were, that you have not recorded, as it were, these pieces.  I demand you freaking do it!!! (as it were).  

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My physical CD copy arrived today!

I did not listen to the digital release, and will wait until I can find time to play my copy to hear it!

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On 03/06/2022 at 4:23 PM, JohnnyD said:


Awesome! Is there a way to download it? I want to put it in my Apple library.

 

This is how I did it.

 

I have a Mac, so I used the Podcast app to find the podcast.

(This link should work.)

In the app, you can hit the icon to download it (as compared to streaming it).

Podcasts are stored in the user library. Go into Finder and hit CMD-SHT-G (for go to folder)

Enter "~/Library/Group Containers" and hit return

Found the folder that ends ".groups.com.apple.podcasts" - there will be some random characters before that

Then navigate to Library and then into the Cache folder

The most recent mp3 will likely be the podcast. It has no metadata or image, so you have to edit that if you want it. 

Copy it to another folder. (Leave the original or the Podcast app gets confused and might delete your file even after you move it.)

The large Image from the Gramophone site can be downloaded.

 

 

 

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Every time I preorder an album months in advance, I end up having to leave town when it arrives. My friend that grabs my mail thinks I have a problem. 

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50 minutes ago, Toillion said:

Every time I preorder an album months in advance, I end up having to leave town when it arrives. My friend that grabs my mail thinks I have a problem. 

 

If you go out of town more often, will we get even more albums released?

 

(Not that there is any way to top the volume of the past 4 weeks in terms of John Williams releases.)

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The sound of the CD is great!

I love BSO and Symphony Hall!

 

8 hours ago, artguy360 said:

This is a great JW interview. He's so expansive here, which is rare for JW.

 

Edit: I've never even heard JW talk this much about Andre Previn. 

 

Great interview.

 

But the concerto falls into three parts plus an Epilogue.

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Can anyone remember Williams talking that much about any of his concertos as he does and did about this second Violin Concerto? It seems to me, that this piece is especially important to him or as if he is especially proud of this composition.

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4 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Can anyone remember Williams talking that much about any of his concertos as he does and did about this second Violin Concerto? It seems to me, that this piece is especially important to him or as if he is especially proud of this composition.

No. 1 was dedicated to his wife who he sadly lost at a very early stage in his career. So with his second violin concerto he may have achieved something at old age that is complementary to the first very personal violin concerto which may be seen as liberation and fulfilment.

 

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I have the feeling his 2nd violin concerto, dedicated to Anne, is about the loss of her [EDIT]ex-[EDIT]husband, Andre Previn in 2019, and the healing that occurred since.

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43 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

No. 1 was dedicated to his wife who he sadly lost at a very early stage in his career. So with his second violin concerto he may have achieved something at old age that is complementary to the first very personal violin concerto which may be seen as liberation and fulfilment.

I didn't just refer to the violin concertos. But did he speak so much about his viola concerto, his bassoon concerto or his harp concerto? I can't even remember hearing him talk that much about his cello concerto.

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52 minutes ago, Bespin said:

I have the feeling his 2nd violin concerto, dedicated to Anne, is about the loss of his husband, Andre Previn in 2019, and the healing that occurred since.

 

They divorced in 2006 (although they remained friends and kept working together).

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Previn:

 

Quote

 "You know how people say that their marriage didn’t work? With us, the divorce didn’t work. We call each other every day regardless of where we are.


In the interview, Williams even makes a comment paraphrasing Previn on this. 

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Isn’t it more a case of him finally achieving a degree of respectability in the eyes of certain parts of the musical establishment such that he’s now being asked to give interviews in some depth instead of the usual trivial fluff (if anything), which, sadly, is all his previous works have attracted?

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9 hours ago, QuartalHarmony said:

Isn’t it more a case of him finally achieving a degree of respectability in the eyes of certain parts of the musical establishment such that he’s now being asked to give interviews in some depth instead of the usual trivial fluff (if anything), which, sadly, is all his previous works have attracted?

I think it's a bit of that, but also the intense artistic relationship with Anne-Sophie Mutter, which makes it all more interesting for the mainstream media. Other than us geeks, the media need more than "only" absolute music, but also a good story. They together are a great story. Nothing against Yo-Yo Ma and the other great and serious musicians JW has collaborated with before, but the Mutter-Williams connection just is a great story that triggers many imaginations, last but not least the composer's own. She is his muse and gives him energy and joy.

We can tell he was a bit weary about the film music routines, so this other focus really inspires him, literally lifts his spirit. And the long Previn connection by both, a classic triangle story, makes this even into a psychologically complex tale.
The CD is very beautiful and one can tell from the music and how it's played and how it sounds, that there is more to it than only pure professionalism of two of the most accomplished artists on the planet.

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Just listened to it a couple of times. I really like it a lot.  I think I prefer it to the recent cello cd. This is a great year so far for us fans. And knowing there is a new soundtrack score coming towards the end of the year. Happy 90th indeed!

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21 hours ago, Bespin said:

I have the feeling his 2nd violin concerto, dedicated to Anne, is about the loss of his [EDIT]ex-[EDIT]husband, Andre Previn in 2019, and the healing that occurred since.


You mean her ex-husband…?

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