John Williams – The Tanglewood 90th Birthday Celebration (8/20/22)

[Jay 38,812]

No it was a shortened arrangement that omitted Marion's Theme

[Tydirium 1,224]

I believe it's the same version he played earlier this year after premiering the Obi-Wan Kenobi theme. Wouldn't be surprised if it's on the Indy 5 soundtrack.

[SilverTrumpet 642]

We had a really great time. The James Taylor stuff was really dopey and kinda boring, but everything else was a delight.

 

We saw Highwood's Ghost during its premiere, but just about every other concert work we've never seen live, so it was a great concert after 3 years of Film Nights.

 

Pearlman's surprise appearance was incredible. I'm glad I got to see him perform Schindler since he really didn't look to be in great health. I don't know if we know what his deal is. He's only what, 74? He sounded perfect still. They had a bunch of people mask up for when he zoomed onto stage to perform.

 

25 minutes ago, Jay said:

No it was a shortened arrangement that omitted Marion's Theme

 

I'm glad you made it! I saw a sign outside showing that while the lawn was sold out, the shed still had a couple seats available but my service there was lousy trying to get on the forums to let you know. 

[Marian Schedenig 8,803]

28 minutes ago, Jay said:

No it was a shortened arrangement that omitted Marion's Theme

 

So from now on, we'll get concert programmes either with both Marion's theme and the full Raiders March, or no separate Marion and the shortened March without her theme.

[lairdo 737]

7 hours ago, Miguel Andrade said:

 

I don't think he did. He did play on Carousel and South Pacific, also orchestrating on the former.

 

Ah, yes. I was thinking of those.

[MovieMusicMaestro 33]

The cuts and jumps in both the Superman March and in Raiders March were - at least in my opinion - rather annoying. I assume that those were added in order to save time.

 

Also, I was not surprised to see Itzhak Perlman. Perlman was the soloist in today's symphony concert, so why shouldn't he perform the night before?

 

In the end, it was an American show. What is being sold as "surprise" and "spontaneous", is nothing but a meticulously choreographed show.

[Ricard 2,254]

Quote

The Town of Lenox and The Lenox Library Association celebrated John Williams’ 90th birthday with a tour, brief ceremony and cake. Williams arrived with his daughter Jenny for the celebration. Friday, August 19, 2022.

https://mng-neni.smugmug.com/Lenox-town-celebration-for-John-Williams

 

 

Composer John Williams applauds after hearing a story from State Representative William “Smitty” Pignatelli.

 

Lenox Library historian Amy Lafave talks with composer John Williams.

 

Selectboard member Marybeth Mitts presents composer John Williams with a resolution commemorating his cultural contribution to the town. Williams composed the score for three Harry Potter movies and Schindler’s List in Lenox.

 

Composer John Williams addresses a small audience at the Lenox Library during a celebration in his honor.

 

Maria Lynch cuts composer John Williams a slice of birthday cake at a celebration for him at the Lenox Library.

 

Historian Amy Lafave gives composer John Williams a tour of the music room in the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams and Tony Fogg examine a display of historical materials related to Leonard Bernstein at the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams and State Representative William “Smitty” Pignatelli chat at the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams waves to guests at the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams smiles as he greets people at a celebration of his cultural contribution to the town of Lenox. (last photo with a caption)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crumbs 14,629]

7 hours ago, Tydirium said:

I believe it's the same version he played earlier this year after premiering the Obi-Wan Kenobi theme. Wouldn't be surprised if it's on the Indy 5 soundtrack.

 

Yep, has OST track 1 written all over it.

[DangerMotif 1,086]

4 hours ago, Ricard said:

https://mng-neni.smugmug.com/Lenox-town-celebration-for-John-Williams

 

 

Composer John Williams applauds after hearing a story from State Representative William “Smitty” Pignatelli.

 

Lenox Library historian Amy Lafave talks with composer John Williams.

 

Selectboard member Marybeth Mitts presents composer John Williams with a resolution commemorating his cultural contribution to the town. Williams composed the score for three Harry Potter movies and Schindler’s List in Lenox.

 

Composer John Williams addresses a small audience at the Lenox Library during a celebration in his honor.

 

Maria Lynch cuts composer John Williams a slice of birthday cake at a celebration for him at the Lenox Library.

 

Historian Amy Lafave gives composer John Williams a tour of the music room in the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams and Tony Fogg examine a display of historical materials related to Leonard Bernstein at the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams and State Representative William “Smitty” Pignatelli chat at the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams waves to guests at the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams smiles as he greets people at a celebration of his cultural contribution to the town of Lenox. (last photo with a caption)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So the woman in these photos is his wife or daughter?

[lairdo 737]

5 hours ago, Ricard said:

https://mng-neni.smugmug.com/Lenox-town-celebration-for-John-Williams

 

Composer John Williams smiles as he greets people at a celebration of his cultural contribution to the town of Lenox. (last photo with a caption)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, great photos and a ton of them! Thanks for posting.

 

51 minutes ago, Gibster said:

So the woman in these photos is his wife or daughter?

 

Yes, that is Jenny. He attends a lot of events with her. She has more reddish hair than Samantha Winslow and of course has a different facial structure. Here are some older photos but definitely show the above images are Jenny. These are from Getty images and are tagged with both their names along with JW.

 

I think that sometimes Jenny is mistaken for Samantha in photo captions. (Also, the below photos are almost 20 years old. I could not find a recent one of Samantha actually which makes me wonder if she is doing as well health-wise as Johnny seems to be.)

 

 

[DangerMotif 1,086]

Thanks it gets confusing because they both attend alot of events with him but his real wife hasn’t been public in a while I think.

[Falstaft 2,169]

What wonderful shots!

[TownerFan 4,998]

22 hours ago, RonBurbella said:

There was a VERY entertaining, split-second timed video of photographs to accompany the SUPERMAN encore.  It started with early black and white photos of JW as a child and as a very young musician.  Then it followed his career through the years, with many, many photos of his concerts, film scoring,  and collaborations with various artists and celebrities.   The photos came to a well-timed end with the last notes of SUPERMAN.  Quite effective in showing that HE is our musical Superman.

Ron Burbella

Was it this?

 

https://youtu.be/mWnPfq3C4Z4

[MovieMusicMaestro 33]

Most probably, yes. The music edit is what I heard on radio. And the pictures resemble those referenced to by the radio host.

[Pawel P. 738]

7 hours ago, lairdo said:

 

Wow, great photos and a ton of them! Thanks for posting.

 

 

Yes, that is Jenny. He attends a lot of events with her. She has more reddish hair than Samantha Winslow and of course has a different facial structure. Here are some older photos but definitely show the above images are Jenny. These are from Getty images and are tagged with both their names along with JW.

 

I think that sometimes Jenny is mistaken for Samantha in photo captions. (Also, the below photos are almost 20 years old. I could not find a recent one of Samantha actually which makes me wonder if she is doing as well health-wise as Johnny seems to be.)

 

 

 

This photo is from 2016 (also from Getty Images) from the 44th Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to John Williams

 

 

 

[Jay 38,812]

4 hours ago, TownerFan said:

Was it this?

 

https://youtu.be/mWnPfq3C4Z4

 

Nope. The one played this weekend had way way way more pictures and footage than this. 

[Marian Schedenig 8,803]

I believe this video hasn't been posted yet?

 

 

[SilverTrumpet 642]

6 hours ago, TownerFan said:

Was it this?

 

https://youtu.be/mWnPfq3C4Z4

 

It started with the same picture but it's not the same montage. The one at Tanglewood had a lot more footage of him conducting, often times with it very cleverly syncing up with the music. Lots of Star Wars recording sessions footage and the recent European concerts. A great flash on the screen of all the Music by John Williams credits from different movies and then ends with the "Wow" from Vienna (that was Vienna, right?). 

[rpvee 854]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

 

Nope. The one played this weekend had way way way more pictures and footage than this. 

I think the same new video was used at the Kennedy Center tribute a couple months ago.

 

Great to see you for a sec, btw!

[BB-8 3,819]

Vader The White

[Jay 38,812]

39 minutes ago, rpvee said:

I think the same new video was used at the Kennedy Center tribute a couple months ago.

 

Oh that's cool!  It was an awesome video I'd love to see again

 

39 minutes ago, rpvee said:

Great to see you for a sec, btw!

 

Yea, it was very nice to say Hi briefly; Sorry we couldn't chat any more than that!

[TownerFan 4,998]

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I believe this video hasn't been posted yet?

 

 

 

I love John's new running shoes

 

Btw, it's really impressive to see how spry he looks and moves around--he gets up from that chair swiftly like a 50 years old! 

[BB-8 3,819]

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,803]

8 minutes ago, TownerFan said:

I love John's new running shoes

 

Just what I thought!

 

7 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

 

 

Well, he *is* living long and prospering.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,229]

20 hours ago, Ricard said:

https://mng-neni.smugmug.com/Lenox-town-celebration-for-John-Williams

 

 

Composer John Williams applauds after hearing a story from State Representative William “Smitty” Pignatelli.

 

Lenox Library historian Amy Lafave talks with composer John Williams.

 

Selectboard member Marybeth Mitts presents composer John Williams with a resolution commemorating his cultural contribution to the town. Williams composed the score for three Harry Potter movies and Schindler’s List in Lenox.

 

Composer John Williams addresses a small audience at the Lenox Library during a celebration in his honor.

 

Maria Lynch cuts composer John Williams a slice of birthday cake at a celebration for him at the Lenox Library.

 

Historian Amy Lafave gives composer John Williams a tour of the music room in the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams and Tony Fogg examine a display of historical materials related to Leonard Bernstein at the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams and State Representative William “Smitty” Pignatelli chat at the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams waves to guests at the Lenox Library.

 

Composer John Williams smiles as he greets people at a celebration of his cultural contribution to the town of Lenox. (last photo with a caption)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's all so whitebread; so anodyne; so congenial; so sequestered; so safe; so middle-class; so aspirational; so lifeless.

[Limerocker 4]

The Concert is being re-broadcast on Saturday in case anyone missed it.

https://www.nepm.org/show/tanglewood

 

It's hard to criticize a concert with Izthak Perlman playing Schindler's List. However, overall I felt like the concert missed the mark in many ways. The first half of the program featured many of JW's concert works.  Although I know that these pieces are important works of his, I don't think they really belonged on a 90th birthday celebration of JW with 18,000 people. I was excited to bring two 13 year olds to the concert hoping they'd be inspired by the music but they didn't get much out of the first half. 

Yo-Yo Ma was brilliant but I was surprised that he didn't play Memoirs of a Geisha. I was also surprised by the choice of conductor (Ken-David Masur). I don't remember him saying a single word during the whole concert and he didn't seem to have any connection to Hollywood or Boston Pops. That also brings up the topic of narration. There was very little said about John Williams throughout the night. Yo-Yo Ma said some kind words and there were sporadic video clips. Just seems like a flow of narration throughout the concert would have been nice and I can't imagine that they couldn't find someone willing to do that for John. 

Branford was amazing and it was great to hear Catch Me If You Can. James Taylor was James Taylor but his performance took the focus away from John I thought. He also got the first standing ovation of the night for performing a non-Williams piece. 

Still, Schindler's List at the hands of Perlman=incredible concert. 

 

 

[BB-8 3,819]

21 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

It's all so whitebread; so anodyne; so congenial; so sequestered; so safe; so middle-class; so aspirational; so lifeless.

 

For those reasons, I have ordered two refrigerator magnets as keepsakes. 

[atmicwedgy 50]

The CRB event page now includes the audio playback of the show:

https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2022-06-13/a-tanglewood-celebration-of-john-williams

[Miguel Andrade 1,325]

21 hours ago, Limerocker said:

The Concert is being re-broadcast on Saturday in case anyone missed it.

https://www.nepm.org/show/tanglewood

 

It's hard to criticize a concert with Izthak Perlman playing Schindler's List. However, overall I felt like the concert missed the mark in many ways. The first half of the program featured many of JW's concert works.  Although I know that these pieces are important works of his, I don't think they really belonged on a 90th birthday celebration of JW with 18,000 people. I was excited to bring two 13 year olds to the concert hoping they'd be inspired by the music but they didn't get much out of the first half. 

Yo-Yo Ma was brilliant but I was surprised that he didn't play Memoirs of a Geisha. I was also surprised by the choice of conductor (Ken-David Masur). I don't remember him saying a single word during the whole concert and he didn't seem to have any connection to Hollywood or Boston Pops. That also brings up the topic of narration. There was very little said about John Williams throughout the night. Yo-Yo Ma said some kind words and there were sporadic video clips. Just seems like a flow of narration throughout the concert would have been nice and I can't imagine that they couldn't find someone willing to do that for John. 

Branford was amazing and it was great to hear Catch Me If You Can. James Taylor was James Taylor but his performance took the focus away from John I thought. He also got the first standing ovation of the night for performing a non-Williams piece. 

Still, Schindler's List at the hands of Perlman=incredible concert. 

 

 

 

Williams probably had a say on the repertoire performed and I do enjoy the fact that so much focus on his concert output. For each concert like this one, you have a gazillion of others with just film music.

 

I actually enjoyed the little tributes, and both Mutter's and Nelsons' I found quite touching.

 

Ken-David Masur is the son of the late, great Kurt Masur, who premiered the Williams' Bassoon Concerto with the New York philharmonic. Ken is also a former BSO assistant conductor and has often conducted Williams music whit his own orchestra (that right now I can't remember which is).

 

 

[Tom 4,956]

22 hours ago, Limerocker said:

The Concert is being re-broadcast on Saturday in case anyone missed it.

https://www.nepm.org/show/tanglewood

 

It's hard to criticize a concert with Izthak Perlman playing Schindler's List. However, overall I felt like the concert missed the mark in many ways. The first half of the program featured many of JW's concert works.  Although I know that these pieces are important works of his, I don't think they really belonged on a 90th birthday celebration of JW with 18,000 people. I was excited to bring two 13 year olds to the concert hoping they'd be inspired by the music but they didn't get much out of the first half. 

 

There was as much film work as concert.  Plus, Highwood's Ghost and Just Down West Street are Tanglewood commissions (and for seiji a BSO one).  The first half was a perfect celebration of Williams in relation to the BPO (which is what this was).   I don't want to sound harsh, but it is better to honor the full legacy of Williams (as it was about him) than to entertain kids. 

[BB-8 3,819]

I don't know whether this was already picked up, but "Superman" is slightly abridged with some reprises missing.

 

Otherwise an enjoyable listen! A lot of brass detail heard in this crisp version of "Sound the Bells!". 

 

 

3 hours ago, Tom said:

There was as much film work as concert.  Plus, Highwood's Ghost and Just Down West Street are Tanglewood commissions (and for seiji a BSO one).  The first half was a perfect celebration of Williams in relation to the BPO (which is what this was).   I don't want to sound harsh, but it is better to honor the full legacy of Williams (as it was about him) than to entertain kids. 

Yet Raider's without Marion's Theme is rather unusual after so much intimacy.

[bollemanneke 3,529]

I'm finally listening to this and honestly don't like it that much. Here's hoping the Gala concert will be released soon.

Did like Mutter's greeting a lot. Just too much concert music.

[BB-8 3,819]

The JW fridge magnets have arrived!

 

[Martinland 361]

On 07/09/2022 at 3:51 PM, BB-8 said:

The JW fridge magnets have arrived!

What the... John Williams, on a fridge!

The world is a fascinating place...

 

[BB-8 3,819]

[Smeltington 1,538]

Well he wrote music for Indiana Jones getting IN a fridge...

[BB-8 3,819]

And he also composed "The Battle In The Fridge":