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John Williams returns to Vienna! March 12/13 2022


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18 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Somewhere in the middle of the foremost block, about row 7-ish? I was in the left block on about their level and mostly took my cue from them. ;) 

The ticket said we were in row 4, and when you add the three(?) front rows to that that would make it row 7.

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10 hours ago, Fabulin said:

There were so many recordings floating around after the 2020 concerts, but this time I can't find a single one. Was Heinz Fischer absent?

 

On Saturday, the "official" boxes seemed empty. On Sunday I couldn't see, because I was sitting roughly below them.

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20 hours ago, Lord Montague said:

That's a tape recorder. Nobody would bother with a tape recorder unless it was some kind of boutique analogue recording. Blu-ray seems very unlikely then.

That looks like a museum dummy from Haus der Musik.

 

Today in KURIER:

20220314_081447.jpg

 

And the print version of the Standard article:

20220314_133249.jpg

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4 hours ago, Lord Montague said:

no CD recording and no video recording this time...

No CD? :conf:

 

But there were extra grounded mics for key boards, harp and percussion.

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7 minutes ago, Biodome said:

During the first concert, as I was sitting in the balcony, I could see that the mics were clearly recording, as they had red lights on. The music is definitely not lost, but whether there's a CD in the works, I don't think anyone knows for sure.

 

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I'm a little surprised that JW has visited Vienna a second time but hasn't yet rescheduled a visit to London with the LSO given that he couldn't do the concert a few years ago due to last minute illness. Maybe the LSO's schedule doesn't match his. 

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28 minutes ago, JonathanAsh said:

From having talked to a recording engineer myself and from what @PetePan gathered, we have confirmation that the concert was recorded and that they (probably DG) are planning to release it on vinyl. I can‘t imagine there will be an LP but no CD, so I expect there to be both. 

Just an LP would suggest a limited direct metal mastering? That retrotech picture looked more like a control panel from the Death Star.

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I don‘t really know a lot about how the whole recording technology stuff works, but in addition to the turn table-type thing you could see in PetePan’s picture, there was a large mixing console thing in the centre of the room with pretty flashing lights.

 

It seems unlikely to me that they would only release an LP and no CD. I thought the big flashy lights console was their usual digital recording equipment, and the ‘Death Star control panel’ was some additional equipment they brought so they could also make an LP.

 

I didn’t have anyone specifically tell me this, though. I could be mistaken.

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47 minutes ago, Fabulin said:

How can anyone believe that they would make it vinyl-only?

Just thinking of Haitink Bruckner 7 with BPO (BPO records) and Hrusa Smetana Ma Vlast second take with Bambergers (Accentus). These kind of limited prints sell like Andy Warhols.

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12 minutes ago, Fabulin said:

Have we forgotten how business-savvy the last JW-VPO-DG collaboration was? The "vinyl-only" idea is just ridiculous!

Yeah, it was savvy indeed. Like, I honestly don't know how many releases they cranked out anymore.

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21 minutes ago, mahler3 said:


Multiple forces are still trying to make it happen!

May the same force be with them! 
 

(RAH 4 miles from my house instead of these glamorous trips to Vienna and Berlin!)

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The recording engineer I spoke to also only said ‘Schallplatte’. I’m from Germany, where that word really only refers to a vinyl record. @Matthias, if you say in Austrian German it’s a general way of referring to CDs etc., all the better! 

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28 minutes ago, JonathanAsh said:

The recording engineer I spoke to also only said ‘Schallplatte’. I’m from Germany, where that word really only refers to a vinyl record. @Matthias, if you say in Austrian German it’s a general way of referring to CDs etc., all the better! 

In the Netherlands we also say that a band makes 'een nieuwe plaat'.

But that as well is a general reference to vinyl, CD, or even streaming. 

 

DFDC5BEB-C814-4CD6-BD28-2224E4818ACD.jpeg

 

Ps. Interesting note on the door: 

Please put phones into fly-mode. Direct to disc...

 

Something to do with interference?

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Stupid question, is the composition of the orchestra was very different than the one used for the 2020 recorded concert?

 

Same first players by example?

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@Bespin Not exactly the same players, no. I recognised some faces again, like the first desk of the violas, some trumpet and bassoon players; but others, like the concertmaster, first oboe and the timpanist were not the same as in the 2020 concerts.

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9 minutes ago, Bespin said:

Stupid question, is the composition of the orchestra was different than the one used for the 2020 recorded concert?

 

Same first players by example?

I compared them with the video on YouTube and noticed quite some different players. 

At least the first violin player (concert master), the second flute, which was a woman in 2022 and I guess also the timpani player (or he got bold really quick...😅). In fact the timpani player in 2020 now was the percussionist stating there will be a schalplatte....

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Review in Wiener Zeitung:

https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/kultur/klassik/2140736-Alle-lieben-John-Williams.html

Another classical music critic somewhat alienated by the standing ovations. 😅 I do slightly agree with the point that a little bit more refinement and a little less volume would've been beneficial. But that's complaining on a very high level. 

 

1 hour ago, JonathanAsh said:

The recording engineer I spoke to also only said ‘Schallplatte’. I’m from Germany, where that word really only refers to a vinyl record. @Matthias, if you say in Austrian German it’s a general way of referring to CDs etc., all the better! 

It can mean both, depending on the context. It's a little odd that both used the same term, though. Makes me second-guess a little bit.

After all, DG has to find a way of releasing this without bastardizing its other products. So maybe an initial vinyl-only release with a later general release isn't impossible. 

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1 hour ago, Matthias said:

I do slightly agree with the point that a little bit more refinement and a little less volume would've been beneficial.

I see your (or her) point on volume vs. refinement, but I do think there were lots of moments of wonderfully musical, ‘refined’ playing: The horn solo (Saturday’s flub notwithstanding) in Leia’s theme, the gorgeous soaring strings in E.T. or the passionate way the celli and horns sang Fawkes’ theme together… Definitely not just the flute. 

Sure, Superman sounded more like “Solti” than “Szell”, if you will, but I really don‘t think that piece benefits from being played too lyrically anyway. But different people have different preferences of course, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong or right with either way of interpreting.

 

46 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

What's so bad about the applause?

That part of the review confused me as well. I have no idea what this kind of journalism does for anyone. Is she trying to make fun of the plebs who don‘t have good taste in music? Or is she just sincerely surprised at how joyfully the audience applauded? 

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6 hours ago, GlastoEls said:

(RAH 4 miles from my house instead of these glamorous trips to Vienna and Berlin!)

This sounds great! I adore Royal Albert Hall and would like to return some day (and meet you again :-D) - have been there in 2004 and experienced Elmer Bernstein in the Hall as well as met John Landis (alone!) in front of the Hall during the afternoon. Good times. *sigh*

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3 hours ago, PetePan said:

In the Netherlands we also say that a band makes 'een nieuwe plaat'.

But that as well is a general reference to vinyl, CD, or even streaming. 

 

DFDC5BEB-C814-4CD6-BD28-2224E4818ACD.jpeg

 

Ps. Interesting note on the door: 

Please put phones into fly-mode. Direct to disc...

 

Something to do with interference?

 

Holy sh*t

 

Emil Berliner Studios...

Direct to Disc.

 

https://emil-berliner-studios.com

 

 

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2 hours ago, Bespin said:

Stupid question, is the composition of the orchestra was very different than the one used for the 2020 recorded concert?

 

Same first players by example?


Young(ish)er players overall. Which some here will again complain about as a supposed snub towards Williams; others even before the concert saw it as a reason to expect a better rehearsed performance.

 

30 minutes ago, JonathanAsh said:

Sure, Superman sounded more like “Solti” than “Szell”, if you will, but I really don‘t think that piece benefits from being played too lyrically anyway. But different people have different preferences of course, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong or right with either way of interpreting.

 

That reminds me of something that I thought myself (and that I think I've been subconsciously thinking for a long time, but the concert made me more aware of it): Why will I never be a huge fan of the Superman march? It's nice and all, and I'm happy enough to hear it live, but it'll never be one of my favourites in pretty much any programme. And I think the reason is that it's just so overloaded, orchestration wise. There's lots of little flourishes and counterpointish bits that you can barely make out on CD, but in a live performance, you just hear a big mass of brass and percussion, sometimes woods, but almost no chance to make out anything from the strings aside from the ostinato - not even in Berlin with its extra transparent acoustics. It's a conscious decision, surely - the march was written just a year after Star Wars, the previous big main title march, where you can make out every relevant detail. But it certainly has an impact on its enjoyability, especially live, for me. The brief horn chorale of the love theme in the middle, performed by the Wiener horns, but glorious though (and the bit I was actively looking forward to).

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26 minutes ago, Martinland said:

This sounds great! I adore Royal Albert Hall and would like to return some day (and meet you again :-D) - have been there in 2004 and experienced Elmer Bernstein in the Hall as well as met John Landis (alone!) in front of the Hall during the afternoon. Good times. *sigh*

I would love to see you again and have a drink after a RAH show!  If you are ever over for one please let me know!  (And that’s a great story!)

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7 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The brief horn chorale of the love theme in the middle, performed by the Wiener horns, but glorious though (and the bit I was actively looking forward to).

Totally with you on that. My favourite recording of the march (pre-Vienna, that is) has always been John Debney’s with the Royal Scottish National. The horns don‘t hold back whatsoever when the “Can you read my mind” theme comes on. Neither did the Vienna horns, and I loved every bit of it. 

 

I agree that the Superman March is a lot less transparent than the Star Wars Main Title, for instance. I quite enjoy this ‘overloaded’ style of orchestrating, the likes of which you find in Korngold’s film scores as well, but I can very much understand if you might prefer something where all the little intricacies are a bit more noticeable. 

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10 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Here's a 7ish minutes long bit from Austrian TV with excerpts of what seems to originally have been a longer interview (overdubbed in German) - though it's probably region blocked outside Austria:

https://tvthek.orf.at/profile/kulturMontag/13886866/kulturMontag/14127980/John-Williams-Von-E-T-bis-A-I/15127069

 

The most relevant info is when he mentions that after going back to LA and before starting on Indy 5, he's going to finish Spielberg's latest film "which doesn't have a title yet". I guess nobody bothered to tell him…

 

Maybe Spielberg didn’t tell him in case JW laughed and said “No, but seriously, what’s the real title?”

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