Anne-Sophie Mutter plays John Williams

[Omen II 1,249]

Anne-Sophie Mutter will give the UK premiere of John Williams's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in January 2024.  Tickets go on general sale on Tuesday 2nd May 2023.

 

Mutter plays John Williams

 

As well as a suite from Superman, the concert will also feature a suite from Leonard Bernstein's On the Waterfront.  There is no sign that John Williams himself will be in attendance (Jonathon Heyward will conduct) but I guess you never know.  It would be great to hear another of Williams's concertos live, as I have only ever seen the Tuba Concerto performed by Patrick Harrild with the LSO many years ago.

[Omen II 1,249]

Here is a copy of the free programme for tomorrow's concert with the LPO, if you are interested:

 

LPO Programme

[Tom Guernsey 2,570]

Greetings from the Royal Festival

Hall! Looking forward to this. Will report back after. 

[Tom Guernsey 2,570]

Most enjoyable if slightly curious programming choices (more below!). Playing by the orchestra and ASM were excellent and quite a few additional pieces from ASM, notably Across the Stars, The Long Goodbye, Helena’s Theme and Schindler’s List. ASM made a few remarks around the encores (one after the first half and the other three after the programmed pieces in the second) notably that she felt JW’s 2nd Violin Concerto was the most important of the last 100 years. Quite a claim! I must admit that I still find it hard going and I can’t imagine the average JW fan would be that interested if it were written by someone else. Still she’s clearly a passionate advocate of the work and seems to relish playing it as well as the score excerpt arrangements. She teased the arrangement of Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra but didn’t play it alas!

 

Curiously, ASM played the three programmed items then three encores at the start of the second half and then the orchestra played the suite from (L) Bernstein’s On the Waterfront which felt like an odd appendage to the rest of the programme. Quite a few people left before it and many left during the final applause which I doubt would have been the case had ASM played at the end of the second half. Otherwise a fine and well attended concert. Sadly any hopes that JW would put in a surprise appearance did not materialise!

[GlastoEls 565]

Appreciate the review!

[Omen II 1,249]

It was interesting to see the harp positioned immediately in front of the conductor for the violin concerto, given its prominent role in the work.  It reminded me of those old photos of Max Steiner or Alfred Newman in front of some Hollywood studio orchestra from back in the day.  I have yet to explore the second violin concerto beyond a couple of listens all the way through, but hearing it live certainly whetted my appetite for diving deeper into it.

 

This was my first time seeing Anne-Sophie Mutter play live so it was also my first live experience of any of the pieces which Williams has arranged for her.  I would say that the pieces from The Long Goodbye and Cinderella Liberty worked best for me, possibly because Mutter's style of playing has quite a breathy, flautando quality to it which is not always to my taste but very much suits those two jazzy, vocal pieces.

 

As Tom mentioned above, it seemed a pity that the concert could not have closed with more orchestral Williams, as great a score as Leonard Bernstein's On the Waterfront is.  I felt a little sorry for the horn player who flubbed a couple of notes in his first two solos, although I am not sure most people other than pedantic film music geeks like me would have noticed.  It is amazing to think that John Williams gave the London premiere of his symphony in the same venue more than fifty years ago, with Bernard Herrmann in the audience!

 

I grabbed a few photos for the record.

 

 

 

 

 

[BB-8 3,796]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/jan/15/lpo-heyward-review-royal-festival-hall-london-john-williams-anne-sophie-mutter

 

 

 

[Schilkeman 1,231]

I can't believe people get paid real money to write reviews of such ignorance. Here's a pro tip, just because it's a classical concert review doesn't mean the writer has any more knowledge of music than the dipshits at Pitchfork.