John Williams/Stéphane Denève to conduct the Saito Kinen Orchestra in Tokyo, Japan (Sept. 5, 2023)

[BB-8 2,942]

On 06/09/2023 at 11:52 AM, AOP said:

The GOAT speaks!!

 

https://fb.watch/mU1ge9Z8_F/

"...Yea, it is written in the book of Cyril..."

[lairdo 706]

2 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

 

 

Would be convenient if they had a pay-per-view option.

 

When DG launched their online platform (then called DG Premium), they did have PPV. In fact, I watched Tanglewood's violin 2 concerto concert in 2021 that way as I recall. Earlier this year, DG switched to this Stage+ subscription model. Presumably the PPV was not working financially and they went the route of other streaming options in the classical and opera world. 

 

Interestingly, they also provide audio only albums on the platform (typically in Atmos), especially with their new releases. I suspect they either see this as a way to get some of the Apple Music/Qobuz/Tidal/Presto business directly or perhaps even as a marketing tool for new releases. The difference is that premium content such as this upcoming Tokyo concert are not on demand. I suspect that after the album makes it to Blu-ray (and maybe even Great Performances) that the concert will quietly go back on Stage+ a few months later and then be up there. That is the case with Vienna 1, Berlin, the aforementioned Tanglewood concert and Tanglewood 75th. Also recommended is Waldbühne 2015 with the Rattle conducting the Berlin Phil in a film music concert. 

 

One other oddity - the Tokyo concert listing does not show the encores in the track list. Just the published program. 

 

Anyway, I have a sub to Stege+ but I have to say I don't watch it enough and will probably start to go monthly only when I want to watch something (such as this weekend). 

 

My guess on any Tokyo physical releases is that we will see them around February for JW's 92nd birthday. 

2 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

 

 

Would be convenient if they had a pay-per-view option.

 

When DG launched their online platform (then called DG Premium), they did have PPV. In fact, I watched Tanglewood's violin 2 concerto concert in 2021 that way as I recall. Earlier this year, DG switched to this Stage+ subscription model. Presumably the PPV was not working financially and they went the route of other streaming options in the classical and opera world. 

 

Interestingly, they also provide audio only albums on the platform (typically in Atmos), especially with their new releases. I suspect they either see this as a way to get some of the Apple Music/Qobuz/Tidal/Presto business directly or perhaps even as a marketing tool for new releases. The difference is that premium content such as this upcoming Tokyo concert are not on demand. I suspect that after this concert makes it to Blu-ray (and maybe even Great Performances) that the concert will quietly go back on Stage+ a few months later and then be up there. That is the case with Vienna 1, Berlin, the aforementioned Tanglewood concert and Tanglewood 75th. Also recommended is Waldbühne 2015 with the Rattle conducting the Berlin Phil in a film music concert. 

 

One other oddity - the Tokyo concert listing does not show the encores in the track list. Just the published program. 

 

Anyway, I have a sub to Stege+ but I have to say I don't watch it enough and will probably start to go monthly only when I want to watch something (such as this weekend). 

 

My guess on any Tokyo physical releases is that we will see them around February for JW's 92nd birthday. 

[Marian Schedenig 7,491]

2 hours ago, lairdo said:

When DG launched their online platform (then called DG Premium), they did have PPV. In fact, I watched Tanglewood's violin 2 concerto concert in 2021 that way as I recall. Earlier this year, DG switched to this Stage+ subscription model. Presumably the PPV was not working financially and they went the route of other streaming options in the classical and opera world.

 

I'd like a pay-per-download model for these kinds of things. I understand that it's virtually impossible to release the entire live catalogue, while it's much easier to make all or a lot of it available online. But I'm not going to subscribe to a service that I would very much like to use *occasionally*, but not regularly. And subscribing on demand makes little sense. But I'd be happy to pay for an official video download in good quality of selected concerts from their streaming catalogue.

 

5 hours ago, lairdo said:

I think there is a good chance we'll get this on CD (and SACD for Japan for that matter). I think Berlin and Vienna did well for DG - beyond their expectations - and while Vienna 2 was probably too much of a repeat and would eat into their sales of the various current releases from Vienna, adding the Japan venue and orchestra would be complimentary. It would also have greater appeal in Asia. 

 

Thinking about it, much though I love DG (for their catalogue and my growing up with it), they don't have the best track record when it comes to making available seemingly redundant recordings from their live archives. Their Karajan catalogue is of course extensive and in itself redundant (Karajan recorded, in a studio setting, full cycles of major works three or even four times) - but there is a wealth of life recordings by him (radio broadcasts and such) that sometimes surpass the existing catalogue relelases (that Salzburg Alpensinfonie!) but that have never been made available as a regular CD/LP release. I don't know how much of that would fall directly into DG's jurisdiction, it's notable that he's always been one of their major artists - and other contemporaries have fared much better when it comes to posthumous live releases, like the countless releases of live Bruckner recordings by Günter Wand, all in addition to the 3 (at least) official cycles released when he was still alive.

[DangerMotif 984]

https://x.com/stageplusmusic/status/1699907699893575907?s=46

[BB-8 2,942]

[King Mark 3,505]

All I want is a recording of Vienna Ball Fanfare

[Tom 4,161]

16 minutes ago, King Mark said:

All I want is a recording of Vienna Ball Fanfare

Well look who is flaunting their perfect two front teeth.   

[crumbs 13,858]

So I assume you can register for a free 7 day trial, then cancel before the trial ends without being charged?

[Chewy 2,229]

Wow, Stargazers was amazing 

[MaxTheHouseelf 319]

They play wonderfully, fantastic orchestra!

 

20 minutes ago, Chewy said:

Wow, Stargazers was amazing 

It was totally amazing indeed, he should program the suite more often. Phenomenal pieces.

[Miguel Andrade 1,150]

As far as I know, the suite was performed only once before, at Tanglewood, and instead of Flying, the third movement was Adventures on Earth.

[Nemesis 222]

Wow, that was a wonderful concert!

[MaxTheHouseelf 319]

12 minutes ago, Miguel Andrade said:

As far as I know, the suite was performed only once before, at Tanglewood, and instead of Flying, the third movement was Adventures on Earth.

That's really strange. There were perfect opportunites to perform it with organ back in Vienna and Berlin. Adventures on Earth makes the suite longer which is also perfect.

 

Anyways, I was really impressed by the performance of the Saito Kinen Orchestra and hope for an audio release in the near future!

[AOP 247]

Dang. I need to amend my mini review now 😂 I think being so caught up in the experience skewed my perception of things a bit.

 

Again, “Stargazers” was stunning. So glad everyone can enjoy the performance now!

 

I also got goose bumps (again!) when the organ came in…

 

”Hedwig’s theme” was somewhat ruined by the distracting squeaky pedal sound from the celesta… did anyone else hear it? 
 

Also, JW is really starting to look his age. Noticeably older than the videos from Berlin and Vienna.

[Thor 6,721]

Could someone reiterate the story of "Stargazers"? I've had it on a bootleg since the early 2000s, but I forget its origins, or if we've had threads about it before. Googling doesn't yield desired results.

[pete 816]

The Stage Plus broadcast made up for not getting tickets! Loved the smiles on the musicians faces. And Williams' expressions while conducting Schindler's List. And a nice moment a the end of Darth vader... it looked like Williams recognized a fan at the end from the Saturday concert. He saw someone in the front row, smiled, and said "You came back" - according to my lip reading skills. 

 

Was the very end of Rebellion is Reborn - the last few seconds, a litttle different?

 

And why were the conductor's scores on the podium. Williams didn't open most of them

 

5 hours ago, Thor said:

Could someone reiterate the story of "Stargazers"? I've had it on a bootleg since the early 2000s, but I forget its origins, or if we've had threads about it before. Googling doesn't yield desired results.

 

I don't recall reading much about it, other than it's a renamed and slightly revised ET and Me. Can someone describe the exact differences?

[Miguel Andrade 1,150]

Stargazers was premiered during Ann Hobson-Pilot's final season with the BSO, on May 2009.

[Tom 4,161]

No need for bootlegs.  

 

 

[Jurassic Shark 11,039]

That's a digipak so it doesn't count. 

[Mr. Hooper 804]

37 minutes ago, Tom said:

 

 

Wow. 🥹

[BB-8 2,942]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

That's a digipak so it doesn't count. 

And conducted by Hugh Grant.

[Jay 34,935]

12 hours ago, Thor said:

Could someone reiterate the story of "Stargazers"?

 

It's the slower, more elegant version of "E.T. And Me" that premiered in Boston in 2009.  I suppose the only "story" is that he probably wrote it for the Boston Pops harpist at the time, Ann Hobson-Pilot.

 

12 hours ago, Thor said:

I've had it on a bootleg since the early 2000s, but I forget its origins, or if we've had threads about it before. Googling doesn't yield desired results.

 

There's no need for bootlegs, it's been available on the Keith Lockhart "Lights, Camera... Music!" album for 6 years now.

[Thor 6,721]

Thanks for the reminder/info. For some reason, the "Stargazers" bootleg track in my collection is listed as 2007, and I thought I acquired it a couple of years before that even, but I guess the year is wrong. (I do obviously own the Keith Lockhart CD in digital format as well, but completely forgot it was on that).

 

 

[lairdo 706]

Just finished watching the third broadcast, and my wife joined in. She is a fan too, and we both very much enjoyed the concert. 

 

I agree with the comment that JW looks older than in Vienna or Berlin (but of course he is older!). Still, for 91 years of age to travel internationally to do 2 concerts and be out there for an hour each time, it's just amazing. My dad is 80, and he does not move as well as JW.

 

Across the board, I felt the orchestra really gelled with the music. Deneve was quite good (he is a super fan in my opinion) and his energy was great with the orchestra. He was clearly having fun. (I saw on his website that he is again performing violin concert no. 1 with James Ehnes for a few concerts in Florida in 2024. He is also performing Just Down West Street, the Tanglewood piece.)

 

The energy went up to 11 when JW came on stage. I loved his welcome words and then hearing the lovely Japanese translation. Everything flowed very nicely.

 

I did not see or hear La Scala, but I did feel that the Saito Kinen Orchestra had an evenness across all the instrument groups. There really wasn't any weak area to my ears. And despite having the brass mic'd way too loudly for the start of The Raiders March, the balance and tone was good throughout. Tempi seemed very close to what I would expect from these pieces. 

 

This would have been amazing to see live, but I am glad to have this artifact and great that it will be available on the Stage+ platform in the archive (which was posted after the concert ended). 

 

[King Mark 3,505]

Yeah Williams does look old now, but not many people at that age can do what he's doing.

[Holko 8,885]

I thought he mostly looked and acted great! He had a lot of fun!

[AOP 247]

 

Score!

 

I managed to snag myself one of the VIP merch packages from the concert. These were only given to people lucky enough to get a VIP ticket (i.e. not me!), meaning less than 50 or so packages were made. I got mine from an online auction.

The package includes:

• The program (same as the one for sale to everyone else)
• limited edition tote bag (pretty simple to be honest)
• VIP ID card - the signature is a “print” (unfortunately!)

Honestly, I don’t think the VIP ticket was worth the ¥50,000 since no one got to meet JW. The only benefit was the privilege of attending the pre-concert rehearsal and this VIP merch package.

[Steve 539]

Great concert. I hope they will release it on Blue Ray.

Not sure how much was edited afterwards. I think the performances were mostly very good. Nice to see Gabor Tarkovi on principal trumpet, he was former principal trumpet of the Berlin Philharmonic. I liked the version of Schindler's List, however I found the violin sounded a bit like an electric violin. Yeah Williams looking like his age, which is ok. Still amazing that he can fly to Japan to conduct a concert like this.

[Mr. Hooper 804]

6 hours ago, AOP said:

I must have the tote bag!!

 

[BB-8 2,942]

4 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

I must have the tote bag!!

 

In case you weren't joking:

 

https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/p51-i4055585946768/deutsche-grammophon/since-1898/index.html

[Mr. Hooper 804]

44 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

In case you weren't joking:

 

https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/p51-i4055585946768/deutsche-grammophon/since-1898/index.html

I meant in 'tan'. They only have 'black' on the website. 😄

[Tom 4,161]

On 09/09/2023 at 3:28 PM, BB-8 said:

And conducted by Hugh Grant.

I always got a Matthew Broderick vibe from him.  

[Mr. Hooper 804]

I'm getting a slight 'Balok' from Star Trek vibe...

 

[Tom 4,161]

The more talented of the Howard brothers.  

[Nemesis 222]

On 09/09/2023 at 7:27 PM, Tom said:

No need for bootlegs.  

 

 

 

I like this version but it's almost in slow motion. The version conducted by Stéphane Denève in Tokyo is perfect.

[Mr. Hooper 804]

6 hours ago, Nemesis said:

 

I like this version but it's almost in slow motion.

Kinda what I like about it, as I'm now listening to it on repeat to help me fall asleep. 😴

[Nemesis 222]

1 hour ago, Mr. Hooper said:

Kinda what I like about it, as I'm now listening to it on repeat to help me fall asleep. 😴

Did the same yesterday! 

[WilliamsStarShip2282 288]

On 10/09/2023 at 1:27 AM, Tom said:

No need for bootlegs.  

 

 

 

did this get taken down already?

 

[Nemesis 222]

6 hours ago, WilliamsStarShip2282 said:

 

did this get taken down already?

 

 

???

[Jay 34,935]

It's just a youtube video of the Stargazers track from the Lights, Camera... Music! CD.

[Marian Schedenig 7,491]

Also, it still shows up in the embedded YouTube link, and it was posted by the Pops themselves, so it's unlikely to get taken down (and certainly not for copyright reasons).

[bollemanneke 3,154]

Just listened to the first half.

 

I wasn’t familiar with Sound the Bells at all, but the brass, most particularly the horns, were really impressive. Very nice piece too.

 

Tributes, however, is not my thing at all. Glad it wasn’t written for me. Wonder what the brief was.

 

Far and Away. I still don’t understand why we can’t have the Galway section played by a tin whistle. I bought one for €15 in Ireland, how hard can it be for an orchestra to get one? The tempo was better, but still a bit too fast for my taste. The Berlin Philharmonic played the jig better as well. The brass was much more vibrant there, but it’s also the hall: this one might have great reverb, but I mostly only hear the top and bottom of the orchestra, there’s no middle layer at all. The vibrato in the flute during the love theme was amazing, though, but there was one trumpet flub, Blowing Off Steam was on the slow side and the emotion that the BPO whips up during the final moments of the piece was sorely lacking here.

 

ET. Opening with Three Million Lightyears from Home worked so well after Far and Away. Is this the piece as written for the film, or a concert arrangement? They played that piece in such a moving way too, especially the woodwinds were terrific. And am I glad nobody clapped during the whole suite, except from two people on the left after the first movement. Stargazers was good, but Lockhart’s take impressed me much more. Still, I wondered. And one person coughed. One. Take not, average wretched classical concertgoer. I repeat: ONE PERSON COUGHED. God. I’m glad they finally nailed the pizzicato strings in A flat near the end of the flying theme too (usually the horns come in too late after that), but most definitely no bells up here. And you need to them so badly.

 

 

[BB-8 2,942]

17 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Just listened to the first half.

 

I wasn’t familiar with Sound the Bells at all, but the brass, most particularly the horns, were really impressive. Very nice piece too.

 

Tributes, however, is not my thing at all. Glad it wasn’t written for me. Wonder what the brief was.

 

Far and Away. I still don’t understand why we can’t have the Galway section played by a tin whistle. I bought one for €15 in Ireland, how hard can it be for an orchestra to get one? The tempo was better, but still a bit too fast for my taste. The Berlin Philharmonic played the jig better as well. The brass was much more vibrant there, but it’s also the hall: this one might have great reverb, but I mostly only hear the top and bottom of the orchestra, there’s no middle layer at all. The vibrato in the flute during the love theme was amazing, though, but there was one trumpet flub, Blowing Off Steam was on the slow side and the emotion that the BPO whips up during the final moments of the piece was sorely lacking here.

 

ET. Opening with Three Million Lightyears from Home worked so well after Far and Away. Is this the piece as written for the film, or a concert arrangement? They played that piece in such a moving way too, especially the woodwinds were terrific. And am I glad nobody clapped during the whole suite, except from two people on the left after the first movement. Stargazers was good, but Lockhart’s take impressed me much more. Still, I wondered. And one person coughed. One. Take not, average wretched classical concertgoer. I repeat: ONE PERSON COUGHED. God. I’m glad they finally nailed the pizzicato strings in A flat near the end of the flying theme too (usually the horns come in too late after that), but most definitely no bells up here. And you need to them so badly.

 

 

 

So you've subscribed to Stage+ ?

[bollemanneke 3,154]

Did I say that?