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Alexandre Desplat conducts the Wiener Symphoniker 1.3.2024


JTGL

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I am going to this concert next week. Is anyone from this forum going to this concert too? 

 

Together with the two-time Oscar winner Alexandre Desplat, the Wiener Symphoniker invite you to a first-class film music evening in the Golden Hall of the Wiener Musikverein.

https://www.wienersymphoniker.at/en/events/cinemasound-alexandre-desplat-concert

 

 

 

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Please fix the thread title. It's the Wiener Symphoniker, as stated in the post, not the Philharmoniker.

 

The Symphoniker are a fine orchestra in their own right - they played last year's Hisaishi concert (which was originally supposed to be the Desplat, but that was then moved to this year). But they're not the same as the Philharmoniker - instead of Strauß waltzes, they play Beethoven's 9th at their new year's concerts (on 31 December).

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1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Please fix the thread title. It's the Wiener Symphoniker, as stated in the post, not the Philharmoniker.

 

The Symphoniker are a fine orchestra in their own right - they played last year's Hisaishi concert (which was originally supposed to be the Desplat, but that was then moved to this year). But they're not the same as the Philharmoniker - instead of Strauss waltzes, they play Beethoven's 9th at their new year's concerts (on 31 December).

Oops I changed the thread title! :thumbup:  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Was anybody else there? There is surprisingly little discussion about this on the internet? Do you know if the concert was even recorded? I thought it was lovely and I would really like to hear these suites again. 

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11 hours ago, Mcbain said:

Was anybody else there? There is surprisingly little discussion about this on the internet? Do you know if the concert was even recorded? I thought it was lovely and I would really like to hear these suites again. 

I didn’t see any cameras or microphones but you never know. One thing that bothered me is that there wasn’t even a microphone for the maestro. He said something a couple of times but it wasn’t audible. 

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I would have loved to have attended this! Mind you, that would unfortunately never have happened even if I'd known about it in advance; getting to Vienna from California and back would be budgetarily out of the question, so I'm hoping against hope that the concert was recorded.

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10 hours ago, hp_gof said:

No cameras spotted (and that is a shame, I was hoping at least for a recording on Stage+ :() but the microphones were actually visible above the stage. I'm just wondering whether they were recording the concert or just simply hanging there as permanent equipment of the hall.

 

image.png

Source: Wiener Symphoniker fb fanpage

 

The concert was AMAZING!!! The best AD concert I have ever been to (London 2014/Kraków 2019/Vienna 2024).

 

I prepared a quick analysis of what tracks were used in each suite (overall almost 2h of music!)

 

1. Godzilla (Godzilla! / Godzilla's Victory / Back to the Ocean) - 6 min.

2. Pelléas et Mélisande - I. Comme un oiseau pourchassé - 8 min.

3. Pelléas et Mélisande - II. Ils regardent la lumière - 5,5 min.

4. Wes Anderson's Suite - Fantastic Mr. Fox (Jimmy Squirrel And Co. / High-Speed French Train / Boggis, Bunce, And Bean / Canis Lupus / Kristofferson's Theme / Stunt Expo 2004 / Great Harrowsford Square) - 9 min.

5. Wes Anderson's Suite - The Grand Budapest Hotel (Mr. Mustafa / A Prayer for Madame D & Last Will and Testament / Canto At Gabelmeister’s Peak) - 4 min.

6. Wes Anderson's Suite - The French Dispatch (Obituary) 3,5 min.

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1: Obliviate / Sky Battle / Fireplaces Escape / Detonators / Destroying the Locket; Part 2: Statues / Broomsticks and Fire / Courtyard Apocalypse / The Tunnel / Dragon Flight / Lily’s Theme / Showdown) - 13 min.
8. The King's Speech (The King’s Speech / My Kingom, My Rules) - 4 min.

9. The Shape of Water (The Creature / Five Stars General / The Shape of Water / Spy Meeting / The Escape / Rainy Day / Watching Ruth / Elisa and Zelda / Without You / Overflow of Love) - 21 min.

10. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (Carlo's Theme / Spazzatura / The Pine Cone / Big Lies / Resurrection / Saving Geppetto / Pinocchio's Choice / Ciao Papa) - 15,5 min.

11. The Imitation Game (Carrots and Peas / Crosswords / U-Boats / Mission / Alone with Numbers / The Headmaster / End of War / The Imitation Game / Alan Turing's Legacy) 15,5 min.

 

ENCORE

12. Girl with a Pearl Earring (Griet's Theme) - 4 min.

13. Eiffel (Valse d'Eiffel) - 3 min.

 

What was so special about this particular concert, in my opinion?

1. Golden Hall itself, of course ;) and the fact that he was probably the third film music composer playing there after Williams and Hisaishi.

2. Desplat played some of his recent scores like Pinocchio, French Dispatch or Eiffel, which was refreshing. I never spotted Fantastic Mr. Fox suite in concert before neither.

3. He also prepared completely new, extended suites from his trademark scores (Godzilla, Imitation Game, Shape of Water). He played almost half of the Imitation Game and Shape of Water albums (!) He usually plays the main themes from Godzilla and Imitation Game and 7- or 12- minutes long suite of The Shape of Water so he really did his best this time.

4. I think that for the first time he had a choir on the stage (not counting Hollywood in Vienna 2016 cause he was not conducting). A children choir in Fantastic Mr. Fox and at the end of "Ciao Papa" from Pinocchio gave me goosebumps.

5. He got a standing ovation and was very moved, I have never seen him like this before (and I always sit in front rows :D).

Great analasys of this wonderful concert! Desplat was indeed moved and had a lot of fun. And I had the honor to shake hands with him and got an autograph.  

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12 hours ago, hp_gof said:

but the microphones were actually visible above the stage. I'm just wondering whether they were recording the concert or just simply hanging there as permanent equipment of the hall.

 

image.png

 

Those are pretty much a fixture of the hall. I think they just leave them up permanently for their various radio broadcasts. E.g. most (maybe all?) Wiener Philharmoniker concerts (at least the subscription concerts) get a radio broadcast.

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Wish I could have been there, it sounds like it was an amazing experience.

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On 3/3/2024 at 9:16 PM, JTGL said:

I didn’t see any cameras or microphones but you never know. One thing that bothered me is that there wasn’t even a microphone for the maestro. He said something a couple of times but it wasn’t audible. 

 

He didn't talk much. I remember him introducing the flute soloist before Pelléas et Mélisande and mainly joking about the children choir being distinguished guests and so on. He also said in German that in Vienna one needs to play a waltz before the Eiffel waltz, which I didn't know and found especially lovely. 

 

@hp_gof Thank you so much for the tracklist, I was hoping to revisit some of these pieces with a clear head ;-) 

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