Your favorite re-arrangement of Devil's Dance?

[Jay 37,402]

Option 1 - Gil Shaham & Jonathan Feldman, from the 2000 album Devil's Dance

 

 

Option 2 - Anne-Sophie Mutter, from the 2021 album John Williams In Vienna

 

 

Option 3 - Sara Andon, Cecilia Tsan, Simone Pedroni, from the 2024 album John Williams Reimagined

[bigjimwilson 256]

I'm going with the Mutter.....

I don't love everything they've done together... but this might be my favourite of the bunch. I think her playing style lends itself really well to the piece. There's mischief, excitement and danger in there. And the whole ending just sounds absolutely massive and awesome. 

Plus, I was there  so being completely biased it wins by default in my head anyway!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,563]

(big sigh) It's 'Dance Of The Witches' 

[GerateWohl 4,395]

For me it's option 1. For re-arrangements there is one rule: It must also work as a presentation of the piece when you hear it this way for the very first time.

The Mutter arrangement works as some kind of interesting variation when you already know the piece and can appreciate a variant. So, does not work for me as a work of its own.

At the third one I don't like that the flute at the beginning plays more or less every voice while in the original piece in some parts the idea is a statement and response conversation between different parts. If the whole conversation is played by one instrument this character gets lost somehow, what I don't particularly like in this case.

The first one is just a perfect chamber presentation of the awesome piece.

[Jurassic Shark 12,105]

That's what I was going to write but didn't bother to.

[BB-8 3,489]

Mutter and VPO do the least harm.

[Thor 7,541]

Easily the Gil Shaham.

 

I've never liked Mutter's style.

[GerateWohl 4,395]

But the question was about the arrangement, not the performance. So, if Shaham played the arrangement for Mutter as well, which one would you prefer?

[Thor 7,541]

It's hard to separate the two in this case. There's so much "wanking" in Mutter's version, it's hard to tell where the arrangement stops and the performance begins. But yeah -- still the Shaham, followed by the lean (but very charming, and thankfully TO-THE-POINT) trio version.

 

I don't really care that much for either of these, however. It's one of those cases where there's only the original version for me.

[Jurassic Shark 12,105]

The Shaham arrangement is brilliant!

[Richard Penna 3,699]

I always like the simpler arrangment for this - the original definitely the best.

 

I don't particularly go for the Shaham arrangement but actively don't like Mutter's. No doubt others will see her playing in a better light than me, but I feel her style is completely at odds with Williams' careful, usually structured style. Far too much meandering around with bits that aren't relevant to the core idea. She's no doubt a very skilled player but it always seems to me that she's just showcasing her speed and versatility instead of tailoring her playing towards what JW's pieces need and, where appropriate, what a film needs.

 

Tibet/SL were case studies in a soloist being a perfect match in terms of their playing style and Williams's score. I can't say the same about ASM.

[GerateWohl 4,395]

26 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Tibet/SL were case studies in a soloist being a perfect match in terms of their playing style and Williams's score. I can't say the same abou ASM.

I love the version of Helena's Theme with ASM.

[JWScores 28]

I voted for the violin+piano version dedicated to Gil Shaham (whose score is published in the Signature Edition series). I think the piano part is particularly effective and convincing.

 

I also like the Mutter arrangement: actually, it's probably the only one that I enjoyed, at least among those that were played in Vienna. I generally don't like adding virtuosistic violin playing to a pre-existing piece which didn't require it, just for the sake of doing it, but in this particular piece it totally makes sense (Devil + violin is a long-standing association). The only defect is the long false-ending stuff, which is the one recuring feature of many of JW's concert arrangements that I truly cannot stand (I think it started with The Forest Battle...?). So, this is why it gets from me a lower mark than the piano + violin arrangement.

 

The trio arrangement is beautiful and done with great taste, but I think the solo violin works better than flute + cello for this type of piece. So, if I have to pick one, I prefer the violin + piano version. Nice to hear an alternative chamber version, though.

 

  

[Bayesian 1,365]

I voted for the Shaham/Feldman because I have a fondness for that entire album. Their performance of the Saint-Saens Danse macabre was one of my favorite things ever. I remember 20 years ago (or whenever it was I first bought the cd) replaying the final recapitulation of the theme, from about 4:55 to 5:12, over and over like a mental patient. 

Even now, here I am at my desk at work, and I've scrubbed back over those 17 glorious seconds about 8 times already. Listen to Feldman's right hand fly off into the upper register at 5:06... these are the moments why we have ears.

 

Anyway, since this is a thread about JW, let me say how much I marvel at his devil's dance, which could have been written 175 years ago for the mastery of its form, that's how good it is. 

[JW collector 47]

I think - and LOVE  / adore the ASM version because of the virtuosistic violin  playing AND the arrangement.....

 

simply fantastic 

 

( my late father was fond of classical music / jazz..... I grew up  as a kid hearing a lot on radio / tape / LP / CD .... among it:  ASM with classical concertos.

  now  i have a bunch of albums  with ASM myself.... )

[crocodile 8,022]

Gil Shaham's strikes me as to most devilish. I always appreciated the ferocious energy. 

 

I do like the Mutter version, it's one of the better suites Williams wrote for her. And the latestvone is nice, too.

 

Karol

[Jurassic Shark 12,105]

Interesting that the two best arrangements/recordings are on the same label.