Jeshopk 8 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I wasn't very happy at the Film Night at Tanglewood concert. There was very little Williams music, and the Josh Groban segment was extended and accompanied by teen howls. The Pops sounded worse than I've ever heard them when playing Superman. Star Trek TMP came off pretty well though. The sound was awful, as the natural sound of the orchestra was drowned out by tinny speakers duplicating the sound (and I was IN the shed!). The Williams Medley had some problems, especially during Jurassic Park when suddenly we changed to the Home Alone music while the Raptors were still chasing the kids. It was notable that Williams attempted to conduct the Raptor scene in the kitchen, but the brass didn't use mutes and flubbed most of the notes. Perhaps too modern for a Pops who have been untrained by Lockhart for too long. The elderly women gasped at the Stanley Donen tribute, but if you were a Williams fan who made a pilgrimage to see this concert, you'd have right to be very dissapointed. I live in Boston, so it was only a 2 hour drive (plus an hour waiting to park). I've been to film night many times, and this was by far the worst, not even showcasing any of Williams' new scores. I was hoping that an encore could make up for it, and a pretty good reading of the Flying Theme from E.T. was all we got, which is to be expected in these things. I'd like to hear that War of the Worlds suite live, but I won't be affording plane tickets to LA any time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Breathmask 555 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Other than working on For Always and that song from Troy, who the hell is Josh Groban? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 He's a famous American male vocalist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo224 0 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 From the description that they gave on the BSO website, I anticipated that a good portion of the concert would be dedicated to non-Williams stuff. "John Williams and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra recreate some of the great moments in Hollywood history for this year's Film Night at Tanglewood"This description made it sound like they were going to do Golden Age stuff. Curious, What did Josh Groban sing? Did he sing film songs?Ricardo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,626 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 who was conducting this?K.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Breathmask 555 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Mr. John T. Williams, composer of such well-known film scores as Star Wars, Superman: The Movie, Jurassic Park and many more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diskobolus 3 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Well I was there, and I have to say it was a fantastic concert, the music was much better than last year's Film Night and enormously superior to the Pops concerts in May. ST:TMP was amazing, so was the Fox Fanfare, and I got Stanley Donen's autograph. Met up with Foxfan, too. Formal review coming in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,793 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Aw, people can go to a Williams concert and they complain.Life is not fair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrongBad992648 0 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 I just felt bad for Josh Groban. He was clearly sick. He had a couple very pitchy spots...and one flat out NASTY voice crack. I respect him. He's got a good voice, and some will say "why feel bad for him? he makes more money than you ever will". But I know, as a performer, how embarassing it is to have a voice crack...sick or not. And even when you are as famous as he is...he probably still felt pretty bad then. Poor guy. As far as the rest of the concert went...that Jurassic-Hook thing bothered me. But it was obviously just some timing issues in the very "modern" section. The pops sounded alright...at least no really nasty screw-ups with the brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeshopk 8 Posted August 29, 2005 Author Share Posted August 29, 2005 I admit, I am spoiled by having gone to so many Williams concerts, living minutes from Symphony Hall and a few hours from Tanglewood. But even from the beginning, I wondered why Williams seems pigeonholed into performing nothing but "Themes" most of the time. And I don't understand why his music is played next to schmaltzy pop rather than some other fine symphonic music. There have been exceptions, which have further spoiled me! Only in recent years has Williams presented "medleys" of his music which was a folly of Goldsmith's concert format.Williams has been conducting his music in Boston for 25 years! Surely he's gotten to the point where he can have the opportunity to present some of his more powerful underscore, rather than just Concert arrangements from films which happen to have become cult phenomenons.In short, the problem (besides performance) was predictability. Williams is writing new music all the time. And Goldsmith, Raskin, and Bernstein have plenty more they can take credit for than the obvious cult phenomenon themes that were predictably presented here.Boston Symphony Hall is a better place to see film music concerts anyway, because you can hear the subtleties in any seat of the house. Hopefully in the future, we'll be treated to more surprising selections of live film music in that venue. I am speaking from the point of view of a repeat Williams concert goer, and understand that I do sound spoiled! But someone has to represent those of us who make this a regular habit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orson 1 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Other than working on For Always and that song from Troy, who the hell is Josh Groban?Original content removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,793 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 I admit, I am spoiled by having gone to so many Williams concerts. I am speaking from the point of view of a repeat Williams concert goer, and understand that I do sound spoiled! But someone has to represent those of us who make this a regular habit! Yeah yeah Life is a sh** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMan 0 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 I got sick of the stupid people and their glow sticks during Josh Groban. I thought that the Robin Hood song had clearly wrong notes in it. I thought the STanley Donan thing got too long. I liked Singin in the Rain but all the songs sounded kind of the same. Superman was awesome. And the film montage (despite its tracking) was really beautiful! Just to be at Tanglewood outside on a BEAUTIFUL evening, and hear Jurassic Park made my entire summer! So that was by far the best part of the program! The sound system was complete crap though. I didnt get to see into the shed so that was kind of irritating, but nonetheless, I give the whole day an A-. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Other than working on For Always and that song from Troy, who the hell is Josh Groban?A male vocalist who is loved primarily by middle aged women and gay men.And the problem with that is?Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orson 1 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Other than working on For Always and that song from Troy, who the hell is Josh Groban?A male vocalist who is loved primarily by middle aged women and gay men.And the problem with that is?NeilNot a problem, just an observation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Other than working on For Always and that song from Troy, who the hell is Josh Groban?A male vocalist who is loved primarily by middle aged women and gay men.And the problem with that is?NeilWell, women are useless after bridal age, and homosexual males are pathetic half-men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekUYoda 0 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Well, women are useless after bridal age, and homosexual males are pathetic half-men.SighExcuse me?SeekUYoda, after bridal age, not useless, and quite sure Ren would say the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,793 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 So you are old?One less in my list j/k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diskobolus 3 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Uh... extended ban please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orson 1 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 I edited out my original comments in the above post. I apologize if I have offended anyone in any way. I have no problems at all with the demographics I had mentioned, but it was still insensitive on my part.Apologies,Orson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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