Omen II 1,235 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 London will see two major concerts devoted to the maestro in the space of three weeks! Not to be confused with the London Symphony Orchestra's Williams concert on 8th November, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has just announced that it too will be paying due homage to Johnny T at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2012. Robert Ziegler conducts.http://www.royalalbe...ms/default.aspxWar Horse will be among the selections performed by the RPO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Nothing yet in Amsterdam.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Nothing yet in Amsterdam....The Royal Concertgebouw must be well racist against Williams!Has anyone else noticed that E.T. appears to be missing from the basket in the picture above? The poor thing is probably lying squashed on the ground somewhere. mahler3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK 3,307 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 If only they'd do concerts like this in Toronto...sigh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maglorfin 196 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Oh man, this complicates things. Now I want to go to both London concerts but I can only make it to (and afford) one. So which one to choose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilal 569 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Has anyone else noticed that E.T. appears to be missing from the basket in the picture above? The poor thing is probably lying squashed on the ground somewhere.Lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 This was a very enjoyable concert in front of a sold-out Royal Albert Hall audience of about 6,000 people. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was joined by the Royal Choral Society in a number of the pieces, including Amistad, The Phantom Menace and Saving Private Ryan - it was great to hear those pieces live with a proper, large choir. I'll post the full programme tomorrow. Did anyone else here go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovieMusicMaestro 33 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Oh man, this complicates things. Now I want to go to both London concerts but I can only make it to (and afford) one. So which one to choose? You might want to go the LSO concert. mahler3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 Here is the programme of last night's concert (* including the choir):Superman - Main ThemeThe Witches of Eastwick - The Devil's DanceAmistad - Dry Your Tears, Afrika *JFK - PrologueHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Hedwig's ThemeJaws - Main ThemeHome Alone - Somewhere in my MemoryIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - End Title SuiteSchindler's List - Main Theme (solo violin - Clio Gould)Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace - Duel of the Fates *War Horse - The ReunionE.T. - Flying ThemeINTERVALHook - Flight to NeverlandMemoirs of a Geisha - Sayuri's ThemeClose Encounters of the Third Kind - Main TitleMunich - A Prayer for PeaceJurassic Park - Main ThemeSaving Private Ryan - Hymn to the Fallen *Star Wars / The Empire Strikes Back - Main Title / Princess Leia / The Imperial March / Yoda's Theme / The Throne Room & FinaleAll in all it was a very full and varied programme with several pieces that I had never heard in concert before. The choral pieces were all spectacular, perhaps the highlight for me being Saving Private Ryan - honestly, it was spine-tingling stuff. The only two disappointments were truly abominable arrangements of Jaws and Close Encounters - everything else in the concert appeared to be the signature editions / usual concert versions, so I am curious as to why those were included. CE3K in particular was so bizarre I was trying not to laugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,714 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Wow that looks like a magnificent programme! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 Wow that looks like a magnificent programme! It certainly was, Incanus. It was wonderful to see the Royal Albert Hall so packed with people of all ages - even the gallery (the standing area up in the gods) was full. After the interval the presenter Tommy Pearson read out messages from Conrad Pope and Steven Spielberg, as well as other random tweets from Joe Public (including one from conductor Robert Ziegler!) on the subject of John Williams' general awesomeness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salacius 7 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 Good to read your thoughts, Salacius. Nic Raine was credited as the arranger for Munich, but to my ears it was indistinguishable from the OST version; the same can be said for The Reunion from War Horse, so no complaints from me about those two.I was in the circle and had a pretty good view of the percussion section. It was interesting for me to see how the 'whip' sound that permeates Dry Your Tears, Afrika was made - the percussionist was hitting two puili sticks (I think) simultaneously on the side of a bass drum. I had always wondered how that particular rhythmic sound was produced and now I know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salacius 7 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,352 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 The only two disappointments were truly abominable arrangements of Jaws and Close Encounters - everything else in the concert appeared to be the signature editions / usual concert versions, so I am curious as to why those were included. CE3K in particular was so bizarre I was trying not to laugh.Wow interesting, can you describe what they sounded like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 The only two disappointments were truly abominable arrangements of Jaws and Close Encounters - everything else in the concert appeared to be the signature editions / usual concert versions, so I am curious as to why those were included. CE3K in particular was so bizarre I was trying not to laugh.Wow interesting, can you describe what they sounded like? Jaws was the lesser of the two evils, but both sounded like the sort of thing that would be specially arranged for a children's orchestra. It was not without merit as a sort of Fantasia on the Themes of Jaws, but was very disjointed and was so jaunty and devoid of scariness it would have encouraged the survivors of the sinking of The Indianapolis to stay in the bloody water. As usual many of the audience laughed as soon as they heard the two-note theme from the low strings and I initially thought I had just missed the first note, but alas no. It was downhill from there.The arrangement of Close Encounters, inarguably one of Williams' greatest musical achievements, was truly extraordinary (but not in a good way). The worst part was a sexy variation on the 5-note theme from the strings, as if the arranger had decided he could do better than Williams. Unless I have since embellished it in my nightmares, I think it even ended with a little woodwind trill like at the end of Bernard Herrmann's Sleigh Ride. When it finished the person next to me exclaimed "What the hell was that?" Its inclusion was all the more inexplicable, as Tommy Pearson had quite rightly bigged it up as the only rival to Williams's Star Wars in the 1978 Oscars before it was played. I am not against arrangements of other people's music by any means (I love Lalo Schifrin's disco version of Jaws, for example) but it seemed so incongruous to include these two without warning in the midst of so much Williams goodness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,352 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Wow, sounds really strange!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Someone in the good seats has posted a rather nice little medley that gives a flavour of Friday's concert (it is of course Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, not Raiders of the Lost Ark as captioned). I was really hoping that someone might have recorded Hymn to the Fallen, for me one of the highlights of the concert, but nothing yet.[media=] Also, here is a review of the concert from Michael Beek, who wrote the programme notes: http://michaelbeek.c...t-affirmations/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salacius 7 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovieMusicMaestro 33 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 The LSO concert will not have any unauthorized arrangements. We are very lucky that we can present music from WAR OF THE WORLDS and EMPIRE OF THE SON with permission by John Williams. Joni Wiljami 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salacius 7 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now