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I've been, I think 3-4 times in Chicago, it's a 4.2 hour drive. Worth every mile to go see him. It was incredible. I discovered a few scores that I owned, but never listened to. I love his Cowboys suite in concert and when he did a small little tribute to Elmer and Jerry, that was pretty sweet!
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Posted: |
Jan 19, 2009 - 11:54 PM
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By: |
dogplant
(Member)
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It's been a few years for me, 2004 in fact:
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=21885&forumID=1&archive=1
I've been lucky enough to see him conduct several times, in various venues, but I must say my most memorable Williams concert was my first, at the Royal Albert Hall in February 1978. I was 14 years old and had never seen an orchestra play live. What an experience that was!
The concert was called 'LSO in Space,' the first half of which was (I believe) John Scott conducting Holst's "Planets." John Williams then stepped up to the podium for the second half and conducted a suite from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," with the Ambrosia Choir accompanying from an upper balcony. The film had yet to open in the U.K., and I had no idea what it was about, apart from it involved flying saucers and was directed by the man who did "Jaws," my favorite film. I do remember being quite frightened and transported, and then thinking, 'This is huge!'
Williams followed this with excerpts from "Star Wars," and then introduced C3PO and R2D2, who waddled out on stage to tumultuous applause. 3PO took the baton, supposedly with Anthony Daniels inside the golden suit, and conducted an encore of the "Star Wars" main theme, which brought down the house. My little palms were numb from clapping.
Five years later, I got to meet Anthony Daniels at a "Return of the Jedi" autograph signing at Forbidden Planet book shop. I asked him was it really him in the suit that evening? He confirmed that indeed it was, he was an amateur or aspiring conductor, and it was of the greatest honors of his "Star Wars" career to step onto the podium in the Albert Hall and strike that downbeat. He also mentioned that the LSO pretty much conducted itself, but it was good to know it was really him.
I have tried to find info about this concert online, and I have been unable to find the program, which I know I have saved somewhere in a box in England. I remember it was a silver cover with the words in dark blue printed diagonally across the cover. I did find this image from the LSO website, which judging by the sideburns of orchestra players looks suspiciously like it could have been from 1978:
Since then, Williams has become a master showman, which I think he honed from his years with the Boston Pops. He is also a very charming gent in person if you ever get to chat with him one on one. I've been lucky to do that a few times, and he has never failed to impress with his eloquence and grace.
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Posted: |
Jan 20, 2009 - 3:17 AM
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By: |
TownerFan
(Member)
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I've seen John Williams conducting his own music in 2005 and 2007, both times in Chicago. I've travelled in both occasions from Italy just for this (and took this as an excuse to make a trip in the US as well  )
The first time was in November 2005. The program was a pretty standard Williams concert, with some great surprises scattered throughout (as the "1941" March, the "Out to Sea/Shark Cage Fugue" from JAWS and "Luke and Leia" from JEDI). I was thrilled like a kid and hearing the Chicago Symphony playing live was amazing. I had the luck to meet the Maestro after the concert (after a 45-plus minutes wait in the cold during I almost got hypothermia!), shake his hand, say a few words to him and get his autograph on the concert's program. He seemed to be quite tired, but he was graciously kind with the few people that were there waiting for him.
The second time was again in Chicago on November 2007. This time I attended both programs and they were both impressive and exihilarating. The first program's highlights for me were the "REIVERS Suite for Narrator and Orchestra", the "Escapades for Alto Sax and Orchestra" from CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, the theme from BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY and the opening chase sequence from INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE played live in sync with the film. Thrilling! But probably the most welcome and unexpected surprise was the theme from THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST as an encore. This is one of my favourite scores and I was really moved. The second program was centered more around Williams' concert works and non-film compositions in the first half: he performed an exquisite reading of his own Bassoon Concerto ("the Five Sacred Trees"), the spectacular "Tributes!" (dedicated to Seiji Ozawa), four selections from AMERICAN JOURNEY and "Fanfare for a Festive Occasion", while the second half of the program was dedicated to film music, with terrific performances of "The Balloon Sequence" and "Devil's Dance" from THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, "Sayuri's THeme" from GEISHA and "Adventures on Earth" from E.T. Again, I met with the Maestro after one of the gigs. This time I had the luck to exchange some few more words with him and I also got a couple of pictures with him (one of which you can see here in my avatar ). He appeared to be in a very jolly mood and he was very, very kind. He was genuinely impressed when I told him I was coming from Italy to see him conducting. A real gentleman.
I sincerely hope he will return soon to Europe to conduct a concert.
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In 1980 I saw him conduct The Boston Pops in 'The Hatch' on The Esplanade, at Charles River, in Boston, which included a memorable rendition of the Midway March.
Earlier in 1976 we had a quick chat when I met him in the corridor outside Jerry Goldsmith's dressing room after the wonderful Filmharmonic '76 Goldsmith concert at The Royal Albert Hall, surely I must have bumped into Vinylscrubber on the way out!?
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London, Barbican, John Williams conducting, the second night, which included JFK, The Reivers,..........
Last October, Ghent Film Festival, Dirk Brossé conducting.
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