John Williams In Vienna

DG has really been making a feast out of John Williams in recent years. There was the 2-disc live concert from Dudamel in L.A. Then Anne-Sophie Mutter's concert of easy-listening arrangements last year, and now this one with the maestro himself. All of this coming from DG. I sense there is money to be made in the John Williams name!Looking at this latest disc...I wonder what is it with DG's endless infatuation with Anne-Sophie Mutter. As if we didn't get enough of her on the last disc, DG brings her back this time for one more track - a super-star solo (!) in Devil's Dance from The Witches of Eastwick. OK; It's not bad, and at least it's not an elevator Muzak arrangement like those on her previous album. Mr. Williams has expanded it into a rather effective mini-showpiece for violin and orchestra. But, Mutter's playing of it is head-scratching. She starts off gang-busters - aided by an alarming boost in the volume level and a ridiculously spotlit microphone placement, thrusting her well out in front of the orchestra. But a minute in, she slams on the brakes and slows down the tempo - apparently realizing she's started off too fast and is simply unable to sustain that tempo. And a minute later, she slows it down SOME MORE! And John Williams, ever the consummate professional, simply does his best to follow her, bringing his orchestra along with him. I can just envision him looking over at her and shaking his head wondering what she's doing.And then there's DG's production. With just the one little solo lasting less than 6 minutes, the booklet is nonetheless an embarrassment of Mutter-adoration. Pictures of her playing her fiddle begin on page 4, and continue throughout the booklet. We get a 2-page centerfold spread of her in front of the orchestra (as if in a major violin concerto) on pgs. 8/9; another similar centerfold on pgs. 16/17; single full-page shots on pg. 24; AND yet another one on the back cover. She's also featured in a big picture inside the fold-out cardboard CD enclosure. One would think this was her triumphant debut at Carnegie Hall with a major violin concerto world premier. They even go so far as to list her as featured on the final track (Raiders of the Lost Ark). Why? There is absolutely zero violin solo passagework. The booklet "clarifies" she's merely playing along with the first violin section there. Give me a break.Fortunately, the rest of the disc is pure John Williams. And mercifully, original scores and soundtrack suites have been used. I am thrilled for him that he was given the opportunity to conduct one of the finest orchestras in the world. The booklet tells us the orchestra was pleased to venture into unfamiliar territory. But...That being said, it all sounds a bit tired. Perhaps "serious" would be a kinder word for it. Leading an orchestra which lacks experience in this genre and thus not invigorating it with their own inherent feel for it, Mr. Williams is, for the very first time, beginning to sound his age. Tempos are consistently on the slow side and this sounds very "symphonic". And grandiose. But not terribly "cinematic". It lacks the sheer verve and exhilaration we are used to hearing in these scores. It certainly sounds nothing like a live event (thanks in part to DG's editing - more on this below). But it is gloriously played. The familiar Vienna Philharmonic's burnished brass shine; and the silky violins sing ever so sweetly. And the precision of articulation (but not necessarily of ensemble) is far superior to what Dudamel's LA Phil achieves in their live concert of this music.Unfortunately, DG's recorded sound doesn't help. Other than the boost in volume and presence for Devil's Dance, noted above, the remaining tracks set the orchestra back within a huge, rather swampy acoustic. There is also a lot of unnecessary spotlighting - the horns for example; and the first desk of 1st violins (which is weird); and the flutes here and there. I'm sure the engineers were simultaneously trying to mitigate audience noise while retaining some sense of presence and focus. They were very successful with the former - we hear none of the cheers and wild applause evidenced on the YouTube video of the live concert. But that does tend to further diminish the sense of occasion. And the resultant sound palette suffers - which is simply too resonant and heavy for this music.There are highlights, though, namely Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back - which is awesomely effective here. At this tempo, the sheer weight and power of the deep brass and low strings make this as menacing as you'll ever hear it. Just compare it to Dudamel's slick read-through in LA and you'll immediately hear the difference.It is worthwhile to note, there is also a blu-ray video release of the live concert from which the CD recording is derived. I have not seen it, but I have viewed several selections which are available on YouTube. It is by far the better option to fully appreciate this Vienna concert.

The Vienna Philharmonic has taken time to accept the music of controversial composers. It took nearly half a century for the Vienna Philharmonic to accept Gustav Mahler's music and to include it into their core repertoire. They rarely play Shostakovich's symphonic repertoire (let alone his music for the stage or for films). Prokofiev and Schönberg also wrote music for films but the Vienna Philharmonic won't go beyond Gürrelieder and Prokofiev's 1st and 5th symphony. And now, it looks like the Vienna Philharmonic finally accepted film music as serious entity of its own. Just like Aaron Copland dedicated an entire chapter on film music, just like concert music and stage music (including opera and ballet) in this book "What to listen for in Music" (1939).Having this said, the recording and performance here is anything you would expect from the Vienna Philharmonic and John Williams; rich, exciting, colorful, boisterous, and plangent! the ensemble and Williams outputted 100% if their energy to a once in a lifetime occasion. The Vienna Philharmonic puts every other recording from William's music win the London Symphony Orchestra to shame. Moreover, I listened to this album on a pair of Polk RT55i speakers connected to a Yamaha RX-V992 receiver and the experience was groundbreaking!Now that the Vienna Philharmonic stepped into new repertoire ground and out of their comfort zone from Wagner's Valhalla and Bruckner's colossal cathedrals, what will the future of the Vienna Philharmonic be? a complete recording of "The Empire Strikes Back" score? perhaps the Vienna Philharmonic will go even farther and start playing video game music? the sun shines brightly on the horizon for this magnificent ensemble!

I am so disappointed! The reason I purchased this particular CD was because it was a live performance. Part of the pleasure of listening to a live performance is to hear the audience reactions oh, what they respond to, spontaneous Applause and so on. All of that is cut out. There is only music on the CD. Aside from that some of John Williams most iconic works are missing which was a little disappointing in itself but mainly I really wanted to see how the audience reacted to his beautiful music and orchestration.

At this writing John Williams is 88 years old. The realistic wish is for him to live a VERY long life, the actual wish is for him to live FOREVER. He has brought so much beauty, emotion and enjoyment to our lives, it is fully warranted to wish it and it will be a hard moment the day he leaves us.Most of this music has been recorded many times. But having collected most, I can say that it never sounded so sumptuous. Of course, it was the great idea of DG to bring the composer together with the Vienna Philharmonic: the most sumptuous sound orchestra in the world. With the brass reaching the sky, the strings being a caress to the ears, and t he recorded sound spectacular, I wholeheartedly recommend this release.Anne Sophie Mutter fiddles a solo in two tracks, which is most appropriate within the program. A sweeter violin voice cannot be found.

Crack open that bottle of red wine and listen to this with your buddies, gentlemen! They'll be giving you looks like what the heck has gotten into him! They'll be amazed that your class level just rose three notches above redneck. They'll sit in awe that you are beginning to enjoy the finer things in life! They'll start to wonder if you might be leaving them behind.Alright...maybe not but my daughter loves this album (she's was a band geek who played piano and flute). She does have pretty decent taste in music, even if she won't listen to Tim, Kenny or Garth with me even if I paid her. (I've tried). If you are looking to buy this album, then you know what you're getting. Just buy it.

Great music played beautifully. My favorites were "Jurassic Park" and "The Imperial March". I highly recommend it to every fan of John Williams' music.

A really good recording of a superb concert by John Williams and the Vienna Philharmonic. Whilst it is a live concert there is not a single clap or cheer to be heard and these must have been edited out. The sound on a high end vinyl system is first class and it clearly demonstrates how vinyl is so superior to cd. Unfortunately I have to return mine for replacement as the third side is scratched . The only adverse comment I can make is that the inner sleeves whilst good quality and bear photos and information have no anti static lining. The records are therefore a little difficult to remove resulting in slight scuffing.

Despite what it says on the blurb, there is no Harry Potter to be found anywhere on this two LP collection, which is a shame, as this could have been a John Williams greatest hit's album. The album features performances from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Jaws and E.T., which is great but the lack of Superman theme, Harry Potter and Home Alone let it down. Did anyone really want the Witches of Eastwick or War Horse? Likewise the Jaws section doesn't include the famous theme, surely they could have expanded it slightly to include this.It's still great, it's John Williams, how could it not be? But I would have lost some performances and added the scores I mentioned. These compilations always seem to fall short for some reason.The vinyl seems to be very crackly (even after cleaning), while I have other albums that are practically silent. Maybe it's because the paper sleeves were so tight to the records, I have now put them in anti-static sleeves. Perhaps it's because the music is often quiet. It is annoying when this costs so much money. EDIT: I have run an anti-static brush over the record and it is much improved. These records do seem to be troublesome as they were very crackly before I cleaned them.

A glorious recording. I purchased the vinyl version. The sound has huge depth, possibly because of the hall it was recorded in. Either way, it sounds magnificent. My only disappointment was that Dracula was not included which is a shame as it was among my favourites on the Anne Sophie Mutter collaboration. Although "live", there is no audience included in the recording. There are so many recordings of John Williams compositions but few sound this good.

The sound quality was rather disappointing. It was played on a Bose Wave radio/ CD player. Of course it could be the Bose CD player that was not up to scratch. Probably need to play it at concert hall volume to get the right effect.

A moody , live concert conducted by the composer. You will not find a better recording of his music.