Read the first part

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by Gerard Pastor

(translated by Aina Girbau)

• A SUPERB SECOND HALF

It is strange that, even today, second parts of concerts like this one are seen as something just meant to show off or to please the masses. Around 1835-1840, it was clear for Franz Liszt that a concert should have two parts: a first part dedicated to classics and premieres, and a second part to popular, current pieces that were close to the public. Among other things,  listening is also tiring. It was also the moment for improvisations in solo recitals or to address the public in search of musical requests. For him, the classics were works from another time that deserved to continue to be interpreted so as not to be forgotten (as had happened with Bach), and who knew which ones would continue to sound like classics in the future. It is a perfectly valid concert structure: it helps to balance the program, it gives it the virtue of opening it to a wider audience, and its pieces aren’t of a lesser quality for it.

At the 2020 concerts, there was a much bigger fan fuss inside and outside the Musikverein. Its program was intended for it and there was a more significant representation of the Maestro’s films, many of them with a single theme. This time, however, after Superman’s march (78) as the overture to the second part, the program was made up of three suites: from Harry Potter, Indiana Jones (without its main theme) and Star Wars, all of them very well thought out and with much coherence given the movements the Maestro chose. John Williams’ music has yet another gift, that of thematic complementarity, that is to say that the relationship between his different themes works wonderfully. Thanks to this, it is possible to create suites like this one, which can even draw unity in themselves, with several possibilities for each film.

The Wiener Philharmoniker also gave its all in this second part. On Saturday, the concert went from less to more, with the second part starting with some small inaccuracies and perhaps slightly accelerated tempos, especially in Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (01). However, on Sunday, the machinery was already perfectly oiled and without resistance or mismatches from the very first measure. Every section of the orchestra shone and dazzled, with Williams’ music being as demanding as it is fulfilling. It is hard to play but if it is well played, the reward is huge and it can be seen in the audience.

This time, unlike in 2020, the Maestro’s conducting aroused much more interest and admiration in me: it was clear that he performed a greater variety of gestures that went exactly in the direction the orchestra needed. Very attentive in the section changes and especially in tempo changes, where he reacted especially quickly to any imbalance. One could clearly tell when something sounded too loudly for him. As a result of this connection, we saw and heard especially brilliant conjunction moments. One could highlight some endings where the timpani marked the final ritardandos and chords. Actually, I had never seen such an exaggerated ritardando in the finale of Throne Room and End Titles from Star Wars Episode IV. Evidence of the connection between maestro and musicians.

Williams was also introducing the works and commenting on some anecdotes of each one, as he usually does. The audience, much more local than in 2020, adores him and everyone present was in anticipation of his next presentation. On Sunday, he even commented that he was returning to Los Angeles the following week to work on the fifth Indiana Jones movie. After a thunderous ovation, he said that if Harrison Ford, at 78 years of age, was still riding horses and shooting what he was shooting, why couldn’t he write the music for the film.

The concert concluded with four encores. The first two with the violin as a soloist: Across the Stars and The Adventures of Tintin (11). Williams joked again saying that he didn’t remember exactly which Star Wars movie he had written Across the Stars for, but that we should have faith in him as he was sure it was from Star Wars. After this, they played Flying Theme from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (82) and, of course, the Imperial March, which in 2020 was already requested by the orchestra itself to the maestro during rehearsals. This was the encore that would have been requested by theaudience back in the day as it was requested back in Liszt time. A little over two and a half hours of concert that Williams, at his 90 years of age, conducted, standing from beginning to end.

I don’t know if it was because this time there was no pressure from the cameras, because it was the second time in Vienna or why exactly, but we could see a more relaxed John Williams, who was closer to the audience. At both concerts he even fist-bumped with the audience in the front row and even joked with a girl wearing a Gryffindor hair scrunchie. At the entrances and exits to his hotel and the Musikverein, there wasn’t the anticipation or the crazy crowds of 2020. Whilst in 2020 there were numerous people looking for an autograph from the maestro and demanding his attention, on this occasion, a group of 20 people at most, gave him a tender applause upon his arrival at the hotel and only a thank you was heard, which Williams returned with a gesture of gratitude.

Williams wants to continue composing music and hopefully he can continue to premiere it in the best European orchestras (Vienna, Berlin, Milan…). As long as he continues to write while sitting on the edge, he will continue to contribute to music and film music, and I’m sure there will be many who will want to sit alongside him. For now, we have to wait for Indiana Jones 5.

Read the Spanish version here