kooke
07-02-2014, 08:02 AM
As requested:
CONCERTO FOR VIOLA AND ORCHESTRA (2007, premiere)
STARGAZERS (1982, rev. 2009)
Bootleg recorded on the Film Night concerts at Boston Symphony Hall on May, 2009.
Composed and conducted by John Williams.
Viola: Cathy Basrak.
Timpani: Timothy Genis.
Harp: Ann Hobson-Pilot.
───────────
In the family of wondrous instruments that we've inherited in our Western tradition, the viola is among the most beautiful and uniquely expressive, and it is also an instrument that is heard in a solo setting, all too infrequently.
Over the years while conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra, I've always been struck by the artistry of our principal violist Cathy Basrak, and resolved to write a work, not only for an instrument I love, but also to celebrate the brilliance of this great violist. The result is this concerto, the first performance of which was given at Symphony Hall, Boston on May 26, 2009, with Ms. Basrak as soloist.
Ms. Basrak happens to be happily married to our principal timpanist Tim Genis, and so I couldn't resist the fun of including a brief duet between these two instruments in a section of the second movement which I've blithely titled "Family Argument." The dedication in the harp part of the finale is offered to our legendary harpist Anne Hobson Pilot who also participated brilliantly in the premiere performance.
My great joy has been working with these fantastic musicians and if any of this pleasure is reflected in the concerto, it will be my greatest reward.
─ John Williams ─
From Markus Hable's site jw-collection.de (http://www.jw-collection.de/classical/violaconcerto.htm).
The second part of the set is "Stargazers", an arrangement of the theme "E.T. And Me" from the film score of 1982, with the extension of the harp solo throughout the second half. This revision from 2009 was performed live for first time in the third day of the Film Night concerts at the Boston Symphony Hall in May 2009, also with Ms. Hobson-Pilot as soloist.
Youtube videos of the performances.
(http://www.youtube.com/user/Jay9779/videos?sort=dd&view=0&flow=list)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhODhlsfEJ0)
Concerto For Viola (http://www.youtube.com/user/Jay9779/videos?sort=dd&view=0&flow=list)
Stargazers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhODhlsfEJ0)
As expected in a bootleg recording, there are some coughs and noises from the public but the sound quality -much better than from the Youtube videos- is good enough in these MP3 files encoded at 256 kbps. The recording is very enjoyable, with quite clear sound after a few tweaks in equalization, but, more importantly, it's another jewel in the group of concertos by Williams and the classical collections of his fans. I just wish we had better versions of the nice artwork by Miguel Andrade instead of the upscaled front, but I could not find them.
The track list:
~ Concerto For Viola And Orchestra ~
01 - Introduction: John Williams speech [3:20]
02 - I. First Movement (CB) [11:16]
03 - II. Second Movement, "The Family Argument" (CB, TG) [3:51]
04 - III. Third Movement (CB, AHP) [9:19]
~ Stargazers ~
05 - Introduction: John Williams' speech [1:28]
06 - Stargazers (AHP) [5:31]
CB = Cathy Basrak, viola.
TG = Timothy Genis, timpani.
AHP= Ann Hobson-Pilot, harp.
Total playing time: 34' 47''
Download: MP3 (https://ulozto.net/file/ucPCbgyyiglG/cvos-7z) (55.7 MiB) Type symphonyhall to extract the files.
Enjoy.
My requests: better artwork and the complete Film Night concert of Boston Symphony Hall 2009.
CONCERTO FOR VIOLA AND ORCHESTRA (2007, premiere)
STARGAZERS (1982, rev. 2009)
Bootleg recorded on the Film Night concerts at Boston Symphony Hall on May, 2009.
Composed and conducted by John Williams.
Viola: Cathy Basrak.
Timpani: Timothy Genis.
Harp: Ann Hobson-Pilot.
───────────
In the family of wondrous instruments that we've inherited in our Western tradition, the viola is among the most beautiful and uniquely expressive, and it is also an instrument that is heard in a solo setting, all too infrequently.
Over the years while conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra, I've always been struck by the artistry of our principal violist Cathy Basrak, and resolved to write a work, not only for an instrument I love, but also to celebrate the brilliance of this great violist. The result is this concerto, the first performance of which was given at Symphony Hall, Boston on May 26, 2009, with Ms. Basrak as soloist.
Ms. Basrak happens to be happily married to our principal timpanist Tim Genis, and so I couldn't resist the fun of including a brief duet between these two instruments in a section of the second movement which I've blithely titled "Family Argument." The dedication in the harp part of the finale is offered to our legendary harpist Anne Hobson Pilot who also participated brilliantly in the premiere performance.
My great joy has been working with these fantastic musicians and if any of this pleasure is reflected in the concerto, it will be my greatest reward.
─ John Williams ─
From Markus Hable's site jw-collection.de (http://www.jw-collection.de/classical/violaconcerto.htm).
The second part of the set is "Stargazers", an arrangement of the theme "E.T. And Me" from the film score of 1982, with the extension of the harp solo throughout the second half. This revision from 2009 was performed live for first time in the third day of the Film Night concerts at the Boston Symphony Hall in May 2009, also with Ms. Hobson-Pilot as soloist.
Youtube videos of the performances.
(http://www.youtube.com/user/Jay9779/videos?sort=dd&view=0&flow=list) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhODhlsfEJ0)Concerto For Viola (http://www.youtube.com/user/Jay9779/videos?sort=dd&view=0&flow=list)
Stargazers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhODhlsfEJ0)
As expected in a bootleg recording, there are some coughs and noises from the public but the sound quality -much better than from the Youtube videos- is good enough in these MP3 files encoded at 256 kbps. The recording is very enjoyable, with quite clear sound after a few tweaks in equalization, but, more importantly, it's another jewel in the group of concertos by Williams and the classical collections of his fans. I just wish we had better versions of the nice artwork by Miguel Andrade instead of the upscaled front, but I could not find them.
The track list:
~ Concerto For Viola And Orchestra ~
01 - Introduction: John Williams speech [3:20]
02 - I. First Movement (CB) [11:16]
03 - II. Second Movement, "The Family Argument" (CB, TG) [3:51]
04 - III. Third Movement (CB, AHP) [9:19]
~ Stargazers ~
05 - Introduction: John Williams' speech [1:28]
06 - Stargazers (AHP) [5:31]
CB = Cathy Basrak, viola.
TG = Timothy Genis, timpani.
AHP= Ann Hobson-Pilot, harp.
Total playing time: 34' 47''
Download: MP3 (https://ulozto.net/file/ucPCbgyyiglG/cvos-7z) (55.7 MiB) Type symphonyhall to extract the files.
Enjoy.
My requests: better artwork and the complete Film Night concert of Boston Symphony Hall 2009.