Enjoy John Williams in Vienna at home

Hollywood legend John Williams has made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic, conducting the great orchestra in music from Star Wars, Jaws, E.T., Harry Potter and Jurassic Park among others. This historic moment was recorded earlier this year and finally combines Williams’ most iconic scores finally with the world-famous Golden Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein. It is also the first time that John Williams’ unique compositions can be expierenced at home in this way thanks to Dolby Atmos.

Williams has described the concert, which took place earlier this year and includes a spectacular recording of the ‘Imperial March’, as “one of the greatest honours” of his life. Williams recalls: “We played two rehearsals with the orchestra, at the end of which the orchestra management said: ‘Can we play the Imperial March from Star Wars?’ And I hadn’t programmed that. I thought I had already asked the brass to play quite enough big music.

“it was honestly the best presentation of that march that I ever heard.”

“But as I understand it, the brass players in the orchestra themselves requested that we would play the Imperial March. So, at the end of the rehearsal we played it, they had the music, everyone seemed to know it.
I felt very grateful to them for giving me chance to play it at the end of the programme. I loved it.”

John Williams & Vienna Philharmonic – Imperial March (from “Star Wars”)

Everlasting themes of cinema for the first time ever in the world class Vienna Philharmonic

There is one thing that makes Williams’ music outstanding to this day: it wants to be heard. Where current film productions and their composers often rely on rather inconspicuous or atmospheric background pieces, preferring the images and the plot to work and letting music drift along as a subtle, emotional accompaniment, Williams’ powerful melodies always stand out and make a lasting impression. His music does not hold back – it wants to be perceived and received. In contrast to many other recent blockbuster soundtracks, his music is not interchangeable at all.

“one of the greatest honours of my life”

The full concert, which also features violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter playing virtuoso adaptations of “Hedwig’s Theme” among others, was realeased this August in Dolby Atmos on Pure Audio Blu-ray. This very special combination of both John Williams and the Vienna Philharmonic can finally be heard in this extraordinary and fully immersive way at home.
The legendary Star Wars composer has five Oscars, five Emmys, four Golden Globes and twenty-five Grammys under his belt. As he thanked the audience for their welcome, he told them that the invitation to work with the Wiener Philharmoniker was one of the greatest honours of his life.

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