RSNO's The Music of John Williams, Usher Hall, Review

Rating (out of 5)
3
Show details
Company
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Production
Liberty Fanfare; Suite from Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Viktor’s Tale from The Terminal; Suite from Far and Away; Theme from Schindler’s List; Forest Battle from Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi; Voda’s Theme from Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back; Main theme from Star Wars;
Theme from Jurassic Park; Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone; Marion’s Theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark; Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; Flight to Neverland from Hook; Olympic Fanfare and Theme; Flying Theme from E T The Extra-Terrestrial; Star Wars The Force Awakens.
Performers
Richard Kaufman (conductor), Fraser Langton (clarinet), Emma Steele (violin)
Running time
130mins

The Usher Hall was full to hear a programme of high profile film scores written by John Williams. Born in New York in 1932 has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, and 22 Grammy Awards. Not to mention the 50 Academy Award nominations.

The music was introduced by the night's conductor, Richard Kaufman, who told us that as a studio violinist he had taken part in the recordings of six of the famous film scores. A friend of the composer, he let us know that John Williams, although unable to be with us, knew about our concert and had expressed surprise in his modesty that a whole evening could be devoted to his music.

The Orchestra's guest leader, Emma Steele, was the violin soloist in the Theme from Schindler's List whilst clarinet player Fraser Langton had earlier showed his talent in Viktor's Tale from The Terminal. There were memorable moments from the French horn and piano.

The brass section of the Orchestra had their glory in the one piece of music which, although very familiar, was not a film score - the music John Williams had written for the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles.

To the delight of the film buffs the evening ended with a first performance outside the USA of the score from the recently released Star Wars The Force Awakens. It was a delightful evening for an audience that included many families with children - perfectly behaved and enjoying every moment.

Performance: Friday 5th February 2016 at 7.30pm