London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, October 26, 2018

The London Symphony Orchestra perform two hours of John Williams movie standards despite losing their conductor to illness just days before the gig.

Sometimes life just doesn’t play out as planned. Up until two days before this concert, event goers were planning to spend An Evening with John Williams in Concert, but as the change in title suggests, things changed. Maestro Williams fell ill ahead of the concert and was hospitalised in London, meaning that he could no longer conduct this concert or those in Vienna the following week. Rather than cancel the concert in the absence of Williams, the organisers still had the LSO and one of the world’s best music venues to hand, and thankfully the show did go on, under the baton of Dirk Brossé, Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.

I’ve been lucky enough to see Mr Williams on two occasions, including his last UK concert 22 years ago at the Barbican. For many this would have been their first opportunity, and let’s hope that he’ll be back with us again to enable this ‘bucket list’ achievement to be ticked. Beginning with the opening crawl of Star Wars, the LSO made it all sound so very easy. They effortlessly slipped into a lengthy suite from Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind before hitting the 21st Century with three selections from Williams’ first two Harry Potter scores – Hedwig’s Theme, Fawkes the Phoenix and Harry’s Wondrous World.

A real treat was End Titles from Dracula, a soundtrack which has just been announced as as an extended Varese Sarabande release this  week – and it’s a powerful work. Leading us into the interval was the inevitable Adventures on Earth from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. If there was a dry eye in the house I couldn’t spot it through my blurred vision – must have been dust in my eye. Every now and then a member of the orchestra would share how Williams and his scores had been an inspiration to them in getting into music, violinist Maxine Kwok-Adams expressing a real thrill in introducing ET.

Superman March from Superman the Movie was a great way to open the second act, with the audience visibly thrilled by this superhero standard. A Child’s Tale: Suite from The BFG was probably the least familiar piece this evening, but a double whammy of Jurassic Park and Theme from Schindler’s List (beautifully played by violin soloist Carmine Lauri) was exquisite. Three Selections from Star Wars finished the scheduled programme – The Imperial March (watch the thrashing of those kettle drums) the European premiere of a new version of Han Solo & the Princess which deconstructs and reconfigures the popular Empire Strikes Back theme, and the Throne Room & Finale ( I had to stop myself from bellowing a Chewbacca rawwwr at the appropriate time).

The encore was mandatory – there were two very obvious omissions. And thankfully Jaws and the Raiders March were performed as wonderfully as we’d expected. It all feels so effortless and yet we know so much practice and expertise is required to bring these classic themes to life in flawless performances. Oh, and Yoda’s Theme also snuck in, Star Wars getting good value for money tonight.

Verdict: Were we all disappointed that Williams wasn’t at the podium? Absolutely. But surely the greater emotion was our concern for his health, and we all at Sci-Fi Bulletin send on our best wishes for his recovery. Apparently he was listening to the live broadcast on Classic FM, but he can rest assured that the orchestra lifted the roof and that his fans were loving every masterfully created theme, played by one of the world’s finest ensembles. 9/10

Nick Joy

Main picture (c) Nick Joy; other photos (c) Christie Goodwin