Hi guys
Sorry for the late review. By the way I have less hair now too. I am posting this review not because I think I’m qualified but mostly because I told Canbell I would, so here it is.
This was a concert sponsored by the Connecticut Classical Guitar Society in which John Williams played to a nearly sold-out theatre. He played at the Belding Theater, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford Connecticut which is a relatively new building specially designed for more intimate venues like this one. The reception room has a very interesting glass sculpture that look either like red worms from the bottom of the sea or a creature from Star Trek.
The first thing he did was to mention how cold the theater was which maybe explains why he changed the order of the first two pieces. The program was supposed to start with six sketches from John Williams himself and then play Mallorca by Isaac Albeniz. I am not familiar with either piece so I don’t know why he switched. Williams sketches were not bad and I think I kind of liked the 3rd and 4rth sketch in particular. Then he played Djilile by Peter Sculthorpe and then Chaconne by J.S. Bach. The second half was music from Venezuela and Paraguay so in a sense it was very similar to the concert he gave in Mexico City described by Kenr in the forum classicalguitar.nl which I encourage to read because it describes the second half better than I can.
What can I say, it's John Williams and I am glad I went, I can’t add anything new about Mr. Williams performance that hasn’t been said before but the sound of his guitar was warm and full. However, somehow I was expecting more but maybe it had to do with the temperature of the theater as mentioned by Mr. Williams. I was also a little disappointed because I though my seats were going to be closer which they were not. My seat was closer to the back of the theater. The other thing was the use of microphone and speakers which I think made his guitar sound fuller and allowed people seating in the back like me to hear nuances that otherwise I think I wouldn’t have. I don’t like the idea of paying for a live concert and getting in return the same electronic sound, as playing my CD at home but this obviously is not the same. Still it was unexpected for me and paying attention to the microphone, etc. (I have an interest in recording) distracted me a little.
There was a Meet John Williams reception afterwards, which I did attend. I never had the opportunity talk to him but my friend was able to get him to sign a program booklet. After a short period he stopped signing and someone gave him a plate with desserts so he would have his hands too full and unable to sign. After coffee and dessert I left with my friend and that was it.
Cheers
