[Coverage] “Happy Birthday, John Williams” Concert by Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra

 [Coverage] “Happy Birthday, John Williams” Concert by Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra

Kuala Lumpur, September 2022 – Last weekend was a spectacular one as the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) paid homage to the great film composer, John Williams via two of their dazzling concert themed as “Happy Birthday, John Williams”!

 

Sold Out Shows! Great Gathering for Harry Potter fans and Star Wars fans!

As you are aware, John Williams has composed magnificent scores for a number of blockbuster movies such as Superman, ET, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter and Star Wars! With the large fans community in Malaysia, all the concert goers for sure the two shows get to meet up with cosplayers from Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club (SWMFC) as well as cosplayers for Harry Potter characters! It was a great sight to see! In addition, both the shows were completely sold out!

 

A Wonderful Return To Iconic Films Scores!

In celebration of John Williams' 90th birthday, the MPO and Resident Conductor Gerard Salonga have performed some of his most well known scores from the prominent blockbuster films! All of these pieces were such a great recall to the brilliance of great film music in the 1980s and the 1990s! Kids who have grown through that generation would definitely agree that these music have made up a major part of their childhood memories!

 

Gerard Salonga has given very eloquent introduction for every songs prior to the MPO’s performances. All of his speech has added new information and reminded us of how the legendary John Williams compose his music. It’s incredible to know that Steven Spielberg actually linked the scenes in E.T based on John Williams’ musical notes. It’s also awe-inspiring to learn how John Williams created one of the most popular B-flat musical masterpieces in the world, which was the Star Wars: Main Title song!

 

A two-hour concert of awesomeness!

A total of 17 songs (including Encore song) that were played during the concert. It began with Williams' Olympic Fanfare and Theme, which set the tone and prepared the audience for the subsequent magnificent scores. True enough, the audiences were then treated with a gist of Magic as the brilliant musicians from The MPO played the songs from the beloved film franchise Harry Potter! I was confident that all Potterheads were contented with their indulgement in the Hedwig’s Theme as well as the other two scores that followed, namely “Nimbus2000” and “Harry’s Wondrous World”.

 

The audiences was then treated to one of the most iconic villain songs in film history. “Imperial March”, you say? Not yet, that epicness was something that we have anticipated but not the time yet. This time, however, the MPO has served us with the two-keyed song that defined the villainous Jaw in that generation! What a thrilling theme it was!

 

Then the conductor and the MPO have transported the audiences to somewhere out of the world by playing for us “The Flight To Neverland”, “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” and “Adventures on Earth”!

 

There was a 20 minutes intermission before the excitement of the concert reached new heights. Right after break, we got the chance to listen to the rousing song of the “Superman March”.

 

The highlight of the show would be the continuous music from the Star Wars franchise! Apart from listening to the inspiriting Star Wars Main Theme, the audiences of course got their taste on the fantastic Imperial March!

 

Last but not least, the MPO has performed an encore song of “Raiders March from Indiana Jones”! Overall, it was a great tribute concert to John Williams! It was an enlightening show and the MPO has definitely put a smile on the faces of the concertgoers!

 

Chief Editor WLJack and the Star Wars Cosplayers

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Published by WLJack.