Gustavo Dudamel And The Los Angeles Philharmonic

Celebrating John Williams DG (2 CDs), out now HHHHH

I’m a big John Williams fan, and this rush-released double album is in my opinion the finest showcase for his film music yet to emerge. It was recorded in concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, at the end of January, though there is no intrusive audience noise whatsoever, except for some frantic applause at the end of CD 2. There are no distractions then to enjoying the exceptional playing of the LAPO, recorded in stateof-the-art sound and well directed by Gustavo Dudamel, who got a well-deserved hug from Williams at the end. The selections here are a winning combo of the familiar and the unfamiliar, beginning with Williams’s bracing Olympic Fanfare for the 1984 LA Games. There’s music from three of his Oscar-winning scores for Jaws, ET and Schindler’s List, not always the stuff you expect. For instance, the Jaws main title theme is omitted (thankfully), but instead you get the charming Out To Sea and The Shark Cage Fugue. Similarly, the Star Wars selection has the inevitable Imperial March but also finds room for the Adagio from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), a Sam Barberinspired piece, beautifully scored, though perhaps lacking Barber’s killer tune. Enjoyable nonetheless. I was also pleased to find a Jurassic Park suite, which shows that Williams’s score here is all too readily overlooked, but shouldn’t be. And also, Sayuri’s Theme from Memoirs Of A Geisha (2005), which fully justifies the liner note writer’s comment: ‘This extraordinary composer can write in any style, work in any genre, convey any mood.’ Yes indeed.