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John Williams taken ill - will not be conducting in London on Friday

Michael Antrum

Michael Antrum

Only the good die young....
Hi All,

I've just been informed that John Williams has been taken ill in London, and will no longer be conducting his concert at the Royal Albert Hall this Friday evening. Apparently he is in hospital in London.

Whilst I do hope that he gets well very soon, I'm saddened that I won't get to see the man himself in action. He is getting on in years now, and I don't think I'll get another opportunity to see him in London again.

Sending my best wishes for a speedy recovery....
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Oh man, sorry to hear this. Hopefully it's nothing serious and you'll get a chance again. Wishing him well.
 
mikeybabes said:
Hi All,

I've just been informed that John Williams has been taken ill in London, and will no longer be conducting his concert at the Royal Albert Hall this Friday evening. Apparently he is in hospital in London.

Whilst I do hope that he gets well very soon, I'm saddened that I won't get to see the man himself in action. He is getting on in years now, and I don't think I'll get another opportunity to see him in London again.

Sending my best wishes for a speedy recovery....
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Crossing fingers and sending good vibes to this great musician...
 
Me too....nothing is going right.. ever...I’ve looked forward everday since i booked em London last yr. To see him for the first time and conducting his own pieces...what more could a fan ask for.
His mate is conducting instead...all of a sudden i feel deflated.

I hope he is well very soon...and if by chance pls hope out of bed and conduct one more time.
 
So gutted. Have been waiting for this one all year! I will of course still attend but it won't be the same without the man himself :sad:

Friday is 2 days away. Slim chance but he could still make an appearance! I can hope!
 
toomanynotes said:
Me too....nothing is going right.. ever...I’ve looked forward everday since i booked em London last yr. To see him for the first time and conducting his own pieces...what more could a fan ask for.
His mate is conducting instead...all of a sudden i feel deflated.

I hope he is well very soon...and if by chance pls hope out of bed and conduct one more time.
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Yeah that is really a punch in our faces. Of course, understandable that if Williams is too ill to conduct, by all means he should take care of himself. But this is his first time in Europe for what... 15-20 years, and then the concerts in essence get cancelled.
 
That's terrible news, I wish him nothing but a full recovery at this point.

And the concert was canceled:

https://www.vienna.at/konzerte-von-...er-philharmonikern-ersatzlos-abgesagt/5972836

"John Williams had to cancel his concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic for health reasons. There are no replacement appointments.

The US-American composer and conductor John Williams (86) has to cancel his concerts scheduled for 3 and 4 November with the Vienna Philharmonic for health reasons.

The concerts will be canceled without replacement, the ticket price will be refunded. This was announced by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna on Wednesday.

(APA / Red)" - Google translator

I know some of you have been preparing for this for a while now. That absolutely sucks. :sad:
 
Simon Ravn said:
Yeah that is really a punch in our faces. Of course, understandable that if Williams is too ill to conduct, by all means he should take care of himself. But this is his first time in Europe for what... 15-20 years, and then the concerts in essence get cancelled.
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I don’t want to sound dramatic, but when i secured this ticket last year, I said to myself, hey I may be unsuccessful at music and never get write for the Spielberg ‘of old’..but at least i will rest my soul,i cld be finally at peace with myself..that i can now finally meet JW in my own way comducting his own music! the legend the inspiration that is John Williams. Why? Why does this have to be?
I don’t want to have to say, i cldve i should’ve..no life of regrets...
I wished they’d postponed the concert.
I just care for JW to get better so i can finalise this meeting and say...I’m happy now..i did it. He can keep his millions! Just give me a glimpse and borrow my ears
 
Yeah just got email from Musikverein as well, saying the concerts in Vienna are cancelled, urgh. Seems it is pretty serious then, but let's hope not. Seriously, I wonder if he'll make it home from London... Maybe he wasn't fit for travelling overseas afterall.
 
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Royal albert hall will be issuing refunds up until the morning on friday. I just spoke with them. They were Very apologetic even though it wasn’t their fault.
I’m in two minds... Ive got starwars coming up and going to Salzburg on Sunday...and JW will not b in the buliding friday plus im not rich!
But.........
 
Simon Ravn said:
Yeah just got email from Musikverein as well, saying the concerts in Vienna are cancelled, urgh. Seems it is pretty serious then, but let's hope not. Seriously, I wonder if he'll make it home from London... Maybe he wasn't fit for travelling overseas afterall.
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Don't worry, you will get another chance to watch the master wield his baton, as he's bound by contract to score at least another 50 Star Wars reboots. I'm sure he will outlive Yoda himself, the Force is strong with this one.

ForceAwakens.jpg


What a badass!
 
Oh dear. Experienced the same thing when Jerry Goldsmith was due to fly over and do a birthday concert with the LSO. Unfortunately he had to pull out last minute due to illness. Concert was cracking, but sadly, never got to see Goldsmith conduct/talk live, as he passed away soon after.

Lets hope Williams keeps going for another good few years. All the best.
 
I have form in this department too. I bought my Mother tickets to see Pavarotti, but it was cancelled due to illness and he passed away not long afterwards.

I have booked a nice hotel, and made arrangements for the kids and dogs, and was planning to make a rather nice weekend of it with my wife, whom I don't get to spend as much time as I would like. So we will still be going, and I am sure I will still enjoy it immensely, even though I would not probably have booked the show had not John Williams himself been there.

Like all on here, my first concern is that 'Johnny' gets back on his feet as soon as possible and makes a full recovery. I was surprised and delighted that at 86 he was planning some European concerts, but I'm pretty sure that there will not be another opportunity to see him in Europe again, and that makes me quite sad.

It's a superb orchestra, a magical venue, and the replacement conductor, Dirk Brossé, is certainly no second-rater. But the magical fairy dust for this concert, which I would surely have remembered for all my days, has gone.

At least, however, unlike some of the people elsewhere in Europe, I will have a concert to go to.

I would, however, have loved to personally give the man the standing ovation that his astounding body of work so richly deserves.
 
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