Star Wars: The Last Jedi will premiere tonight in Prague, and once again music from the great John Williams will reverberate throughout local cinemas.
Williams, who will turn 88 in February, will be seeking an incredible 51st Academy Award nomination for his Last Jedi score, having achieved his 50th nomination for 2015’s The Force Awakens.
Only Walt Disney has more Oscar nominations that Williams, with 59; Williams has seven more nominations than the next most-nominated person, fellow composer Alfred Newman.
It goes without saying that Williams’ music is iconic, but his Star Wars themes might be the most well-known of all his works.
And local Prague orchestras, among some of the most renowned in the world, have had a lot of success performing them.
Just this past weekend, Prague Film Orchestra (Pražský filmový orchestr) took to the stage at Prague’s Congress Center to perform Star Wars: A Musical Journey to a sold-out crowd.
Stormtroopers and Sith Lords appeared on stage alongside conductor Jiří Korynta, dressed as Emperor Palpatine. It’s a great show, and if you missed it this year keep an eye out for future dates – it’s quickly become a yearly tradition.
Here’s a video of Korynta, as Palpatine, conducting the Imperial March from a few years back:
They’re not the only local orchestra to have success with Williams’ score.
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra has made a name for themselves with renditions of classic film scores, and recently released an album touching on classic selections from the soundtracks for the first six films in the Star Wars franchise.
Here’s their version of main theme, as conducted by Paul Bateman:
And one more – The Asteroid Field from The Empire Strikes Back:
You can buy The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra’s Star Wars album on Amazon, where it has received entirely positive reviews.
And one last clip – here’s Prague Cello Quartet performing the Mos Eisley Cantina theme on Prague’s Charles Bridge:
