Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Anna-Sophie Mutter has always loved the movies. And she loves the film music of John Williams even more, which she first heard in 1978 in a small movie theater in the Black Forest, where Star Wars was playing. That she was able to work with the composer himself forty years later is something she describes as the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Williams even wrote a new Violin Concerto for her, which Anne-Sophie Mutter presented with the Boston Symphony Orchestra during the Summer Festival in 2023. Williams now follows up with some of his most beautiful film melodies, which he has arranged specifically for the star violinist. This time, her musical partners are the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from London and its Principal Conductor Vasily Petrenko, who kick off the evening in Hollywood with three movements from Korngold’s film score to The Sea Hawk. In this adventure film, Errol Flynn plays a fearless pirate fighting against Spanish world domination, but Korngold’s opulent score is more of a declaration of love to old Europe and its “chivalry.” Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade similarly unfolds a tapestry of colorful, magical sounds — but with a woman as the intrepid heroine.