Legendary film composer John Williams conducts a brand-new album of many of his beloved movie themes in stunning new adaptations written especially for his superstar violinist friend and collaborator Anne-Sophie Mutter. Recorded in Hollywood, Across the Stars includes familiar themes from blockbuster films as Star Wars and Harry Potter, as never heard before. “There is only one John Williams,” says Mutter. “What he writes is just extraordinary. Every time I go to one of his films and there is a violin or cello, I think, I would like to play that! And now I have his wonderful translations of all these iconic themes.” Williams adds: “Working with Anne-Sophie on this recording has been a pure inspiration. She has brought vibrant life to these familiar themes in new and unexpected ways, which has been a great joy for me as a composer.”

Alongside Mutter as soloist, Williams assembled an extraordinary group of musicians with whom he has worked over the years to form the 70-piece Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles. They recorded over five days in April at the historic Sony Pictures Scoring Stage, where many great film soundtracks of the past were recorded, including The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Singin’ In The Rain, Lawrence of Arabia, E.T. and many more. Williams explains that for this project he’s revisited themes from many of his existing scores and completely transformed them: “Presented on the violin, they become a different emotional experience.” One example is his newly arranged version of “Hedwig’s Theme” from the Harry Potter films, which he and Mutter describe as “Harry Potter meets Paginini” and “a Carmen Fantasy for the 21st century.”

The music ranges from Star Wars motifs such as “Yoda’s Theme” from The Empire Strikes Back, “Luke and Leia” from Return of the Jedi and the title track “Across the Stars” from Attack of the Clones, to more recent pieces such as “The Duel” from The Adventures of Tintin and “Sayuri’s Theme” from Memoirs of a Geisha. In addition to the haunting violin melodies from Williams’ Oscar-winning Schindler’s List score, the album features new versions of themes from Cinderella Liberty and Dracula (originally written in the 1970s and rarely performed since then) along with the Irish-flavored “Donnybrook Fair” from Far and Away and the romantic theme from Sabrina.