Top Pops

September 1, 2007

Pop orchestras are often overlooked by the high-brow crowd as making music for the common folk, which, in turn, look on any form of classical music -- even that written and preformed for all listeners -- as too hoity-toity. Still, there have been examples of conductors and pop orchestras that have managed to work both crowds. The late Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra did this very successfully in the 1950s and 1960s, recording many albums on the RCA label. Today we have another conductor and orchestra attempting to follow these footsteps -- Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, who record on the Telarc label. The biggest difference between the two is that while Fiedler took existing classical music and adapted his performances for the mass audience, Kunzel has looked to more modern fare -- the film score -- and adapted it for classical audiences.