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When Pops Orchestras Tap Pop Culture, Is Something Lost?
Over the past couple of decades, pops concerts – long a format for light classics by Rossini, Bizet and Holst – have undergone a wholesale shift: they’re now a catchall category for film screenings with orchestra, legacy rock bands, circus acts, crossover tenors and other more unclassifiable fare. In this August 2016 article for The…
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Pops Means Maximum Variety for Many Orchestras
LENOX, MA – Dispelling any notion that the living is easy for orchestra musicians in August, the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, Aug. 21, presented two-and-a-half-hour, Shakespeare-themed concert at Tanglewood featuring four works: Berlioz’s Overture to Béatrice et Bénédict, Saint-Saens’s Egyptian Concerto (with pianist Dejan Lazić), George Tsontakis’ Sonnets and Prokofiev’s Suite from Romeo and Juliet.
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Pops Concerts Change Their Tunes Amid Uncertainty
Received wisdom holds that pops concerts are a cash cow, supporting orchestras’ ability to present more serious fare, while reaching audiences who may watch PBS and even buy the occasional recording but aren’t going to turn out for Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony. But according to a report by the Associated Press, the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, one of the signature pops…