Marches in Hi-Fi.(Sound Recording Review)

Marches in Hi-Fi. Arthur Fiedler, Boston Pops Orchestra. JVC JM-XR24020.

I read once that Arthur Fiedler had sold more classical albums than any conductor who ever lived. I can imagine that, considering the man lead the Boston Pops Orchestra for something like a half a century. Nevertheless, Fiedler was alway considered something of a lightweight when it came to classical conducting, despite his experience and popularity. I suppose it was the nature of the repertoire he worked with, mostly best-loved light classics like this collection of marches for orchestra.

Fiedler recorded the present album in 1958, and it has been a perennial favorite with music listeners ever since. In fact, one of the drawbacks of the JVC audiophile remastering reviewed here is that it costs twice as much as RCA's "Living Stereo" issue and does not include an additional four marches that were added to the mid-price CD.

Another drawback is that I am still not persuaded by all of the performances on the disc. Fiedler seems at times to be rushing through them at anything but a ...