Arthur Fiedler The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! (2-CD Set)
$ 19.99
In his 50-year tenure as conductor of The Boston Pops, Arthur Fiedler transformed the Boston Symphony Orchestra offshoot into perhaps the most renowned pops orchestra in the world. He famously incorporated the music of The Beatles into his programs and began the tradition of the Pops concert and fireworks every July 4th on Boston’s Esplanade. Along with the Fourth, one holiday was closely associated with Fiedler and the Pops: Christmas! The orchestra introduced Leroy Anderson’s now-classic “Sleigh Ride” in 1948, and the very next year recorded it for RCA Victor. That first-ever recording, shockingly never before issued on CD, opens Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records’ definitive celebration of Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops’ holiday recordings. The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! lives up to its title with 2 CDs and 35 tracks of yuletide cheer in the grand and lavish Boston Pops fashion. Spanning 1949-1971, The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! includes two full albums: the original 1959 Pops Christmas Party in RCA’s Living Stereo splendor and 1969’s new-to-CD Christmastime in Carol and Song. The latter found Fiedler away from Boston and conducting in New York with some very special guests: legendary soprano Leontyne Price and beloved pop duo Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! also features numerous festive rarities from various singles and albums over the years including such classics as the Pops’ original version of “The Christmas Festival,” “The Toy Trumpet” with Al Hirt, and highlights from Babes in Toyland and The Nutcracker Suite. The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese provides the new liner notes, and everything has been beautifully remastered at Sony’s Battery Studios. Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops’ The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! is a very merry one, and you’re invited!
1. Sleigh Ride
2. The Christmas Festival
3. Panis Angelicus
4. Ave Maria
5. Ave Maria
6. Fantasia on "Greensleeves"/Babes in Toyland
7. March of the Toys
8. A Christmas Festival: Joy to the World/Deck the Halls/Good King Wenceslas/God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/The First Nowell/Silent Night/Jingle Bells/O Come, All Ye Faithful (Medley)
9. White Christmas
10. Sleigh Ride
11. Winter Wonderland
12. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers/Hansel and Gretel
13. Dream Pantomime/German Dances, K. 605
14. Sleigh Ride, No. 3
15. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
16. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
17. Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
18. Sleigh Ride
19. Toyland/March of the Toys (Excerpt from "Victor Herbert Favorites" Medley)
20. The Toy Trumpet
21. Joy to the World/Jingle Bells/Away in a Manger/We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Medley)
22. Carol of the Bells
23. Go Tell it on the Mountain
24. Silent Night
25. Hurry Home for Christmas
26. I Wonder as I Wander
27. Here We Come A-Caroling/O Christmas Tree/I Saw Three Ships (Medley)
28. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
29. Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a:
30. Overture
31. Russian Dance (Trepak)
32. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
33. Dance of the Reed Flutes
34. Ave Maria
35. The Little Drummer Boy
36. March of the Toys/My Favorite Things/Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (Medley)
