In his day, Andre Kostelanetz was American Columbia's answer to Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. A talented conductor, arranger, and instrumentalist, Kostelanetz could do it all and the results of his talent were scores of light classics that sold in the millions, financing many projects for the more "serious" classics released by Ormandy, Szell, Mitropoulos, among others.
Time though, has not been kind to Kostelanetz. Whereas Fiedler is still a household name some 30+ years after his death, Kostelanetz has all but faded from the scene. I wonder if this could be due to the fact that most of the latter's works were recorded with "anonymous" orchestras while Fiedler always had the famed "Pops" on the label in equal billing. Well, just a thought.
Kostelanetz did view himself as somewhat of a musical educator and his arrangements of music from La Traviata and La Boheme were efforts to capsule highlights from these masterworks into a neat 40 minute package. From my perch, I believe he succeeded brilliantly and these two productions are executed on a high order. In fact, Erich Kunzel would revisit these Kostelanetz efforts much later, inspiring him to record more "opera without words" thus snagging a few grammys along the way.
I hope you enjoy this well filled offering as much as I do. Both date from the early 50's I would say.
