Boston Tea Party / Arthur Fiedler, Boston Pops Orchestra

The idea of a Boston Tea Party is just a catchphrase upon which to hang a typical Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pops program -- as well as a chance to photograph the extroverted Fiedler in another offbeat setting (four lovely models having tea with the maestro). Eat your heart out, Hugh Hefner. But there is some unity in an album that dares to place the music of Lehar (The Merry Widow waltz, The Count of Luxembourg waltzes), Nicolai (The Merry Wives of Windsor overture), Vaughan Williams (Fantasia on "Greensleeves"), and Balfe ("The Bohemian Girl Overture") alongside the likes of "Hernando's Hideaway" and the theme and "Moonglow" from Picnic. After all, the above pieces are from shows of some sort -- be they operas, operettas, films, or Broadway hits -- and Fiedler never bothered to discriminate between them. In any case, the waltzes have relaxed grace and hard-charging qualities, the overtures are handled with Bostonian energy and poise. And it is a pleasure to hear the high-toned way in which the theme from Picnic and "Moonglow" have been symphonically woven into the same line; it turns out that they share the same chord structure. The mellow, generously spacious-sounding stereo LP version of this album became a prized RCA Victor "shaded dog" audiophile collectible well into the CD era -- no doubt prompting the CD reissue in the 1990s.

The idea of a Boston Tea Party is just a catch-phrase upon which to hang a typical Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops program. But there is some unity in an album that dares to place the music of Lehar (The Merry Widow Waltz, The Count of Luxembourg Waltzes), Nicolai (The Merry Wives of Windsor Overture), Vaughan Williams (Fantasia on "Greensleeves"), and Balfe ("The Bohemian Girl Overture") alongside the likes of "Hernando's Hideaway," "Moonglow" and the theme from Picnic. After all, the pieces are from shows of some sort -- be they operas, operettas, films, or Broadway hits -- and Fiedler never bothered to discriminate between them. In any case, the waltzes have a relaxed grace and hard-charging qualities, the overtures are handled with Bostonian energy and poise. And it is a pleasure to hear the high-toned way in which the theme from Picnic and "Moonglow" have been symphonically woven into the same line; it turns out that they share the same chord structure. The mellow, spacious-sounding stereo LP version of this album became a prized RCA Victor "shaded dog" audiophile collectible. ~ Richard S. Ginell