Ravel: Bolero, Borodin: Music from Kismet, Bizet: Suites from Carmen: Kunzel / Cincinnati Pops O

Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

Ravel: Bolero
Borodin: Music from Kismet
Bizet: Suites from Carmen
Albeniz: Fete-Dieu a Seville from Iberia

CINCINNATI POPS’ NEW TELARC RELEASE, BOLERO, TAKES LISTENERS ON A BREATHTAKING MUSICAL JOURNEY

86th Telarc recording with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops

Bolero, the newest release by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra on the GRAMMYR Award-winning Telarc label, takes the listener on an exotic, breathtaking musical journey from Spain to Baghdad and back again.

“Using the most up-to-date recording technology to record phenomenal and wildly popular pieces like Ravel’s Bolero was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” said Kunzel. “I am grateful to Bob Woods, Elaine Martone, and the entire team at Telarc for partnering with us on this fantastic CD. This great music perfectly showcases the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.”

The disc opens in Spain with Maurice Ravel’s magnificent Bolero, known for its feverish, hypnotic rhythm and massive orchestral sound. The listener is then taken to Baghdad circa 1071 A.D. with a medley of music popularized by the classic 1953 musical Kismet. This Tony-award winning show was constructed entirely around the music of celebrated Russian composer Alexander Borodin. The listener journeys from Baghdad back to Spain with Suite Nos. 1 and 2 from Georges Bizet’s immensely popular opera, Carmen, and closes with a festival procession in the Spanish city of Seville from composer Isaac Albeniz, Fete-Dieu a Seville.

Bolero is the 86th Telarc recording by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The most recent release from 2007, Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Favorite Selections, was one of the most popular classical recordings of the Christmas season. Another 2007 release, Masters and Commanders, was lauded by American Record Guide as “a rousing program of nautical music, performed by a top-notch orchestra and conductor, in the very latest Telarc sonics. A surefire recipe for success…” Russian Nights, released in 2006, was praised by Gramophone as “gorgeously played and sumptuously recorded.” Other recent Telarc/Pops discs also include The Never-Ending Waltz and Christmastime Is Here, both released in 2006.

In his remarkable 42-year association in Cincinnati, Erich Kunzel’s accomplishments are almost too numerous to list. Beginning with his invitation by Max Rudolf in 1965 to conduct the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to being named Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops in 1977, Maestro Kunzel’s credits include an unprecedented catalog of 86 Pops recordings on the Telarc label; four consecutive years as Billboard Magazine’s Classical Crossover Artist of the Year; eight nationally televised Pops specials on PBS; and national and international appearances with the Pops including 10 Carnegie Hall concerts, two tours to Taiwan, three tours to Japan and a historic tour to China. In December 2006 he received the National Medal Arts at a White House ceremony with President Bush. Maestro Kunzel is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his professional debut during the 2007-2008 season. ( Telarc )