Arthur Fiedler - Pops Caviar - Boston Pops Orchestra - Living Stereo 82876-71618-2 (2006)
SACD rip via PS3 to iso (3.05GB) | 24bit/88.2kHz flac tracks | 3ch (2.10GB) | 2ch (1.47GB) | DR13 | Classical, orchestral


Featured in Kalman Rubinson's Music in the Round in the September 2006 issue of Stereophile! 

Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops perform orchestral works from composers Alexander Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Aram Khachaturian, & Tchaikovsky.

Over an hour of the most beloved Russian orchestral showpieces, in performances worthy of a great maestro & his orchestra. DSD remastering brilliantly reproduces the superb sound quality of the original master tapes.

AllMusic Review by James Leonard:

While by no means bad performances, the performances on Pops Caviar -- Russian Orchestral Fireworks are by no means good performances, either. They have, like Nietzsche's übermensch, transcended concepts like good & bad because they are, from conception to execution, pops performances, specifically, Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler performances. For listeners who don't immediately recall the series of pops recordings Fiedler made for RCA in the '50s & '60s with the Boston Symphony Orchestra re-named the Boston Pops Orchestra, the difference between the BSO & the BPO is not one of quality -- good, bad, or mediocre -- but of brow -- high, middle, or low. As the BPO demonstrates here in works by Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, & Khachaturian, this difference means the difference between clean, full strings & sweet, lush strings; between warmly characterful winds & colorfully blended winds; between clear, strong brass & big, bold brass; &, especially, between suave, polished percussion & gargantuan, bludgeoning percussion. In other words, the quality of the playing is still 1st-rate, but the quality is aimed at what used to be called a middle-brow audience, an audience that knew what it liked & what it liked was loud, colorful, & a bit sexy. Fiedler is a more than capable conductor who leads performances notable more for their excitement than for their subtly: listen to the brilliant balances in Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture or the driven tempos in Borodin's Polovetsian Dances. These are the performances to get if you're looking for excitement & thrills, but if you're looking for performances with as much excitement but more subtlety, try Gergiev & the Kirov Orchestra's recordings on Philips. Gergiev believes in the quality of Borodin's gloriously lyrical melodies & Rimsky-Korsakov's incandescent colors, & his recordings are as thrilling as performances as they are compelling as interpretations. RCA's remastering of the original living stereo sound reproduces the flash of the LPs, but lacks some of the depth.

               Tracks:

       Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)
01. In the Steppes of Central Asia

       Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
02. Russian Easter Overture

       Borodin
03. Overture
04. Polovtsian Dances

       Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978)
5-9 Gayane - Selections (including Sabre Dance)

       Rimsky-Korsakov
10. Tsar Saltan: The Flight Of The Bumblebee

       Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
11. Eugene Onegin: Polonaise
12. The Sleeping Beauty: Waltz

       Khachaturian
13. Masquerade Suite: Galop

Some more details here:
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7017361

Checksum for iso:
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