André Kostelanetz and His Orchestra Gaîté Parisienne / Carmen Highlights [1960]

Columbia Records Masterworks MS 6106

To many, the name of Andre Kostelanetz (b. St. Petersburg, Russia, 22 December 1901; d. Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 13 Jan 1980) is virtually synonymous with a genre of orchestral music called, variously, “easy listening,” “beautiful music”(specifically for radio), “light,” or “semi-classical.” His repertoire included orchestral arrangements of pop songs and Broadway show tunes as well as familiar classics. Ever with the purpose of reaching the widest possible audience, he first made his mark in radio, as the conductor of music programs under the sponsorship of Chesterfield Cigarettes, Coca-Cola, Ethyl Gas, and Chrysler, and from 1937 he had his own weekly show on CBS, “Andre Kostelanetz Presents.” From the 1940s through the 1970s he recorded scores of albums (as many as six per year) on 78s, 45s, and LPs for Columbia Records, selling well over 50 million copies over the course of his career. For fifteen years he conducted the New York Philharmonic in its post-season Promenade series at Lincoln Center and in Central Park, billed as “Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra.”

Tracklist:
Side 1: Gaîté Parisienne (As presented by The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo)
01 Overture
02 Tortoni No. 1 / Tortoni No. 2
03 Galop / Valse / Marche
04 Grande Valse
05 Can Can No. 1 / Can Can No. 2

Side 2: Carmen Highlights
06 The Toreadors (Overture)
07 Prélude to Act I
08 Aragonaise (Entr'acte to Act IV)
09 Intermezzo (Entr'acte to Act III)
10 Changing of The Guard (Boys' Choir, Act I)
11 Dragoons of Alcala (Entr'acte to Act II) 
12 Gypsy Dance (Act II)