Fiedler Cheered at SPAC
by Don A. Metivier, The Post-Star, August 16, 1977
Arthur Fiedler made what many believe was his farewell visit to Saratoga Saturday evening and received one of the finest tributes in his long and successful career.
Poor health had forced the conductor of the Boston Pops to cancel most of his summer engagements, but his annual August appearance on the Spa podium with the Philadelphia Orchestra remained on his schedule.
The season’s largest orchestra crowd, 7,855, jammed the amphitheater and its lawns to hear Fiedler and the Philadelphians.
The former Boston Sinfonietta violinist, who took over as conductor of the Boston Pops in 1930, made use of the talented musicians within the Philadelphia Orchestra, allowing nearly everyone to play some kind of solo or featured performance.
He opened the program with Ives’ America variations, which even had Paul Krzywicki using a huge mute in his tuba during one of the dozen arrangements of the patriotic medley.
Rossini’s Overture to “The Turk in Italy” featured the magic of Mason Jones’ horn, a sound that is leaving the orchestra as he retires following the final Saratoga concert on Aug. 27.
Fiedler had to sit on a stool to avoid fatigue during the long concert, and conduct from a semi-sitting position, but his baton had lost none of its touch for light classical or pops music.
Edgar Bergan was delightful, appearing with his “friends” Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. McCarthy was his usual “fresh kid” self, poking respectful fun at Fiedler, whose shoulders shook from laughing at the dummy’s remarks, to the outside noise of the amphitheater. Once, he glanced up as a plane flew overhead, and said, “Here comes the
mail.”
Bergen narrated Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals,” which also gave all sections of the orchestra an opportunity to display their considerable skill.
Memorable was the work of the violoncellos and a xylophone solo by percussion section head Michael Bookspan.
William Smith, assistant conductor of the orchestra, conducted a medley of Cornell songs, and as the Big Red’s alma mater was played, hundreds of Cornell alumni, attending the concert as an outing, stood throughout the packed amphitheater.
However, it was the pop songs the fans had come to hear, and Fiedler did not disappoint them.
He led off with John Denver’s hit, “Country Roads,” and then featured trombonist Glen Dodson on Barbara Streisand’s Academy Award-winning song, “Evergreen.”
The orchestra, as well as the audience, began to get caught up in the Fiedler magic, as he led the usually proper Philadelphians through “A Fifth of Beethoven,” and then returned to play three encores, including “Bring Out the Clowns,” which again featured Mason Jones, and finally the song he played on July 4, 1976, in Boston for an audience of 500,000, “Stars and Stripes Forever.”
The entire brass section stood up to play, something the Philadelphians don’t normally do, even in pops concerts.
As the audience roared its third standing ovation, the orchestra ignored Fiedler’s motions for them to stand, put aside their instruments, and joined in the sustained applause.
The Philadelphians normally do not respond well to playing pops music, but Saturday evening was an exception.
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