American Visions is the kind of programming that
Arthur Fiedler used to do so well with
the Boston Pops -- American classical music with a populist flair -- and it shows that
the Pops' new young conductor,
Keith Lockhart, was starting to revitalize the band in this repertoire. He leads with a flourish for his predecessor,
John Williams (the latter's "A Hymn to New England"), and takes off on a spirited "Buckaroo Holiday" from
Copland's "Rodeo." "Mississippi Suite" -- the first of Ferde Grofé's national travelogues and not as well-known as it once was -- gets a sturdy reading from
Lockhart, with hints of jazz from some
Pops soloists.
Lockhart then makes a swerve toward the mystical with a mesmerizing performance of
Charles Ives' "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" from "Three Places in New England" -- a choice that turns adventurously away from
Fiedler territory -- before returning back to earth with
Howard Hanson's reel-like "Maypole Dances" from "Merry Mount." One could ask for more rhythmic swagger and looseness in
Leonard Bernstein's "Times Square" from "On the Town" than it gets here, but
Lockhart follows up with three fine mid-20th century slices of concert Americana that rarely get played anymore --
Ron Nelson's "Savannah River Holidays," Harl McDonald's "Fiesta" from "San Juan Capistrano," and
Jerome Kern's folksy, graceful venture into the concert hall, "Mark Twain: Portrait for Orchestra." Many cheers to
Lockhart for bringing them back in digital stereo.