I was watching the various TV depictions of fireworks last night from NY, Washington and Boston. The fireworks were spectacular, but I didn’t think much of the rest of the programs. I was thoroughly appalled that I only got to see a single hour of the Boston Pops, and that just the fireworks going off. None of the performance of the 1812 Overture was shown. Ever since CBS bought the rights to that show, it’s been downhill. For years it was on PBS, then on A&E. Am I nuts, or when those networks showed it wasn’t there much more attention to the music, and wasn’t it mostly the orchestra? This trend of turning all of these presentations into showpieces for the latest pop singer (Clay Aiken at the Capitol Fourth? Please!) is hardly what I want to see.
CBS screwed it up again this year???
I know they did it last year….
no wonder it is the lowest rated network…
Don’t know about A&E, but PBS surely featured the Boston Pops as an orchestra. The Pops had been a longtime staple of PBS, particularly during Fiedler’s tenure but also after that with Williams, and even into the Lockhart era.
NOTE: My blog Peace Tree Farm has moved to a new address. Please change your bookmarks/favorites/blogrolls to reflect the new URL: https://peacetreefarm.org.
I had looked in the TV listings for the Boston Pops on A&E and was surprised it was on CBS. What a debacle! I want to see the Pops, not David Lee Roth or Harry Smith. The hour of coverage is lame. Why even have the guests on for only one song. And most of all, why are they taking commercial breaks during the fireworks. Bunny was probably tired of me complaining about this all night.