A consummate conductor who produced some truly outstanding film music compilations (I always loved FANTASTIC JOURNEY, which at time of its release was the first and only way to get CD representations of "The Boy Who Could Fly," "Dragonslayer," "Twilight Zone The Movie," and still the only place to hear the "Poltergeist" theme with John Bettis' original lyrics), Kunzel is going to be missed.
He leaves behind a legacy of dozens of great CDs -- I highly recommend the ROUND-UP, HAPPY TRAILS, BOND AND BEYOND, MOVIE LOVE THEMES, and most all of the Telarc CDs he did with the Cincinnati Pops in the late '80s and early '90s.
CINCINNATI – Erich Kunzel, the award-winning conductor who headed the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra since it was founded three decades ago and who won international fame through sales of more than 10 million recordings, has died at age 74.
Kunzel was diagnosed with liver, colon and pancreatic cancer in April but continued conducting while undergoing treatment. He died Tuesday morning at a hospital near his home in Swan's Island, Maine, said Chris Pinelo, a spokesman for the Cincinnati Pops.
On July 4, Kunzel conducted a concert at the U.S. Capitol with Aretha Franklin. He had led the National Symphony on the Capitol lawn in nationally televised Memorial Day and Independence Day concerts since 1991.
This year, he also conducted a concert in Beijing, where he and the Cincinnati Pops last year performed in opening festivities for the Summer Olympics.
Kunzel also led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops in many performances.
Born in New York City, Kunzel was educated at Dartmouth, Harvard and Brown universities and began his professional conducting career in 1957 with the Santa Fe Opera. He moved to Cincinnati in 1965 as assistant conductor to Max Rudolf, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's former music director. The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra was officially established in 1977 with Kunzel as conductor.
The Cincinnati classical pops ensemble has been one of the most active in the world, maintaining a year-round performing and recording schedule and making numerous television appearances. Kunzel recorded more than 125 albums and was named Billboard Magazine's Classical Crossover Artist of the Year for four consecutive years.
Kunzel received the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush in 2006 for outstanding contributions to the arts and was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
Kunzel, who also had homes on in Newport, Ky., and Naples, Fla., is survived by his wife, Brunhilde.
Maintaining a crowded agenda at an energetic pace throughout his career, Kunzel told The Cincinnati Enquirer in an interview in July that he was stunned by his cancer diagnosis.
"It wasn't on the schedule," he said.
RIP Erich Kunzel
Re: RIP Erich Kunzel
Holy crap! That's downright ghoulish and hideous.Kunzel was diagnosed with liver, colon and pancreatic cancer in April but continued conducting while undergoing treatment. He died Tuesday morning at a hospital near his home in Swan's Island, Maine, said Chris Pinelo, a spokesman for the Cincinnati Pops.
Man, this is some SAD news. I really hope this poor guy didn't suffer. I have a number of Kunzel conducted discs myself that I've always enjoyed including that same Fantastic Journey disc.
VERY sad.
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AndyDursin
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While I obviously admire what Williams did with the Boston Pops, in terms of their respective album output, I thought Kunzel's Cinci Pops CDs were far more interesting -- especially as a film music fan. Kunzel wasn't afraid to unearth scores that were a bit off the mainstream, that only film score freaks would be familiar with -- FANTASTIC JOURNEY, as I wrote before, is packed with tracks that, up until that point, were unavailable on CD. CHILLER, as Michael mentioned, is another one with some great classical selections as well.
Another of my favorite albums is SAILING, a gorgeous collection of pop tunes and film scores, that ranks right up there with my all-time most played CDs.
I have a few of their PBS concerts on tape as well, including a wildly entertaining Halloween concert that showed Kunzel had as much fun being theatrical as he did paying attention to the music itself. He'll be missed, no question.
Another of my favorite albums is SAILING, a gorgeous collection of pop tunes and film scores, that ranks right up there with my all-time most played CDs.
I have a few of their PBS concerts on tape as well, including a wildly entertaining Halloween concert that showed Kunzel had as much fun being theatrical as he did paying attention to the music itself. He'll be missed, no question.