Classical music is to music what baseball is to sports. You don’t start watching baseball and immediately fall in love with it. Someone has to teach you the game. You have to be taught baseball’s nuances. Someone has to explain how the shortstop and second baseman turning a double-play is a thing of beauty. Baseball is not like football, a sport you love from the first snap of the ball.
Classical music is the same way. It needs to be taught. The uninitiated needs to learn about its history, its forms, and most of all, what the heck the composer is trying to say. Unfortunately, few popular music fans have access to classical music teachers (or the time to teach it to themselves). Fortunately, there have been a few artists that have done the next best thing, they’ve popularized the genre and introduced it to music fans that would have otherwise never listened to symphonies, concertos, or arias.
Below are four classical musicians—two singers and two conductors—that have done more to attract adherents to the genre than anyone else. If there was a Mount Rushmore dedicated to artists that have popularized classical music the faces of the following four gentlemen would be on it.
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli has sold more than 80 million albums. His sales figures have made him the best-selling solo classical artist of all-time. He’s been able to sell all those albums by singing opera, light opera, and affluent pop songs. Bocelli’s beautiful voice and his accessible setlists helped to make opera music palatable to the masses. Called “pop opera” or “operatic pop” or “popera,” Bocelli has not only introduced millions to the wonderful world of opera music but he paved the way for artists like Josh Groban, Il Divo, and Il Volo.
André Rieu
André Rieu has sold more 32 million albums during his historic career but that’s not why he’s on our list. Rieu is the Phish of classical music. Every year the master of the waltz sells thousands of André Rieu tickets. His 2011 tour was the ninth highest grossing tour of the year. That’s impressive since he plays classical music and 1732 Stradivarius violin.
In 2013, Rieu will once again pack stadiums and arenas this time with his “And The Waltz Goes On Tour.” The North American portion of his outing commences March 7 in Orlando, Florida and ends March 20 in Vancouver, B.C. While the majority of his setlist is comprised of waltzes and other classical music selections he does dabble in other genres including folk and showtunes. You’ll be moved by the sweeping melodies, dazzled by amazing soloists, and you’ll laugh at Rieu’s delightful wit—for a classical artist he has a great sense of humor.
Highlights of Andre Rieu's "And The Waltz Goes On Tour"
>>March 7 - Andre Rieu tickets Orlando @ Amway Center
>>March 8 - Andre Rieu tickets Tampa @ Tampa Bay Times Forum
>>March 9 - Andre Rieu in Sunrise @ BB&T Center
>>March 12 - Andre Rieu in San Diego @ Valley View Casino Center
>>March 16 - Andre Rieu in San Jose @ HP Pavilion
John Williams
John Williams has composed some of most memorable film scores in the history of cinema—Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws. He also conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra for more than two decades. Those two accomplishments alone has made him one of classical music’s greatest proponents. Think of how many pimpled face boys got into classical music after listening to his symphonic movie scores.
Luciano Pavarotti
Bocelli sells records. Rieu sells concert tickets. Williams gets people used to music without words, but Pavarotti popularized classical music—opera to be exact—based solely on his talent, not necessarily a conscious effort to “dumb” the genre down. He was, and probably still is, the only opera singer most popular music fans can name. Pavarotti performed with a number of big-time pop artists and at a number of high-profile events. All that exposure meant Pavarotti was able to introduce millions of popular music fans to the beauty and majesty of opera.
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