Pop X highbrow: The best classical crossovers

Saturday January 11 2025

Pop X highbrow: The best classical crossovers

Editor’s note: Classical music of any kind often feels boring and inaccessible—but not with Narendra Kusnur. He offers an accessible and fun guide to Western classical music—which has shaped movie soundtracks and top 40 hits alike.

This month’s guide takes us through ‘classical crossover’—which can refer to classical musicians creating pop tunes—or rock star collabs with classical artists—or a pop music twist on classical tunes. Be it Andrew Lloyd Webber, Freddy Mercury or our very own Amjad Ali Khan, everyone has dabbled in this stuff—to great musical effect.

Written by: Narendra Kusnur has been a music journalist for over 40 years—including a decade-long stint covering the beat at the Mid-Day newspaper. He currently writes for The Hindu, Free Press Journal, Hindustan Times, and Rolling Stone India—besides the in-house magazines of prestigious institutions—such as NCPA and Shanmukhananda Hall.

With their striking looks and fancy skirts, they passed off as wannabe Spice Girls when they arrived on the scene in 2000. They called themselves Bond, but they had no connection with James.

The difference was that this Australian-British group played instruments used by Western classical string quartets. Violinists Hayley Ecker and Eos Counsell, viola player Tania Davis and cellist Gay-Yee Westerhoff went on to become leading names in the ‘classical crossover’ genre. Let's see what they sound like with their video for ‘Victory’:

The term 'classical crossover' has no specific definition. It could refer to classical musicians playing popular songs or creating pop tunes, or it could mean rock or pop musicians collaborating with classical artists. It could also be used for classical tunes being played with pop or electronic arrangements. For example, this collaboration between metal monsters Metallica and Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang on the song 'One':

Or British soprano Lesley Garrett's operatic take on Sting's hit 'Fields Of Gold' —which also falls in this category. Check it out and hum along, but only if you like it.

The many names of 'classical crossover'

'Classical crossover' has been used since the mid-1980s, when record companies wanted to market classical artists who blended pop elements in their music or sang pop songs. An alternative name was 'baroque pop'. Since opera tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo sang known hits, the term 'poperatic music' came to be used. A leading example was the collaboration between rock band Queen's vocalist Freddie Mercury and Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe on the title track of the 1988 album ‘Barcelona’. Here's David Mallet's video of the title track.

Needless to say, classical crossover attracted flak from the purists, who liked their Mozart, Mendelssohn and Mahler in their original, undiluted form. For them, this new experiment was nothing but a blasphemous commercial ploy. Yet, many classical artists themselves tapped into the crossover market, hoping to expand their audience, primarily among the younger generation. They made extra money, of course.

A shortlist of ten

Having understood what classical crossover is all about, let's listen to ten artists who have made a mark in this genre. Each has a different style.

One: We begin with Dutch violinist Andre Rieu, who has reshaped the way orchestral concerts are held. In contrast to the serious and formal nature of traditional performances, his shows are lively and filled with joy. All rules are broken. No wonder he packs stadium arenas. While he uses many lighter forms like waltzes, tangos, the bolero and Christmas songs, he has also included popular hits in his repertoire. For instance, he joins the Spanish duo Los Del Rio on their famous song 'Macarena'.

Two: Tenor Andrea Bocelli, who we covered in our column on tenors, is one person who has maintained a good balance between pure classical and crossover. His albums ‘Amore’, ‘Cinema’ and ‘Duets’ are specifically targeted at the pop crowd. Here, he tries his hand at Elvis Presley’s ‘Can't Help Falling In Love’:

Three: Next we come to British soprano Sarah Brightman, who was part of the musicals ‘Cats’ and ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ by Andrew Lloyd Webber, to whom she was married for six years. Her collaboration with Bocelli on 'Time To Say Goodbye' was a huge success. She has also worked with Asha Bhosle and Shweta Shetty. Below is the video of 'You Take My Breath Away' uses Bhosle's song from the Hindi film ‘Umrao Jaan’.

Four: Singapore-born British violinist Vanessa-Mae is the youngest soloist to record both the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concertos. She later had a huge hit with her electro-pop version of Bach''s 'Toccata & Fugue'. Here's her 1995 rendition of the tune 'Classical Gas', first written by guitarist Mason Williams in 1968.

Five: Essentially a classical violinist, Nigel Kennedy has forayed into jazz and rock interpretations, too. Besides his jazz record Blue Note Sessions, he has done his own take on songs by rock legends The Doors and Jimi Hendrix. Here, he plays The Doors’ anthem 'Light My Fire'.

Six: Croatian pianist Maksim Mrvica is known for his interpretations of Bach, Handel, Chopin and other great composers, using modern arrangements. Check out how he presented Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight Of The Bumblebee'.

Seven: An interesting line-up comes from vocal quartet Il Divo, comprising three tenors and a baritone. Though formed in the UK, none of the singers is British. On the song 'I Believe In You', they are joined by Canadian star Celine Dion.

Eight: Welsh singer Katharine Jenkins started off as a mezzo-soprano singing operatic arias. Later, she diversified into popular songs, musical theatre and hymns. One of her popular videos is her cover of rock band Evanescence's 'Bring Me To Life'.

Nine: American star Josh Groban isn't the quintessential opera singer, but his style is definitely influenced by that genre. He's been hugely successful, with his first four solo albums being certified multi-platinum. Here is one of his biggest hits 'You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)'.

Ten: Finally, there is German violinist David Garrett, who has made a mark both for his renditions of Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Paganini, and his crossover attempts, especially of symphonic versions of rock songs. Here's his version of The Verve's rock song 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'.

These ten acts may be good starting points for those new to classical crossover, besides Bond and the Mercury-Caballe tie-up. There are others like Charlotte Church, who started with arias and sacred songs, but later moved to full-on pop, or Kronos Quartet, a string quartet which played different genres besides classical. One must also include Sharon Isbin, who's known primarily as a classical guitarist, but has done crossover projects with guitarists Steve Vai and Larry Coryell, besides India's very own sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. As mentioned earlier, they have different styles, making it tough to pinpoint specific features of this genre. But they have a certain charm.