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Classical Crossover

Classical crossover is a genre that hovers between classical and popular music, and is usually targeted at fans of both types of music. In the most common type of crossover, classically trained performers (most often operatic superstars) sing popular songs, folk music, show tunes, or holiday songs. Crossover may refer to pop stars singing classical repertoire. Crossover can also be applied to the work of artists, vocal or instrumental, who attempt to create a synthesis between a classical and a popular style, such as jazz interpretations of traditional classical pieces, or contemporary classical works that are heavily influenced by rock. Music that doesn't fall comfortably into either category, but that might appeal to both pop and classical fans, such as world music and non-Western folk traditions, is sometimes also classified as crossover.

Classical Crossover Song Highlights

Time to Say Goodbye (Con te partirò), song Francesco Sartori
Andrea Bocelli
Rondine al nido, romance for voice & piano (or orchestra) Vincenzo de Crescenzo
Luciano Pavarotti
Peter and the Wolf, children's tale for narrator & orchestra, Op. 67 Sergey Prokofiev
David Bowie / Eugene Ormandy
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Traditional
Hayley Westenra
Oceano Andrea Sandri / Leo Z
Josh Groban
La vie est belle André Rieu / Jean-Philippe Rieu
André Rieu
Annie's Song John Denver
James Galway
Olympic Fanfare and Theme, for orchestra John Williams
John Williams / The Boston Pops Orchestra
Hard Times Come Again No More for voice & piano Stephen Foster
Yo-Yo Ma / Edgar Meyer / Mark O'Connor
Don't Cry for Me Argentina, song (for "Evita") Andrew Lloyd Webber
Katherine Jenkins
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 Johann Sebastian Bach
Yo-Yo Ma / Bobby McFerrin
Porgy and Bess, opera George Gershwin
Karita Mattila
The American Seasons (Seasons of an American Life), for violin & orchestra Mark O'Connor
Mark O'Connor & Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, extended chorale Frederick Swann
Frederick Swann
Ellens Gesang III ("Ave Maria"), song for voice & piano, D. 839 (Op. 52/6) Franz Schubert
Paul Potts
An American in Paris, tone poem for orchestra George Gershwin
Houston Symphony / Andrés Orozco-Estrada
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo), film score Ennio Morricone
Yo-Yo Ma
Nella fantasia, for voice & orchestra Ennio Morricone
Russell Watson
O sole mio, for voice & piano (or orchestra) Eduardo di Capua
Quartetto Gelato
Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, film score John Williams
John Williams
Sogno, song Peppe Vessicchio
Andrea Bocelli
Work(s) American Traditional
Mark O'Connor's Appalacia Waltz Trio/Carol Cook/Natalie Haas
Un canto Sergio Bardotti / Ennio Morricone
Andrea Bocelli
Funiculì Funiculà, for voice & orchestra (& chorus ad lib) Luigi Denza
Helmut Lotti
Doctor Zhivago, film score Maurice Jarre
André Rieu
Green, song ("Vincent's Tune") Wu Man
Yo-Yo Ma / Silkroad Ensemble
Tonight, song (from "West Side Story") Leonard Bernstein
Plácido Domingo / Renée Fleming
My Heart Will Go On (from the film "Titanic") James Horner
Irish Tenors
Miserere, song Fornaciari / Bono
Russell Watson
Minuet for keyboard No. 1 in G major (Anna Magdalena Notebook II/1), BWV Anh. 114 Christian Pezold
Various Artists
Paloma querida, song José Alfredo Jiménez
Plácido Domingo
Dolly, suite for piano, 4 hands or orchestra, Op. 56 Gabriel Fauré
James Galway
Cloverfoot Reel for violin, cello & double bass Edgar Meyer
Yo-Yo Ma / Edgar Meyer / Mark O'Connor
Turandot, opera Giacomo Puccini
Quartetto Gelato
Kalinka (Little Snowfall), folk song Russian Traditional
Helmut Lotti
Ave Maria (attributed) Giulio Caccini
Hayley Westenra
The Mountains of Rhùm Jeannette Sorrell
Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra / Jeannette Sorrell
Amazing Grace John Newton
Bryn Terfel
Otello, opera Giuseppe Verdi
Plácido Domingo / Renée Fleming
The Wind beneath My Wings Larry Henley
James Galway
A Passion for John Donne, for tenor saxophone, flute, voice, chorus, piano & percussion Ketil Bjørnstad
Ketil Bjørnstad
Adje Jano Traditional
Nigel Kennedy
Un amore per sempre (A Love that's Forever), song Walter Afanasieff
Josh Groban
Early Morning, for double bass, guitar, mandolin & piano Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer
My Heart Will Go On (from the film "Titanic") James Horner
James Galway
May It Be (for the film Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring) Enya
Howard Shore
Double Mandolin Concerto, for 2 mandolins, strings & continuo in G major, RV 532 Antonio Vivaldi
Yo-Yo Ma / Bobby McFerrin
On the Nature of Daylight Max Richter
Original Soundtrack
Viva! (after Vivaldi) Bond / Derek Strange
Various Artists