Brian D'Arcy James, Maestro Steven Reineke, Stephanie J. Block    photo Richard Termine

 

                                           By:  Stewart Schulman

 

Call it Noel, Nativity, Xmas or Yule, the Winter Solstice holiday season has inspired the creation of some of the most memorable musical tunes.  From the early Christmas Carol “Angel’s Hymn” (first sung at a Christmas service in Rome in 129AD) to “Silent Night,” (composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr), to “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, (the 1994 Mariah Carey hit written with Walter Afanasieff), the Christmas canon has stirred celebrants for the better part of two thousand years. Whether composed in centuries long past or in the current one, these songs continue to engender feelings of love, good cheer and awe—as they did at The New York Pops annual Christmas concert at Carnegie Hall on December 18th. 

 

The evening, titled: It's Christmas Time In The City, was conducted by Maestro Steven Reineke and starred guest artists Stephanie J. Block and Brian D'Arcy James, backed up by the NY Pops Orchestra, with the Essential Voices USA chorus—music directed and conducted by Judith Clurman.  As always, it was a mix of solos, orchestral pieces, and full choral works.  And it was every bit as satisfying as ever—upholding a tradition of singing ‘songs of the season’ that some say dates back even further than the Christian faith itself.   

 

The concert opened with the jingling bells of the Pops orchestra on “Deck the Halls” and concluded with the annual “Christmas Sing-Along” arranged by Steven Reineke.  And, as always, everything in between thrilled and delighted. 

 

Broadway and TV star Stephanie J. Block brought her sweet legit soprano and her pop-rock power belt to “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Winter Wonderland,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and “O Holy Night.”  Star of Broadway, film & TV, Brian d’Arcy James brought his own wide-ranging vocal gifts to “The Christmas Song,” “Jingle Bells,” and “Silver Bells.”

 

Highlights for Ms. Block were her rockin’ pop arrangement of “All I Want for Christmas is You,” and “Hard Candy Christmas,” as well as her beautifully acted rendition of “Yes, Virginia,” the heartwarming, poignant, and inspiring new song written in 2010 by Wesley Whatley and Bill Schermerhorn for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This song is based on the classic 1897 letter written by eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon to The (New York) Sun editor asking if there really is a Santa Claus.  It brought that heartwarming feeling of Americana Christmas spirit to the evening.

 

A particularly moving highlight for Mr. James was “Michigan Christmas”, a song he’d written eleven years ago for a benefit in his hometown of Saginaw, Michigan.  As he explained, he hadn’t realized until recently what the song was actually about.  Having lost his father some 25 years ago, (he dedicated this performance to his Dad), it finally dawned on him that the song is actually about that search we all engage in to reconnect with our past— to that time and place of warm and loving family from our youth.  Mr. James has a magnificent wide-ranging vocal ability.  He can croon like Bing Crosby, swing like Dean Martin, and Broadway legit belt with the best of them, but he is truly at his best when acting a song.  This one was magic.   

 

Other evening highlights were The Pops Orchestra and Essential Voices USA Chorus on:  Vince Guaraldi & Lee Mendelson’s “Christmas Time Is Here” from the 50 year-old TV program A Charlie Brown Christmas, “Angels We Have Heard on High” with Essential Voices’ glorious harmonies capturing the majesty of the holiday season, and “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas,” filling the great hall with the signature sound of composer John Williams’ majestic music.   

 

 

And for this reviewer the highlight of this particular concert was Robert Wendel’s orchestral arrangement of Katherine K. Davis’s “Little Bolero Boy,” a brilliant marriage overlaying “Little Drummer Boy” onto Ravel’s “Bolero.”  As with the original Bolero, the music starts off slowly, gently and quietly, and then hypnotically builds in intensity to a powerful and stirring climax. 

 

Whether on the above-mentioned solos or on duets such as “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” or “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” the Act 1 closer “Holiday Hits Medley” or the evening’s finale “Christmas Sing-Along,” Ms. Block and Mr. James, along with Mr. Reineke, Ms. Clurman, the Essential Voices USA Chorus, and the incomparable NY Pops Orchestra delivered this year’s Christmas cheer in the fitting spirit of a tradition that has so far lasted for almost two thousand years.  Well here’s to two millennia more, NY Pops!  Merry Christmas!

 

The rest of The New York Pops 2015-2016 Carnegie Hall Season features:

 

Friday, March 11, 2016, 8:00PM, Stern/Perelman

42nd on 57th: Broadway Today

Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor

Guest Artists To Be Announced

In an evening of theatre showstoppers, The New York Pops brings the best of Broadway uptown.

 

Friday, April 8, 2016, 8:00PM, Stern/Perelman

Lights, Camera, Action: Spielberg and Williams

Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor

The musicians of the orchestra take center stage in this tribute to the legendary collaborations between Academy Award winners Steven Spielberg and John Williams.

 

Purchases can be made at the Carnegie Hall Box Office (57th Street and 7th Avenue) or by calling Carnegie Charge at 212-247-7800. Visit http://www.carnegiehall.org for more information.