Betsy's View

The 2009 Holiday Pops season marks the first time I’ve seen the Boston Pops Holiday concert at Symphony Hall. In the 15 years I have lived in Boston, I don’t know how I’ve never attended before and don’t think I could let another year go by without being in the audience again!

I love the Boston Pops and I always look forward to seeing Maestro Keith Lockhart at the podium. This year, I’ve been lucky to attend some special Pops performances, including the 4th of July Concert on the Esplanade and an unforgettable celebration of the 40^th anniversary of the lunar landing with the MIT-sponsored Giant Leaps concert. Hearing Astronaut Buzz Aldrin recount his flight coming around the moon was a special moment and it was an amazing introduction to Gustav Holst’s The Planets.

I’m not big on holiday music, which speaks more to the commercialization of Christmas than to my love for music, but I was really looking forward to the Holiday Pops concert. I caught the Pops’ 2^nd show of the season, which was a matinee. Attendance was lighter than I expected, but with 35 or so performances, I’m guessing not all of the concerts are sold out.

Maestro Lockhart said that he hoped we would leave with more holiday cheer than we came with – score points for the maestro! The concert definitely put a smile on my face, and ooh yes, that was me singing all those jingles during the sing-along!

The Pops Holiday concert was filled with songs for everyone. There were Christmas, Hanukah and Pop tunes, including Baby It’s Cold Outside (which it definitely was!), and there were some nice surprises like the reading of Clement C. Moore’s “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” with visual illustrations by artist Jan Brett. The Merry Sing-Along, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! and Jingle Bells, was definitely merry and bright, and the concert even had two very nice encores.

There were many high points during the concert, but there were, unfortunately, a couple of disappointments. I don’t recall having attended a performance where the concert was amplified (via speakers), and I definitely prefer the natural acoustics of Symphony Hall. It may be that it was necessary to broadcast this way because of the combination of narrators, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the orchestra, but for some parts of the concert the sound wasn’t well balanced.

The most noticeable point was during Drey Dredeleh. Associate Concertmaster and violinist Tamara Smirnova was a soloist during much of the song, but I never even heard her. My companion violinist Markus Placci said it was a shame we couldn’t hear her because she was clearly working very hard!

The Christmas Story was basically the story of Jesus’ birth. It included the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and narration and singing by baritone Robert Honeysucker. The chorus and orchestra sang and played some traditional spiritual passages during the piece, and Honeysucker’s smooth and rich voice fit well. What I didn’t love was the arrangement of The Christmas Story. The mix of chorus, orchestra, and narration and singing by Honeysucker was hard to follow, and it was very long. All the parts individually were fine, but its sum, to me, didn’t flow well.

Bad stuff behind us, I have to rave about what I felt was the highlight of the concert, David Chase’s The Twelve Days of Christmas. This song is such a surprise that it’s not even on the program! First, I have to say, if you’re able to, go buy the download of the song and lyrics from www.bostonpops.org. The 9 minute MP3 only costs $3.99, and it’s a song you’d probably love to add to your list of holiday cheer! Seriously…go download it! I Did!!

The Twelve Days of Christmas offers a whole new take on a very traditional song. Its lyrics remain mostly unchanged --the partridge, the doves, the maids, the lords, the rings--they are all there. But how we get to them and how they are presented is fun, joyful, humorous and full of energy!

Each of the gifts is presented with a new melody. And for the most part, we know all these melodies. What you don’t expect is to have 10 Lords a Leapin sung to The Nutcracker! And who would expect the fifth day of Christmas to begin with dum dum dum dummmmm – yes, five gold rings is presented to the tune of Beethoven’s Fifth! The Twelve Days includes a can-can, some Mozart and a bit of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody! The Twelve Days was so fun that after the 10^th day, the audience broke into applause and Maestro Lockhart had to wait to begin the 11^th day!

The Twelve Days of Christmas was premiered by the Boston Pops in 2007. In 2008 it was recorded and because there hasn’t been a new holiday CD, the Pops made the recording available for download. I was surprised to see the lyrics were also available with the download, which was fabulous! The orchestra and chorus are so spirited with the piece that it’s hard to keep up, and keep track of where they are! It would be fun if they could project the lyrics as they perform it. I loved this song!

My other favorite pieces of the concert were the Christmas Waltzes, including Silver Bells, My Favorite Things and It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, the Winter Weather Medley, including Baby It’s Cold Outside and I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, and the Santa Medley which included a playful Santa Baby.

The Holiday Pops concert is most certainly one I’d like to include on my must-do list every year. Everyone really was great and Maestro Lockhart is always fun to watch, especially when he breaks out into a Scottish jig, dances a solo can-can or has a friendly chat with Santa. The musicians are top notch, and sitting in Symphony Hall is a magical experience any day of the year.

The Boston Pops has a way of spreading good cheer, whether they are performing 35 concerts for the holidays or performing in front of a half a million revelers during the Independence Day celebrations. The Boston Pops is all about making people feel alive and happy, and when you celebrate with the Pops, there is never a shortage of smiles.

Happy Holidays!

Photo of Keith Lockhart courtesy Boston Symphony.