Symphony Hall, Boston.
(Balcony, Seat 1BC-D24, $59.50).
Program – Holiday
Pops.
Artists
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor.
David McFerrin, baritone and narrator.
Boston Symphony Hall hosts a series of Holiday Pops
concerts during the Christmas season, from December 6 – 24, and my babysitting
duties this week allowed me to catch one of the 4 pm performances, together
with Emmie and Joe.
Selfie with Joe and Emmie.
Not quite Beethoven’s Ninth. It’s not called “Holiday Pops” for nothing.
The entire program, with intermission and two encores,
lasted two hours, so it was a substantial concert, at least as far as length of
programming is concerned.
The numbers were a mixture of holiday favorites (most
rearranged) and more classical compositions, dominated by the former.
I was surprised at how unabashedly Christian the program
was, there seemed to be no apologies to sing Silent Night with the line “Christ
the Savior is born.” I guess the
regulars know what to expect, and am surprised there was no adverse reactions
from the audience.
The Chorus, the Orchestra, McFerrin and Lockhart.
One song in the program was “Twelve Days of Christmas”
with a twist. Whenever a numbered gift
was mentioned, the orchestra would play spliced in melodies reflecting those
twists. What I remember: 3 French horns were raised for 3 French hens;
Beethoven’s fifth played for the fifth day; themes from both Le Cygnet and Swan
Lake were used for the 7 swans; Lockhart did a few dance steps when they came
to 9 ladies dancing; Tom Brady’s athletic shirt was raised for the twelfth day.
Cartoons and animations accompanied some selections,
which Emmie really enjoyed watching.
Joe has gone to this event several times over the years,
and tells me the major anchor pieces are the same: Twelve Days of Christmas and
the Peace begins with Me encore.
The Chorus did this without pay. Given how many times they run this program, I
assume there is a net profit to be made.
I was hoping to attend a BSO concert during my week here,
but none was to be found this time of the year.
It was still nice to be at Emmie’s first full-length concert, and she
did very well.
Emmie and I ubered to Symphony Hall, and caught a ride
with Joe to return to Somerville.
This is my 610th entry in this blog, and 85th
for this year.
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