Boston Pops Orchestra. Keith Lockhart, conductor. December 19, 2019.

Symphony Hall, Boston.  (Balcony, Seat 1BC-G14, $55.50).

Program – Holiday Pops.

Artists

Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor.

Will LeBow, narrator.

I did this exactly a year ago, with Joe and Emmie.  This year Jess and Emmie came along.

Second year attending a Pops Holiday Concert with granddaughter Emmie.

The Program was quite a bit different from last year’s.  One notable exception was “The Christmas Story” was swapped for “The Polar Express” this year.  The rather long (15 or so minutes) story had a narration about finding/losing/regaining a sleigh bell, with music by the chorus and the orchestra, was a bit too long and a bit too stagnant to capture the audience’s attention, in my opinion.

There was no “Hallelujah Chorus” last year either.  Having just heard the Handel & Haydn Society Chorus sing last week, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus didn’t quite measure up, it was good, though.

Lockhart claims “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is now a perennial during the holidays.  I wonder how many years after Brady retires that they will stop using his jersey for the twelfth day.

After performing "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  The chorus members were holding up the numbers.

  

The chorus again performed without compensation, which begs the question, someone must be making some money off these concerts, who are they?  I asked the same question last year.

Interestingly, Lockhart was the conductor at a December 15 afternoon concert in NJPAC, at the same time as one at Symphony Hall, which was conducted by James Orent.  So the regular ensembles are twice the size?

Today was cold (teens) so Joe dropped us off somewhere close.  Right after the concert Uber back to Somerville would have cost $50.  We ate at Pho & I nearby, and the price came down to less than $20 by the time we were done.  As we were waiting for the Uber, we saw a car speeding down Huntington Ave, quickly followed by the thumping noise.  Sure enough it got into an accident at the intersection.

In any case, it was close to 7:45 pm when we got home.