Home For the Holidays @ Severance Hall 12/22 The stage had no people on it when the lights dimmed, but two minutes later, there was a declamatory roll on the tympani, the lights came up and there amidst the colorful splendor of the stage at Severance Hall, were the twelve members of the Burning River Brass, who launched into the first chorus of Home for the Holidays. Todd Wilson then appeared from the right and seated himself at the organ for the second chorus, and for the final go-round, out came nearly two dozen members of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus along with their director, Robert Porco. It made for a different and spectacular opening number.

The Brass then gave us Fantasie de Noël and, joined by Mr. Wilson on the fabulous Norton Memorial Organ, In Dulci Jubilo. For the first time, there were two fairly large video screens located at either side of the stage, for a video trip down memory lane, including scenes of the Hall and Cleveland in holiday garb. (Translation: snow! Lots of snow.)

The audience was encouraged to sing-along for O Come, All Ye Faithful, which was accompanied by a brilliant silvery/white star shining on the rear wall of the stage, which was bathed in a bright, royal blue light. It was gorgeous! The singing wasn’t bad, either! In fact, we were pretty good!

Festive Cheer was a medley for all the participants on the stage: Brass, Organ and Chorus. It began with Sleighride, went into Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, then Jingle Bells, which was unlike any you’ve heard before. Unless, of course, heard this particular version, in which the trombones of the Brass had one jazzy little chorus of their own! It came to a rousing end with We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Perhaps the highlight for many (including the children in the audience) was the appearance of Mr. Jingeling, the Keeper of the Keys himself. He seemed like his usual jolly self, even if he had been in Cleveland for 52 years (he says!) and this was his first time at Severance Hall! He entertained us with a story (it had a happy and important ending) plus a song. It was good to see him again.

The first half ended with a fairly recent version of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, with music by Anthony DiLorenzo. John Lentz, minister of Forest Hills Presbyterian Church was the very capable narrator, who created wonderful images from the words of the beloved poem.

What is a Christmas concert without something from the Nutcracker? Impossible. Generally, we hear excerpts from the traditional version by Tchaikovsky, although lately we’ve been hearing more of the famous big band jazz arrangements by Duke Ellington. Now, the Brass have gone one better – they asked six different arrangers to each do one movement of the ballet for brass ensemble. We heard three of these. (You can hear all six of them, plus a few other selections on their new CD: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas available at their website: www.burningriverbrass.com)

At any rate, we heard the Overture as done by Dean Sorenson, which gives great riffs to the tuba; Pas de Deux by David Morgan, featuring a bluesy trumpet solo, plus drummer, and Spanish Dance which was renamed Chocolate by arranger Jim Stephenson. I suspect this has some connection to Carioca, the Latin rhythm employed. Marvy, but way different from the Tchaikovsky version! Still, there’s plenty of room for improvisation, which is a major tribute to the original composer.

Here is Joy for Every Age spotlighted the chorus, organ and more trombones. Mel Tormé’s classic The Christmas Song received a marvelous mellow performance from the Brass, and then came the piece that everyone waits for. Especially the percussionist of the brass, Feza Zweifel. This arrangement of The Little Drummer Boy was done by Cleveland’s own Paul Ferguson, and it is fabulous! There is no other word for it. Along with a manic drummer, we get the Pink Panther gliding around disguised as trombones, in this jazzy hoot of a piece which gives the drummer a chance to lambaste everything within reach of his drumset: cow bells, wood blocks, cymbals, drums of all sorts and possibly even the kitchen sink! It also includes close harmony blues by the Brass. What’s not to like?

Another DeLorenzo arrangement is Christmas 'Toons, which includes music from various animated specials and holiday films, and again, the video screens presented film clips from some of those represented by the music. There was a good-sized chunk from The Christmas Story, Peanuts, Rudolph (of course!) The Grinch, Frosty and a few I didn’t recognize. No matter, the music was great.

And then, all too soon, it was time for the finale—another sing-along. This time it was Joy to the World, with different lighting on the stage – red and green with dangling white mini-lights along the back wall. The combination of sight and sound was totally gorgeous. The musicians filed off stage, but promptly came back again! I don’t think they wanted to leave, either! They gave us one last gift for the season. The encore was Good King Wenceslas.

So, out into the cold, snowy night we went, spirits uplifted by the beautiful music we’d just heard. Happy Holidays to All!

The Cleveland Orchestra returns January 8-10, 2009. For tickets or additional information, visit the website http://www.clevelandorchestra.com or call 231-1111.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
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