New York Pops Put on Christmas Spectacular

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Tuesday, 04 January 2022 15:22

Written by Jack Angstreich

Kelli O'Hara sings with the New York Pops. Photo by Richard Termine

At Carnegie Hall, on the evening of Friday, December 17th, I had the extraordinary privilege to attend a fabulous Christmas concert entitled “Back Home for the Holidays,” splendidly performed by the terrific New York Pops orchestra under the accomplished direction of Steven Reineke and featuring the glorious Broadway soprano, Kelli O’Hara, here replacing the originally scheduled Laura Benanti. This was the ensemble’s first appearance on this stage in twenty-two months.

The program opened pleasurably with a Holiday Overtue, a medley of Christmas songs including “Deck the Halls” and “Good King Wenceslas.” O’Hara then took the stage—looking gorgeous in a sumptuous red gown (sent to her by Benanti) with a plunging neckline—to exquisitely perform the classic “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” into which, enchantingly, was interpolated a verse from the sublime “The Christmas Waltz” by Jules Styne with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. She amusingly commented about replacing Benanti that “It’s a such a big sacrifice for me to sing at Carnegie Hall”  before singing a memorable version of the magnificent “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane written for the beloved film Meet Me in St. Louis by Vincent Minnelli, where it was performed by Judy Garland. O’Hara sang the arrangement used by the legendary Barbara Cook with whom she had shared the stage in her (O’Hara’s) first Carnegie Hall appearance and in her previous concert at this venue which was Cook’s last public performance. She followed this with the superb “I Wonder as I Wander” by Appalachian composer John Jacob Niles.

The ensemble then played the delightful “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson and the famous, traditional English Christmas carol, “I Saw Three Ships,” in a beautiful arrangement by Matthew Jackfert, who was in attendance. A wonderful version of the familiar “Carol of the Bells” preceded the return of O’Hara to the stage in a lovely dark green gown in which she sang “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” She then performed “A Place Called Home” by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens and the charming “Man with the Bag” in a jazzy arrangement, closing the first half of the program.

The second part of the concert opened with the ensemble playing “Jingle Bell Rock,” made famous by Bobby Helms in 1957, the traditional Hanukah song ”Behold the Lights” in an arrangement featuring extensive passages highlighting the English horn, and a jazzy version of Irving Berlin’s “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” O’Hara reappeared in an attractive sparkly and silvery Oscar de la Renta gown to sing “Winter Wonderland” in a way reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald’s classic studio recording followed by Mel Tormé’s “A Christmas Song” in another arrangement used by Cook. Broadway singer Brandon Michael Name, in his Carnegie Hall debut, then joined O’Hara for a duet of Berlin’s “Count Your Blessings” from White Christmas. He then sang alone Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” which was followed by a brief instrumental medley including “Jingle Bells” and a short interlude featuring Santa Claus! O’Hara returned to the stage, wearing a whitish or maybe peach gown, to conclude the evening—in a vocal tour de force—with “O Holy Night” by Adolphe Adam, a composer most famous for the score for the ballet Giselle. O’Hara and Nase sang “Auld Lang Syne” by Robert Burns as a moving encore.

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