Philadelphia Orchestra's "Sound of Christmas'

Critics normally ignore the Philadelphia Orchestra's "Glorious Sound of Christmas" program. It's essentially a bit of holiday cheer that's no more suitable for a review than an office Christmas party.

But the program piqued my interest this year because the selections included two items that seemed to stretch the boundaries of traditional Christmas fare— Vivaldi's B Minor Concerto for Four Violins and a scene from the first act of La Bohème.

Then I looked at the rest of the program and realized it might tell us something about the management's attempts to broaden the Orchestra's audience. The four "Glorious Sound" concerts present the Orchestra with one of its best opportunities to peddle its wares. These performances attract several thousand people who wouldn't normally attend an Orchestra concert.

The Vivaldi violin concerto has no connection whatsoever with Christmas, but it's the kind of bright, showy piece that fits the general mood of the season. The Baroque repertoire includes several "Christmas concertos" whose only relation to the holiday is their festive glow and glitter.

The four soloists from the Curtis Institute added to the mood by dressing in bright gowns in four different colors. The soloists all played well, and Rossen Milanov carefully reduced the orchestra to chamber orchestra size— an important consideration when you're playing Baroque concertos.

A Puccini glow

Unfortunately, Milanov couldn't reduce the size of Verizon Hall. The foursome couldn't generate the intensity they would have radiated had they played in a smaller venue. A connoisseur of Baroque music could appreciate the interactions between the soloists, but their efforts couldn't produce the spark the occasion demanded.

The instrumental interlude would have produced a more effective showcase for the Orchestra's repertoire had the program planners picked something from a later period, more suitable for a larger hall, such as one of Mozart's shorter piano concertos, or one of his horn concertos.

The scene from Puccini's La Bohème, on the other hand, created a glow that permeated the program's entire second half. It depicts the first meeting between the two lovers, Rodolfo and Mimi. (It earned a place on the program because their encounter takes place on Christmas Eve.)

The result was the best advertisement the Philadelphia opera community could have asked for: a bit of magic created with two period costumes, a set consisting of a table and chair, and two young vocalists with gorgeous voices. Soprano Elizabeth Zharoff and tenor Zach Borichevsky filled Verizon Hall with all the soaring tenderness of Puccini's tribute to love and youthful idealism.

Jazzing up Tchaikovsky

Overall, the program presented a mix of profoundly serious works and pieces normally presented by pops orchestras. It opened with a full-blast arrangement of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," embellished with plenty of brass and percussion, and followed that with the Dona Nobis Pacem from Bach's Mass in B Minor.

The Mass in B Minor is the one Baroque masterpiece that can be performed by almost every kind of ensemble, from small period instrument groups to full modern orchestras with huge choruses. Milanov managed to lead a big orchestra/ big chorus version without blurring the details of Bach's complex sonic tapestry.

The first half included an interesting take on The Nutcracker— two jazz versions of Tchaikovsky's dances, arranged by Duke Ellington, sandwiched between two of Tchaikovsky's originals. The first jazz arrangement didn't add anything significant to Tchaikovsky's own music, but the second transformed the Sugarplum Fairy into an unforgettable vision of a sultry, hip-swinging nightclub seductress.

Why this Gloria?

The second half included three contemporary pieces that have become standard items at Christmas Pops concerts. Randol Bass's Gloria sets the traditional Gloria in Excelsis Deo with plenty of trumpets and a driving pulse. "The Hall Bedecked," by Gary Fry, started with a small group of carolers advancing to the stage through the audience and mingled straight versions of "Deck the Halls" with contrapuntal variations that created a pleasing jangle.

Bill Holcombe's "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" surrounded a reading of Clement Moore's poem (ably delivered by Channel 3's Pat Ciarrocchi) with orchestral effects that sometimes added sly touches of musical humor.

I have no problem with "The Hall Bedecked" and "The Night Before Christmas." Both provided lighthearted accompaniment to the scene from La Bohème. But Bass's Gloria is another matter.

Serious mistake

The great masses in the classical tradition include dozens of Glorias that are far more exciting and musically inventive than Bass's effort. Why couldn't the Orchestra play a version from its own rich tradition instead of something intended for a different kind of orchestra?

The Orchestra makes a serious mistake when it tries to woo new listeners with its own version of a pops concert. Philadelphia already possesses a first-class pops orchestra that presents a satisfactory Christmas Pops concert. The Philadelphia Orchestra should present a Christmas program that emphasizes the power and appeal of its own unique repertoire.

Pieces like the scene from La Bohème and the Mass in B Minor prove the Orchestra can do that. If it had slipped a couple of more such moments into the program, it would have added the Orchestra's own high-style, high-culture contribution to Philadelphia's holiday revels. And it would have provided the strongest possible evidence that the audience should return when the Christmas season is over.♦


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