By Marilyn Lester***In a year that’s gone by with a big dose of upheaval in many respects, The New York Pops holiday concert 2025, A Place Called Home, was a very welcome arrival and a bounteous counter-dose of good cheer and good will. Performed at “home,” a
t Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, this amazing contingent of musicians, who never fail to uplift, was led by the ever-dynamic Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke. Only this time he took the stage with a walking stick, which he jokingly referred to as a pogo stick. Reineke had taken a spill on ice and injured his knee — but that didn’t stop him, ever the showman, from his delightful choreographic antics on the podium.
The amassed 80ish-piece orchestra, backed by the equally large Essential Voices USA choir, led by Judi
th Clurman, was in itself an impressive sight to behold. The combined instruments and voices for the traditional “Deck the Halls” and “We Need a Little Christmas” (Jerry Herman) created a joyful, mood-setting soundscape for a stirring concert to come. Guest artist, Broadway’s Megan Hilty, swept onto the stage in a whirl of festive red, offering the seasonal classic, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (Edward Pola, George Wyle) and “Winter Wonderland” (Felix Bernard, Richard Bernhard Smith) in her fine operatic mezzo-soprano. And what would a holiday concert be, without, as she declared, the “quintessential Christmas song,” the aptly-named, “The Christmas Song” (Bob Wells, Mel Tormé).
It’s always a thrill to hear the Pops as a strictly instrumental unit. The exquisite musicianship under Reineke never fails to enthrall. Four years ago, Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine, unleashing a bloody war that still ra
ges. In that first year, and in every year since, in solidarity with and in tribute to the people of Ukraine, the orchestra has played “Carol of the Bells” (Mykola Leontovich). The lilting and haunting folk-based carol has never failed to send heartfelt chills up the spine, a feeling that prevailed again this year.
On a cheerier note, the Pops delivered an epic rendition of Benny Oschmann’s “Santa’s Epic Ride”—a dynamic re-imagining of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.” Closing out the first act was Essential Voices and Hilty with a beautiful “The First Noel” (a traditional Cornish folk carol) and another must: a medley of songs from Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. Into the second act, for ecumenical balance, Clurman led Essential Voices in a moving “Chanuka Joy and Peace” (Clurman, David Chase). The second act also saw Hilty deliver the title song of the program, “A Place Called Home” (Alan Menken, Lynn Ahrens) from the stage musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol. At her operatic best, Hilty sang an emotive and soaring “O Holy Night” (Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight).
Then the moment of anticipation arrived: a visit from Saint Nick. Could reindeer hooves be heard on the great Hall’s roof? For sure enough, Santa with his chief elf emerged from the back of the auditorium, the familiar Ho-ho-ho bringing more good cheer befitting a jubilant holiday season. More joy was dispensed with a rousing “Jingle, Jangle Sing-Along,” with all joining in with homey and familiar tunes: “Frosty the Snowman,” “Jingle Bells,” and more. There couldn’t have been a better way to depart into the cold December air than warmed by the inspiring music of the season and all who made it happen.
Performance photos by Richard Termine
Backstage photos by Genevieve Rafter Keddy
