By Marilyn Lester***In the Festive Season, the New York Pops certainly looms large in contributing to the sparkling and jolly spirit of the holidays. In this year’s edition of seasonal revelry, Merry and Bright, at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, music director and conductor Steven Reineke helped bring much-
needed “joy to the world.” The result was a delightful, warm and effervescent evening greater than the sum of its parts.
And those parts were each wondrously bright, starting with the Pops holiday overture, neatly arranged by James Stephenson, with the traditional “Jingle Bells” as its central theme. The upbeat mood was thence extended with the Essential Voices USA mega-choir with “We Need a Little Christmas” (Jerry Herman) led by Reineke. The mystery of the absence of choir director Judith Clurman was solved later on in the program. Emerging from the wings and taking the conductor’s podium, Clurman was in the spotlight leading the massed voices in the Hanukkah presentation of “Eight Days of Light” (Judith Clurman, David Chase), a pensive narrative of the miracle of the everlasting oil. But Clurman wasn’t the only one to take to the podium; on a light note, the winner of a raffle prize at the Pops annual gala got to conduct, in this case a delightful rendition of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky‘s Nutcracker “Dance of the Sugar
Plum Fairy.” On the reflective side was, as has become a recent custom, a tribute to the people of war-torn Ukraine with the hauntingly beautiful “Carol of the Bells” by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovich.
The star and centerpiece of the evening was the wildly popular guest singer Jessica Vosk, a charming extrovert who seemed an alchemical mix of Judy Garland, and Maria Callas on top notes, Opener was a “new” Christmas classic, the particularly uptempo, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (Edward Pola, George Wyle) written in 1963, made famous by Andy Williams and which is still topping pops singles charts. With Essential Voices, Vosk also sang another new/classic hit: “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” sung and written by Mariah Carey (with Walter Afanasieff) in 1994, that’s now become the best-selling Christmas tune of all time.
Acknowledging her inner Garland, Vosk offered “Have Yourself a Merry Little 
Christmas” (Hugh Martin, Raph Blane), and her inner Callas with a beautifully sung “O Holy Night” (Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight). A stunning surprise was Neil Patrick Harris in a special appearance. With delightful banter and superb chemistry, the two delivered “Let It Snow/Winter Wonderland” (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn/Dick Smith, Felix Bernard), a sugarplum treat that ended all too soon. An expected “surprise” was the appearance of Santa Claus and his elf, with Jolly Old Saint Nick also compelled to briefly conduct the orchestra. Ending the concert was an all-hands “Jingle, Jangle Sing-Along” with the audience invited to sing familiar favorites such as “Frosty the Snowman” (Clarence Reid, Jack Rollins, Steve Nelson) and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (Johnny Marks). Capping an evening of hard-core festivity and delight was a joyful traditional carol, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” The odds favor that every soul who left the Hall that night was merrily brimming with holiday spirit.
Photos by Genevieve Rafter Keddy
