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Concert review: ‘Magic of Christmas’ puts focus on the music

Live audiences have returned for the Portland Symphony Orchestra's performances at Merrill Auditorium, and a digital version also will be available.

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Eckart Preu, music director, conducts the Portland Symphony Orchestra in "Magic of Christmas," which opened its 42nd year with a live audience again at Merrill Auditorium on Friday afternoon. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

What time of year is it? Well, a clue might be that members of the Portland Symphony Orchestra are wearing their Santa hats again.

After a year relegated to an online performance only, the “Magic of Christmas,” in its 42 nd incarnation, is back before live audiences in full and shorter, family-friendly versions, as well as in digital form for those who prefer to watch online.

CONCERT REVIEW

WHAT: “Magic of Christmas” by Portland Symphony Orchestra

WHERE: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle St., Portland

REVIEWED: Dec. 11 (matinee); continues through Dec. 19, available online Dec. 17 to Jan. 1

TICKETS: Starting at $10 for digital, $18 in person

CONTACT: 207-842-0800; portlandsymphony.org

On a soggy and cold Saturday afternoon, a masked, multi-generational crowd patiently made its way through the various stages of security and into Merrill Auditorium for a full, two-hour program (including intermission) of seasonal classics mixed with some slightly more serious fare.

The program was a little less spectacular in its variety than in years past. There were no ballet dancers or acrobats this time, if one doesn’t count conductor Eckart Preu’s expressive gestures and gyrations on the podium. The emphasis was on the music, and it radiated enough warmth to instill a harmonious spirit in most folks.

Singer Laura Darrell, a Maine native, performs with the Portland Symphony Orchestra in “Magic of Christmas.” Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Guest singer Laura Darrell was a perky treat. The petite soprano, who has appeared with the PSO in the past, including as a child, revealed a soaring vocal style of the sort found in current Broadway musicals. She offered a stirring take on “For the First Time in Forever” from the movie “Frozen” and later topped herself with an enchanting “Walking in the Air” from “The Snowman.”

Darrell hit closer to home with a sweet version of “White Christmas” and a visit to the feel-good nostalgia of “The Maine Christmas Song,” on which she was joined by The Magic of Christmas Chorus.

The chorus got into the act early with “The Very Best Time of the Year,” which Preu rightly described as “delicate” and to which the dozens of singers gave a rich, understated performance. They would later bring the crowd to their feet when, under the leadership of chorus master Nicolás Alberto Dosman, they powered up for Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus from Messiah.

Joined by the chorus, the PSO reached again into the spiritual realm with the distinctive rhythms of the “Festive Sounds of Hanukkah.” The orchestra’s take on the traditional “Christmas Canticles” earlier had added a sense of vital majesty.

In its premiere, “The Toy Factory” by John Wineglass, featuring PSO winds and percussion, suggested a playful, dancelike ambiance not unlike that found in some of the work of Tchaikovsky.

Former Portland municipal organist Ray Cornils, who alternates performances with his successor James Kennerley, added heft to a couple of pieces from his keyboard at the mighty Kotzschmar Organ. An obscure, pulsing “Toccata” stood out from the more embracing sounds that otherwise characterized the show.

Warmly lit moments with the incandescent “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and the whinnying trumpet of “Sleigh Ride” led to a spirited “Christmas Sing-A-Long” that gifted the parting audience with plenty of options for continued vocalizing as they made their way home.

Steve Feeney is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.

Portland Symphony Orchestra to present ‘Magic of Christmas’

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The Portland Symphony Orchestra’s 44th annual “Magic of Christmas” opens on Friday, Dec. 8. Performances continue through the weekend, and again the weekend of Dec. 15, for a total of 12 performances. In addition, the PSO will provide a watch-from-home option on PortlandSymphonyTV.com beginning Dec. 16, making the concerts available to people across the country. The performances welcome the return of audience favorites performer Susie Pepper, the Magic of Christmas Chorus, singer Leon Griesbach, and James Kennerly on the Kotzschmar Organ.

Guest Susie Pepper, the winner of Fox23’s “Maine Idol” competition in 2008 and Miss Maine in 2009, performs in many settings from small jazz venues with her quartet to large rock concerts.

Guest Leon Griesbach is a baritone soloist, organist, teacher, choral conductor, and piano technician based in Lisbon, Maine. He has appeared as a soloist and conductor across the US and Italy.

“Magic of Christmas” schedule

Friday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 9, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 10, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 16, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 18, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

“Magic of Christmas” program

Arr. Hans-Peter Preu New Commission
Leontovych arr. Naughtin Carol of the Bells
Guaraldi arr. Naughtin Christmas Time is Here
Faith Hill arr. Hansen “Where Are You Christmas?” from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Michael W. Smith arr. Hansen Christmas Day
Con Fullam orch. by Eastburn The Maine Christmas Song
Handel “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah
Lucas Richman Hanukkah Festival Overture
Danny Elfman Arr. Brown Selections from Nightmare Before Christmas
David Foster and Linda Thompson-Jenner arr. McKenzie Grown-Up Christmas List
Traditional arr. Hansen as performed by Josh Groban and Faith Hill The First Noel
Anderson Sleigh Ride
Arr. Finnegan Christmas Sing-Along

For full details about tickets for in-person performances and digital access, visit portlandsymphony.org.

Watch the Annual PSO “Magic of Christmas” Concert At Home This Year

It's a Christmas Miracle! Our great friends at the Portland Symphony Orchestra are not letting this global pandemic from getting in the way of one of the greatest holiday traditions in Maine--The Magic of Christmas! The PSO is offering this year's Magic ON DEMAND. And better yet, it's "Pay What You Can"

From the PSO Website:

This year, your PSO is bringing the Magic of Christmas to you! Watch this new, online concert led by Music Director Eckart Preu, with special guests Alyson Cambridge, James Kennerley, the Magic of Christmas Chorus, the Portland Ballet, and Pihcintu Multinational Chorus! Featuring Christmas classics as well as a world premiere holiday work and the beloved “Sleigh Ride”!

I think everyone in my family will still dress in our holiday best as we watch the PSO from the comfort of our living room. And yes, there will be the traditional sing-a-long at the end of the show which means everyone in my family will get to hear how bad a singer I REALLY am!

Here's the 2020 Program:

COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Christmas Overture

VEJVANOVSKÝ: Sonata Natalis C-dur

MENKEN: “A Place Called Home” from A Christmas Carol

RICHMAN: Hanukkah Medley

HUMPERDINCK/TARKMANN: Hansel and Gretel Prelude

TRADITIONAL/SADLER: “Sheriff Santa”

WINEGLASS: The Toy Factory: Little Elves, Fairies, and Snowmen; a PSO Commission and World Premiere

TCHAIKOVSKY: “Waltz of the Snowflakes” from Nutcracker

TRADITIONAL/RICHMAN: “O Holy Night!”

ANDERSON: “Sleigh Ride”

TRADITIONAL/RICHMAN: Christmas Sing-a-long

TRADITIONAL: “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”

Thank you to the PSO for making the MAGIC happen in 2020. Here's to all being back in the Merrill together in 2021.

Ho, ho, ho, it’s magic: Magic of Christmas in Maine

Tickets for the Portland Symphony Orchestra’s annual holiday extravaganza, the Magic of Christmas, always go quickly, so act quickly if you want to score primo seats for the season’s primo show. The 2010 Magic of Christmas lineup features PSO Music Director Robert Moody leading the PSO in a program of familiar holiday hits. Expect music, dance, theatrical readings, the Festival of Trees, and plenty of holiday hoopla. Eleven performances are scheduled between Dec. 10-19 at Merrill Auditorium. Tickets range $25-55 (plus any applicable fees); kids save $10, seniors save $5.

Highlights:

• Maestro Robert Moody leading the Portland Symphony Orchestra in a festive and inspirational program of classical and popular holiday hits.

• Joe Cassidy portraying Scrooge and all the voices in A Christmas Carol and performing the Irving Berlin classic White Christmas and other seasonal favorites. Cassidy has been seen on NBC’s Law & Order as well as on Broadway as Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and in 1776, Les Misérables and A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. As a concert soloist he has performed with many symphony orchestras around the country.

• Soprano Suzanne Nance as featured vocalist, joining Joe Cassidy and Robert Moody for a newly-discovered trio from Nutcracker, The Oratorio. Nance has performed recitals across Maine in Fort Kent, Presque Isle, Blue Hill and Bangor and in concert with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra as well as the PSO. Recently, she performed in Prague, London, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York. Nance also produces and hosts MPBN’s Morning Classical music program.

• The addition of the Fezziwigs, along with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Be, to the cast of larger-than-life puppets from Figures of Speech Theatre in the unforgettable condensed adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

• Angelic voices of the Saco Bay Children’s Choir singing “Somewhere in My Memory” from the hit movie Home Alone, and joining the all-volunteer Magic of Christmas Chorus for inspirational carols and holiday tunes.

• Traditional favorites including “Sleigh Ride,” when the PSO players try to outdo each other with their festive and comical attire, and the inspirational audience sing-along when patrons can lift their own voices in celebration of the season.

• Magic of Christmas Dancers portraying multiple roles in A Christmas Carol and also forming a Rockettes-style kickline of dancing Santas.

• Pre-concert performances by students from the Maine Suzuki Association (Dec. 12 and 19 at 1 p.mm.) and Ray Cornils at the Kotzschmar Organ Prelude Concert (all other performances).

• Festival of Trees, a display of beautifully decorated Christmas trees that will transform the Merrill Auditorium lobby into an enchanting winter wonderland during the run of Magic of Christmas. Twelve local businesses have donated their creative talents to decorate their own uniquely festive tree.

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