On December 17, the New York Pops, led by Steven Reineke, returned to live performance at Carnegie Hall with a festive seasonal concert, billed as “Back Home for the Holidays,” with Kelli O’Hara as the headliner, replacing Laura Benanti, who cancelled due to a Covid exposure in her family. A guest performer, Brandon Michael Nase, making his Carnegie Hall debut and describing himself, in a program note, as a “proudly Black queer artist and performer,” was the other member of the cast.
The evening’s “Holiday Overture,” arranged by James Stephenson, was an ebullient medley of “Jingle Bells,” “Joy to the World,” “Deck the Halls,” “Chanukah oh Chanukah,” “S’vivon, Sov, Sov, Sov,” “Good King Wenceslas,” and “The First Noël.” O’Hara lent her pure soprano to Edward Pola and George Wyle’s “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” in James Kessler’s arrangement, with ascending phrases and a big high note at the end. The singer paid tribute to the late Barbara Cook, responsible for O’Hara’s Carnegie Hall debut, with Wally Harper’s arrangements for Cook, orchestrated by Larry Blank, of Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” from “Meet Me in St. Louis,” and, later, Mel Tormé and Robert Wells’ “Christmas Song.”
O’Hara’s “I Wonder as I Wander,” by John Jacob Niles, in Reineke’s version, was more dark than wistful. A brisk, crisp “Sleigh Ride,” of Leroy Anderson; “I Saw Three Ships,” arranged by Matthew Jackfert, with considerable chiming; and a somewhat understated, lyrical “Carol of the Bells,” by Mykola Leontovich, heralded O’Hara’s nostalgic “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” by Walter Kent and Kim Gannon, and “A Place Called Home,” by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens, orchestrated by Curtis McKonly, from “A Christmas Carol.” Rocking, as she anticipated the arrival of the “Man with the Bag,” by Irving Taylor and Dudley Brooks, as transcribed by Myles Collins, brought the first half of the concert to a close.
The Pops gave us the earthy sound of a New Orleans jazz band in Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe’s “Jingle Bell Rock,” in Reineke’s own version. A plaintive “Mis Zeh Hidlik” (Behold the Lights), a Chanukah song, followed. O’Hara sang Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith’s “Winter Wonderland,” in Tim Berens’ edition, in her pop voice more than her legit voice. We got two by Irving Berlin, “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” arranged by Bill Elliott, and a dulcet “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep),” in which O’Hara and Nase harmonized, with Lee Musiker at the piano, as arranged by Matt Cusson, with additional orchestration by Reineke. Nase’s rollicking solo was Donny Hathaway and Nadine McKinnor’s “This Christmas,” arranged by Daryl McKenzie.
We paused for the entrance of Santa Claus and his elf, with Reineke expressing his hope that Claus was giving out booster shots as stocking stuffers, and then Kris Kringle took over the podium to lead a Christmas mashup. For a final tour-de-force, O’Hara sang the Adolphe Adam-John Sullivan Dwight “O Holy Night,” in David T. Clydesdale’s over-the-top version, replete with modulations and high notes, which Sandi Patty had introduced here.
The Pops will be back at Carnegie Hall for “Get Happy: That Nelson Riddle Sound,” on February 4, 2022, with Tony DeSare, Capathia Jenkins, and Reineke. The Pops’ 39th Birthday Gala, in the spring, will honor Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Together, they wrote songs for “Coco” and “Frozen,” and he wrote lyrics for “Avenue Q” and “Book of Mormon.”