MUSIC REVIEW - Cleveland Pops Orchestra

Pops concert creates holiday fun despite poor acoustics

Wilma Salisbury, Plain Dealer Music Critic

The theater is not a church, so it's no surprise the Cleveland Pops Orchestra almost kept Christ out of Christmas Sunday at the Palace Theatre in Playhouse Square.

The concert, "The Spirit of Christmas," focused on secular themes: Santa Claus, Rudolph, sleigh bells, snow. Religious references turned up in only a few instances: a sing-along that included "Silent Night" and instrumental arrangements of less-familiar carols.

But no matter. The program was planned to provide an entertaining afternoon of holiday-oriented family fun.

Conductor Carl Topilow hosted the festivities with his usual charm. Besides crisply leading the ensemble, he introduced the repertoire, moved music stands, ad-libbed with wry humor, hawked the orchestra's CDs and taught a group of children to play sleigh bells on cue.

Best of all, he improvised jazzy choruses on two of his colorful clarinets: a white licorice stick for "White Christmas" and a red-and-green one that matched the vest of guest entertainer Paul Todd.

The guest list also included the Tower City Chorus, which celebrated Christmas in barbershop harmonies, and weatherman Dick Goddard, who promoted animal adoption, told jokes and helped lead the sing-along.

The music covered all the stylistic bases, from classical to Hollywood. Among the novelties were a clever arrangement of "Little Drummer Boy" set to the repetitive rhythms of Ravel's "Bolero" and a piano concerto combining a Tchaikovsky theme with a 15th-century French tune and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." Orchestra members Paul Ferguson, who arranged much of the music, and Jack Schantz, who played a mellow flugelhorn solo, also made impressive contributions.

Regrettably, the ensemble sounded shrill and imbalanced because of the amplification required at the Palace, a beautiful theater with dreadful acoustics for orchestral music. From a seat downstairs on the right side of the theater, the strings were almost inaudible. Upstairs in the center (where I sat after intermission), the balance was better.

Pianist-vocalist Todd dominated the second half of the concert. A personable performer, he sang his own music in a pleasant baritone, attacked the keyboard with a percussive touch, improvised a number on a five-note theme submitted by a recruit from the crowd, poked fun at his big hair and talked warmly about his family.

Although Todd was well-received, he was not as popular as Santa Claus, who showed up during the sing-along. It was a sweet ending to a warm holiday feast of musical sugar and spice.